Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart (14 page)

There was a picture of Merrick graduating from the police academy, another of him in uniform with his parents, and finally an older photo of Merrick when he was younger with his arm wrapped protectively around a girl that looked remarkably like a younger version of Hazel. Sydney picked up the frame to get a better look.

It was obvious that this was Merrick’s younger sister, but why wasn’t she in any of the other photos? Had she been the one taking the pictures? Or maybe there had been a falling out between them?

Merrick came up beside her. He froze when he caught sight of what she was holding.

“How come there aren’t any more pictures of you two together?”

His face shuttered closed. He took the photo and put it back on his desk. “They didn’t take anything. I’d like to head over to the station now, if you don’t mind. I want to find out what happened to the cases I was working, if anyone took them over.” He didn’t wait for an answer. He just left the room.

Sydney watched him go. She glanced back at the picture. The little girl smiled back at her, reminding her painstakingly of her brother Aaron. She swallowed the lump in her throat and left the room.

Merrick was waiting by the front door.

He gave her directions to the station, even told her to stay inside the car when they got there, but this time she refused.

They argued for a good two minutes before Merrick gave up and said she could do whatever the fuck she wanted.

She didn’t understand what the big deal was, but as soon as they entered the station she knew why Merrick had wanted her to stay in the car. He didn’t want her to see how the others treated him.

“Well, well, well,” a man with a straining belly said as soon as they walked in. He smelled of coffee and looked like he was a few days overdue on his shower. “Look who came back from Camelot, Merrick the magical. Or was it Merrick the mad?”

“Nice to see you too, Russell,” Merrick bit out.

Russell’s oily dark gaze slithered over Sydney, making her skin crawl. “Nice piece of tail,” he said with a nod in her direction. “Where’d you find her? The high school bleachers?”

Sydney flushed, her hands fisting.

Merrick moved in the blink of an eye.

Sydney heard the sound of flesh impacting flesh. Russell swore. He staggered back a few steps before he lost his footing and went down on his ass.

She bit back the smug smile that tugged at her lips.

Another officer came over after the commotion. He stared down at Russell who was now cupping his jaw and trying to mop up his split lip.

“Jesus, Russell,” the newcomer said. “Can’t you go ten minutes without opening your mouth?”

Russell got to his feet with a baleful glare directed at Merrick. He swiped at his lip again before storming off.

The man watched him go with a shake of his head. “Sorry about that,” he said, turning to them. “Russell’s a piece of work, always has been and always will be.” He shook hands with Merrick. “It’s good to see you again, Merrick. Word was that you’d moved on to greener pastures.” The man’s gaze darted to Sydney and he gave Merrick a quick smile. “I see the rumors are true?”

Merrick shook his head. “Family emergency. This is Sydney, a colleague of mine helping me on a new case.”

Sydney tried not to wince at the term colleague. Was that all he thought of her as?

“Sydney,” Merrick said, “This is Detective Stokes. Steven Stokes.”

“Please,” Steven held out his hand to her, “call me Steve.”

He had a firm grip. “It’s very nice to meet you, Steve.”

His blue eyes sparkled. “Likewise. So, what brings you back here, Haskell?”

Merrick tucked his hands into his pockets. “Did you hear anything in regards to my cases? The ones I was working before … I had to take off?”

Steve scratched at his chin. “Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure someone came by and dropped off your files and notes. You had an arrangement made, right?”

Merrick nodded slowly. “You said you’d take care of my cases in the event that I couldn’t finish them.”

Steve snapped his fingers. “That’s right. Now I remember, it was a few months ago when I got a huge box delivered to me. You had quite the handful of cases. I was able to solve most of them. Some weren’t very difficult at all. I don’t know why you even took on some of the customers you did.”

“I have to make my rent somehow.”

Steve nodded. “True enough. Come on back to my office and I’ll show you the cases.”

Sydney followed behind Merrick. She couldn’t help but notice how everyone looked and pointed at him before whispering to their co-workers.

