I slipped out of my clothes and changed into something dry. My fingers had started to prune, and an unforgiving chill had been lingering throughout my body ever since I ran from my house.
“So, spill it,” she said.
“Mercy, I love you, but I think we need everyone here. This is bigger than I can handle.”
Mercy paused at her dresser and turned to look at me, her gaze assessing. “You need our help?”
“Yeah, didn’t you just hear me?” I asked.
Her mouth snapped closed. “In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never once asked for our help.”
“Really?” I wrinkled my nose, trying to think back as to whether she was right.
“Really,” she answered. “Okay, no need to worry…” She turned in place as if she were on the verge of worrying and wasn’t sure where to start.
“It has to do with Teddy,” I said.
My words had the impact of hitting the stop button on a merry-go-round. She stopped panicking on the spot. “I haven’t heard you say that name in a while.”
“He had a ledger and stole money from a really bad guy. It’s a long story, but now the crime boss guy is after me. They’ve already shot Hugh, and I don’t know what to do. You recognize Hugh, don’t you? My Mr. Right?”
My heart clenched tight. I prided myself on being in control, on being grounded and able to handle things on my own. I was independent. I was smart. I was that girl.
Until now.
“I recognized the face. So, don’t worry. We aren’t going to let anything happen to either of you,” she said, touching my arm. Within seconds of using her ability to see how I was going to die, she patted my arm and smiled. “You aren’t dying anytime soon. I’ll take care of everything.”
“How?” I asked, turning my gaze to the window. “We can’t even call the others.”
“Leave that to me,” she said. “Now let’s go take a look at Mr. Right’s shoulder and see if I packed up my pain meds. I’m sure he could use them about now to help him relax.”
“I’m not sure Hugh knows how to relax.”
Her lips twisted into a smile. “Alcohol will help with both of his issues. Just leave it to me.”
The rest of the night was a blur between the bottles of wine and beer. Clark had cooked dinner on the grill. I’d turned several times to find Hugh watching me from across the room. His eyes glittered with soft unspoken emotion. When Mercy showed us to the guest bedroom, it had few furnishings beyond a bed and dresser. Everything else had been packed up.
Hugh stared down at me. I could read the hesitation in his eyes, the fact he had something to say even though he never opened his mouth.
His gaze dropped to my necklace, and he grinned. “A lighthouse.”
“It was a gift from Teddy.”
