J advanced on Caroline, towering over her small frame as he yanked her to her feet again. Another blow to her face and this time Caroline didn’t move when she hit the floor. “Dammit, he’s going to fucking kill her.”
Merc shoved his binocs into his pants pocket and jumped to his feet. He took off at a crouched run to the east wall, slamming his back against the concrete surface as he looked down at his watch. Fifteen seconds.
There was no way she’d last long enough waiting on his backup to arrive, and Merc wouldn’t take the chance on her life. Just like he wouldn’t miss his opportunity to question Mr. J.
“Hold position, en route,” Hunter said.
Merc yanked out his rappelling gun. He’d have to move fast; the roving patrols were almost in position for him to breach.
Hunter’s voice crackled in his ear again. “Dammit, Merc, wait for backup.”
Caroline’s scream shot out through the night sky. Merc checked his watch again. Eight seconds. “Can’t.”
He turned and faced the wall, lifting the small rappelling gun.Three. Two. One.He fired. Metal flew through the air and chinked into the top corner of the wall. Merc triggered the pulley and his feet lifted off the ground.
He grabbed the wall, pulled himself up and peered over the edge into the empty courtyard. With lightning-quick reflexes, he yanked himself up on top of the wall, quickly replacing the small gun at his hip, and jumped down to land silently on the pads of his feet in the paved courtyard. A quick glance at his watch revealed he had less than forty-five seconds to make it to the balcony and disappear over its edge.
Like a machine, he ran straight for the balcony overhead. When he was nearly underneath, he fired the rappelling gun and leapt into the air. Using his momentum, he slung his feet upward and flipped over the edge of the balcony, landing in a crouch just to the left of the open archway. He crept to the side of the open doorway, keeping his body plastered the wall.
Caroline’s soft, scared voice drifted out. “I don’t know anything. I told you.”
Merc heard another thud, the sickening sound of a fist smacking into flesh, and his gut twisted. He yanked his pistol from its holster and spun into the room, weapon raised, and took aim for J’s head.
J had Caroline clutched in front of him with a needle pressed against her jugular, but that wasn't what gave Merc pause. It was the black vest with rows upon rows of explosives hanging on Caroline's torso and a small black button clutched in the hand wrapped around her waist.
A satisfied smile curled J's lips, crinkling the fine lines around his eyes. Silver colored his midnight-black hair, his age finally starting to show, but doing nothing to hide the evil emanating from his pores. “So the prodigal son returns.”
Something sinister burst inside Merc. It was too full of evil to be called hate; it was something else. Some ugly monster born and nurtured out of the need for revenge. “Don't call me son, bastard.”
“Now, now, if it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn't be the man you are today.” Mr. J hitched his arm up higher around Caroline's throat, and she clutched at his arm reflectively, her tiny hands like a kitten trying to fight off a tiger.
Merc felt his muscles rip around his bones. His grip tightened on the pistol aimed straight on Mr. J's right eye. “I always knew you were a sick bastard, but kidnapping women at their wedding? It's not really your style.”
“I never really considered myself a man of style. It's too predictable. How long did it take you to track me down? Two years? I knew where you were every second of every day.”
“The two years were worth it, since you're going to die tonight.” J would pay blood for blood for every single death.
“Am I really? I don't think I feel like dying tonight.”
Merc didn't like the satisfaction lingering in J’s expression, but then again, he didn't really give a fuck either. “Let the girl go. This is between you and me.”
“You don't give the orders. I do.” Mr. J's gaze darkened slightly. “And what you're going to do right now is holster that weapon.”
“Not a chance.” Merc didn’t move.
Mr. J pressed the needle harder against Caroline's throat and she swallowed convulsively, silently begging him to rescue her. A protective instinct unlike any he’d ever felt welled deep inside.
“I think we both know that although I enjoy holding this power over the senator, I won't hesitate to sink this needle into her neck. Do you know how many different types of poisons are out there? No, you wouldn't. I never taught you about poisons, did I? This particular little concoction is a derivative of nightshade, one of the deadliest plants on the planet.” Mr. J spoke calmly and without emotion, except for the banked glee of being in control that even he couldn't disguise. “The active ingredient adheres to the cells and breaks them apart, killing the host from the inside out. And it doesn't happen in seconds. It takes hours. Long, agonizing hours of suffering and intense pain and knowing that you're going to die.”
Merc's finger shifted, itching to end J’s life, but unable to take the risk. If J’s finger so much as twitched on the button, they’d all die. If he even nicked her skin with the needle, Caroline Cotter would die. He had no doubt that Mr. J held poison to her throat.
“Do you really want to cause her that much suffering? Are you willing to do that just to get back at me for some falsely perceived injustice against you?”
“Falsely perceived injustice?” How could J even say that? “There's no false perception about your betrayal. You tried to have my entire team murdered. Did you really think we would let your raid on our homes go? Your attack could have killed my teammates’ families.”
“Only after you came after me and mine.”
“What about faking your own death? Putting us at risk on that mission in the Indus Valley? What the fuck was that?” Merc countered.