Merrick kept his gaze forward but Sydney knew he could hear what was being said, the major give away being his back was ramrod straight.

He tried to act indifferent, but Sydney knew what it was like to be the center of unwanted attention. She’d been the only twelve-year-old at her high school. If people thought she looked young now they had no idea how young she looked when she was twelve. Super small and childlike, she’d been the constant source of whispers down the hallways. Most would make fun of her size, but there were a few others who would attack her with more scathing comments. She knew they only envied her academic skill. It wasn’t her fault that she’d excelled in her classes and had been able to skip grades.

Steve led them into a private office and excused himself while he went to get Merrick’s box full of cases.

“Don’t let them get to you,” she said as soon as the door shut.

Merrick jerked around to look at her.

She gestured to the door. “All those people out there whispering? They’re not worth your notice.”

“And you have experience in this department, how?”

She told him about her high school. “The most embarrassing moment of my life was when the school threw the Backwards Dance. It’s like Sadie Hawkins except for some reason my school liked to use a different name. Anyway, I had the biggest crush on the star quarterback. Brandon Archer. He was a senior but I didn’t care. I went up to him one day after our advanced algebra class. He was already surrounded by his group of friends but I went over anyway and asked him to the dance. I figured I better get to him first before any other girls.”

“What happened?” Merrick’s muscles were tense. Was he still on edge from earlier? Or was that menacing glint in his eyes on behalf of her?

When they locked gazes she got her answer. Her stomach fluttered and she looked away. She cleared her throat. “I asked him and his whole group got really silent. Brandon studied me for the longest time, probably unsure if it was a prank or not. Either way he turned me down flat, said he didn’t date twelve-year-olds and if he ever wanted to rob the cradle he’d go after a more developed child.”

The tendons and veins in Merrick’s neck stood out. “Fucking bastard,” he hissed.

“He was,” she said. She wasn’t going to disagree with him. “But the point is that I didn’t let it get in my way. I was the talk of the school for a month straight after that little stunt, especially when everyone thought I didn’t go to the dance because I was rejected. In reality I was too busy helping my parents at the vet clinic to make it to the dance. I’m getting off subject again, but Merrick, don’t let what those people out there say about you get to you. They’re probably just jealous. I’m guessing that Russell guy is one of the ones that got upset when you started succeeding in solving all your cases?”

Merrick gave a humorless laugh. “Russell was the tip of the iceberg. He was also the most outspoken, as you got to experience firsthand. You saw everyone out there whispering, that’s what it was like. Russell wasn’t one of few or one of many; he was one out of everyone. They all held some kind of animosity toward me.”

“Steve didn’t seem so bad.”

Something like sadness washed through his expression. “Steve’s better at hiding it. I think he tries harder because we were best friends in the academy. He was a great detective and when I started to one-up him … I think he felt more angered than any of the others but he didn’t want to admit it. He hid his jealousy well but I still heard others talking, mentioning things Steve had said about me behind my back.”

“You mean he pretended to be your friend while he talked about you behind your back? What a jerk. What an ass.”

Merrick’s brows arched.

“You heard me. He’s an ass.” She glared at the door where Steve had exited a few minutes ago.

When Steve returned carrying a cardboard box, Sydney continued to glare at him. He paused in the doorway, startled by her sudden hostility.

Merrick leaned back in his chair, smiling.

Merrick watched in amusement as Steve slowly tiptoed around Sydney to place the box down on his desk.

She was like a fierce, protective kitten the way she glowered at Steve for him. A familiar yearning came over him. One he pushed away.

He wasn’t that type of guy, no matter what the station used to whisper about him — he didn’t go after taken women.
He wouldn’t.
Everyone thought he was that kind of guy and he guessed he should have been. What with how everyone gossiped about him behind his back and how all the department wives looked at him. He could have easily slid into the sleaze ball category but he was better than that.

Except when dealing with a certain blonde.

