Except she did understand that Rafe was trying his best to keep her safe. Gideon had ridden shotgun while Sasha drove. Farrah and Daisy had driven over with Erin Rhee, who’d been obviously armed.

Because, Rafe had explained, Ephraim was armed and had killed at least three people in the hours since his attempted airport abduction. Three people, two of whom were completely innocent. The poor woman from the airport, an innocent college girl in a costume store, and a woman who ran a prostitution ring. My God.

She knew Ephraim Burton was a monster, but three people . . .

She wanted to run away, but nowhere was safe. Ephraim was out there somewhere, wielding at least two handguns, snapping necks and killing anyone who got in his way. She wouldn’t put any of the people in this room in danger by running off by herself.

There was impetuous, and there was stupid. I may be impetuous, but I’m not stupid.

“Mercy?” Gideon asked, his voice cutting through her thoughts. “What do you think?”

She sighed. “Sorry. I wasn’t listening.”

“It’s loud in here,” Rafe murmured. “Do you need to leave?”

She shook her head. Everyone had gathered here to help her. She was going to focus, even if it made her sick. At least she now knew where the nearest bathroom was.

“Can you repeat it, please?” she asked.

Gideon’s smile was gentle. “Sure. Daisy has an interview set up for you with a reporter at one of the TV stations in the city. It’s tonight, if that’s all right.”

Mercy nodded. “Better to get it over with. Maybe it will make all the other news vans leave us alone if they see there’s no story.”

“From your mouth to God’s ears,” Karl said. “And the video is no longer on any website that we could find.”

Mercy’s face heated. Seeing that video for the first time had been one of the top five lowest points in her life. Hearing it discussed so clinically was . . . rough. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“We’ll go with you to the station,” Karl said steadily. “We won’t let you be alone.”

Mercy opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again. Denying this family’s support would be too rude.

“But if Mercy needs quiet time afterward, we’ll let her have it, right, Dad?” Rafe said.

Karl nodded. “Of course.”

Mercy nodded. “Thank you.” Then, following her instincts, she leaned over to kiss the older man’s stubbled cheek. “You’re all very wonderful. I can see why Gideon loves you so much.”

Karl actually blushed.

“Let’s move on to the notion of using Eden’s trading practices to track them,” Gideon went on. “I’ve let my boss at the Bureau know about the furniture and crafts. They’ve got a team working to find all the possible examples of Eden products. Thank you for bringing us this lead.”

Mercy kept her smile mild. “Anytime.”

Beside her, Rafe snorted. “I’ll remember that tone. If you ever direct it at me, I’m gonna run.”