Page 36 of Going Down Smooth: Part Two

Alister picks up, but there’s screams of pain in the background. “Knight. Shit, I hope everything is okay, because whatever it is, I’m a little busy having a kid,” he says frantically down the line.

“You’re not having the kid! I’m having the kid! You all are standing around doing fuck all!” Grace’s voice booms, then she groans in pain. Holy shit. The baby is coming.

“Alister, look, Mercy has been abducted from the hospital. It’s complicated, and too long of an explanation, considering your current situation. I am calling because we need police support,” Knight says quickly as we all continue to hear Mercy’s sister scream through the speaker.

“Everything is happening today. I want to know more, but now is not the time. I am going to call my partner who is up to date with what’s going on with Mercy. I will give him a call and he can meet you with a team of police. It looks like we are all here. If I can, I will try to come and find you when he arrives. Okay, let me make some calls. I need to go,” Alister says as Grace screams his name as the call cuts off.

“Okay,” Knight and I both say as we turn our attention to Quincy, who was listening in on the call.

“We are tracking her location now,” Quincy says.

“So as soon as we get a lock on her location, we are going for her. We don’t know what kind of danger she’s in.” Knight states, leaving no room for any argument.

“Look, I know you want to go in there with your guns blazing, but we have to do this right. If we rush in or make ourselves known too soon, we could end up getting her killed. Let’s wait for Alister’s partner, liaise with his team, and then we go and get your mate back,” Quincy replies, his hands raised in surrender as he tries to reason with Knight and me.

“Damn it,” I mutter under my breath. Who knows where they are taking her? What might they do to her? I can’t just sit here and do nothing, but Quincy is right, we can’t just rush in without a plan.

“Found her!” Mac shouts as Nate whoops in excitement.

“Where?” Quincy asks.

“Guiding Light Baptist Church” Mac says, slowly reading the name.

The room goes quiet at the sound of the name. Quincy looks puzzled as he glances at our unreadable faces. “Do you know that church?”

“Yeah, it belongs to Mercy’s father, Christopher.”

TWENTY

MERCY

My head pounds with the blinding intensity of a migraine. My limbs are weighed down with what feels like cement blocks as I lay on my side unable to move. The pain radiating from my side is my only clue to how rough my captors have been. I am not sure if anything is broken or not. I can only hope the extent of my injuries consist of nasty bruises. I don’t think I could go through the pain of broken ribs again.

The sound of muffled cries next to me fills the air as my brain slowly takes stock of my body and surroundings. The smell of incense, candle wax, and the paper from what I can only assume is hymnals and bibles hits my nose. Instantly I’m on high alert. I have inhaled those scents my entire life and would know them anywhere.

I am laying on the floor of my father’s church, and from the smell, we are in the sanctuary, possibly tossed between the pews. My arms aren’t bound, and neither are my legs, but whatever they’ve given me keeps me immobile. All I can do is lie here and wait.

The sound of a door swinging closed followed by the sound of several heavy footsteps has me going limp. Maybe if I can pretend to still be knocked out, it will give my guys time to find me. I can feel their anxiety, fear, and urgency, so I know it’s only a matter of time before they arrive. The devastation I feel through our bond makes my throat burn as I fight the need to cry. I know they will only blame themselves for this. Like before though, this is on me.

Mercy, Mercy, didn’t you learn your lesson? I feel a sense of déjà vu as I tell myself I should have waited. But I was in the hospital, which was full of security, I should have been safe. Nobody would suspect the little old lady following me into the elevator. I know it’s not my fault exactly, but I can’t go through my life with my Alphas glued to my hips. Well, Lox may beg to differ, especially after my second brush with death and danger in less than three months. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t secretly inject me with a tracker. God, if he did, I will be more grateful than angry. We will have a talk about boundaries, of course. But with my growing list of enemies and bad guys popping up like targets at a shooting range, maybe a tracker would be beneficial. Hmm . . .maybe I need to learn to shoot as well. I make a mental note to beg Freeya to get Dez on board with her learning too. I think we both need to up our self-defense game.

“How much ketamine did you give her, you imbecile?” The sound of Christopher’s voice makes chills run down my spine, and I’m immediately pissed. I’m so angry at him for everything he’s done to me, to Faith. I want to get up from here and beat the shit out of him. My father, the man who used to bandage my knees and carry us on his back through the woods. He should be saving me, not trying to kill me or go through with whatever bad intentions he has in store for me.

“Enough to put down a fucking elephant, that’s how much,” Derrick sneers, then chuckles from somewhere in the room.

“You fool, if you harmed her before I can get what I need, I will kill you myself! Do you know how many things have gone wrong these past few weeks? I can’t leave anything to chance. This should have all been over by now. If Stefan had come through with those schematics. But no, he’s M.I.A., possibly dead in a ditch somewhere. I underestimated Knight and Lox, formidable, but not enough to save her in the end.” Christopher snarls in outrage. I try to keep my breathing steady so no one notices I am listening.

“Do you see this scar she left on Chasson’s face? I’m not taking any chances with this feral bitch. She needs correction. Knight and his pack have no clue how to tame an Omega like her.” Derrick’s words only fuel my hatred for him, Chasson, and Mal.

Who the hell does he think he is? I need to be corrected, tamed! Fuck you, Derrick! Is that what they did to my sister, corrected her, tamed her? No, you fuckers broke her to the point she wanted to die.

“Maybe when you get what you need you can give her to us. Faith was defective. She tried—”

“I will not have you talk about my daughter in such a way!” Christopher shouts. Like he actually gives a damn. If he feels so passionately about the horrendous things they are saying about her, then why did he give her to them? He has no idea of the damage he has caused.

“Look, we didn’t expect her to harm herself in that way. She can usually take a hit and keep on ticking. I think she finally reached her limit. By the time we found her, she was too far gone to save,” Mal says so nonchalantly that I want to rip him to pieces.

“Enough!” Christopher roars. “I don’t want to know. I stand to lose too much, sacrificed so much for the greater good. My mate, my pack, have all but abandoned me, and now my daughter is lost to me,” he states. I guess hearing about your daughter attempting suicide, which is a big sin in his eyes, is just too unbearable for him to hear. He knows she’s alive, it’s why he sent Miss Caroline to the hospital. But there is no way in hell Derrick and his packmates will set eyes on her again.

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