He tried to distract himself but too late he was bombarded with images and sensations from last night when he’d had her pressed against the wall of Felix’s house.

For some reason when he was in the heat of the moment his conscience always decided to take a vacation. He became nothing but a product of animalistic need and want, left later to rage at himself for his lack of moral judgment.

“Here’s a pile of all the ones I was able to close.” Steve dipped into the cardboard box and pulled out an impressive stack of folders, effectively drawing Merrick’s attention away from thoughts of Sydney.

Merrick slid the cases across the desk to look through them.

Steve watched as he leaned against his desk. “Looking for anything in particular?”

“The MacGregor case.” Merrick looked up. “It’s not here. Where is it?”

Steve’s face darkened. He pushed the box toward Merrick. “It must still be in here then.”

Merrick didn’t say a word. He got up and started to dig through the files.

“You’ve been gone a long time,” Steve piped up. “I doubt you’ll even need to finish those cases. I’d throw them all out if I were you.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not me,” Merrick growled under his breath. He reached the bottom of the box. “It’s not here. Is there another box anywhere?”

One look at Steve’s face and Merrick knew he was going to make this difficult for him. He shouldn’t have demanded the whereabouts of the folder. Steve didn’t like being ordered around by someone who wasn’t his superior.

Steve leaned back and shrugged. “Like I said, it was a long time ago. I’m pretty sure this was the only box.”

Merrick bit down on his temper as he retook his seat. “Can you double check for me?” He swallowed his pride and gazed up at Steve. “Please?”

His strategically placed submissive seating and comment worked. Steve smiled and got to his feet. “I guess I can have another look since you asked so nicely. I’ll be right back.” He turned his smug grin on Sydney. She glared at him and his smile slipped.

Merrick held back a bark of laughter.

“I’m sorry I ever thought that man was anything but a jerk,” Sydney said when the door clicked shut.

He waved her off as he leaned forward to continue poking through his old cases. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. There’s nothing wrong with you trying to see the good in everyone.”

She made a thoughtful noise in her throat before scooting closer to him. “So why are you so determined to get your stuff back on that one case? Are you still going to solve it? What’s it about?”

Merrick carefully put down the file he was holding. He glanced at Sydney through the corner of his eye. She was sitting patiently, hair falling around her face, eyes bright and eager to learn. He didn’t mind her curiosity. In fact, her constant urge to learn was something he loved about her. She had an analytical mind, like him. It was that same reason why he hesitated in explaining the case to her. Would she put the pieces together after being in his house? Would she see the connection between his need to find this missing girl and the reason why he didn’t have any more pictures of his sister?

He’d never really talked about his sister with anyone who wasn’t family. She had her own special corner in his heart where he kept her locked safely away.

“Well?” Sydney prodded gently.

He opened his mouth, ready to tell her that it didn’t really matter what the case was about. But instead he found himself telling her the truth. “The case is about a missing girl, Sandy MacGregor, age fourteen. She was taken from her home one day after school while she waited alone for her mom to get off work.”

He could see the gears working in her head and he kept going before he lost his nerve. “I’m going to solve Sandy’s case. Her mom deserves peace of mind. Even if it comes four months late.” He only hoped she was still living in Anaheim, that she didn’t get up and leave when Merrick failed to find her daughter.

“Because you never got peace of mind?” Sydney asked softly.

He flinched. She rested her hand on his arm, the connection felt all the way to his soul. They locked eyes. “It’s because of your sister, isn’t it?”

The question was like a punch to the gut.

“That’s why you didn’t say anything when I asked about her picture. At first I thought maybe you just had a falling out but that’s not it, is it? She went missing?”

He couldn’t stand the look in her eyes. “I wasn’t there for her when I should have been. We were supposed to walk home from school together but I stayed after. I told her I’d catch up, only I never did.”

His guilt ate at him. He’d done such a good job at burying it, and now he was ripping the wound wide open. He should have kept his mouth shut. He should have —

“My little brother died of cancer.”

Merrick blinked.