Page 35 of Going Down Smooth: Part Two

“Start at the ER entrance and go from there. You guys arrived about thirty minutes ago, so let’s rewind from there,” Quincy states. All we can do is wait. The tapping of fingers typing away with speed and precision is the only sound in the room.

“There she is!” Nate shouts in surprise as Mac stops the rewind and lets the footage playback. Sure enough, there’s my little mouse speaking to the receptionist. There’s no sound but I am sure she is asking for Faith’s locations. She turns a few seconds later, as if she is waiting for us, but then she waves to the nurse and walks down the hallway to where I know the elevators are.Damn it, mouse, if you had waited just a few minutes.

“Bring up the feed near the elevators. The ones leading up to the VIP wing.” Quincy quickly barks out the next task and the monitors change as we watch him rewind until we see Mercy approach the elevators. She’s waiting patiently, still looking out for us when a woman rushes toward her.

“Wait, wait. Is that Miss Caroline?” Knight asks, pointing to the screen as his eyes narrow at the screen in confusion.

“Why would Miss Caroline be here this early? Is she sick?” I ponder out loud not expecting an answer.

“She looks a mess. Are you guys seeing what I am seeing? She’s not even wearing a coat?” Trey says with suspicion, making me look closer. Miss Caroline’s appearance is nothing short of impeccable every time I’ve seen her, but looking at her disheveled hair pulled up in a loose bun, in what looks like—

“Is she in pajamas?” I ask incredulously as I look at my brothers, my mouth falls open in horror.

“Let’s watch and see what happens,” Knight says as he turns our attention back to the screen. I see their mouths moving and wish these cameras had sound so we could hear their exchange. The elevator doors open, Mercy walks in, and Miss Caroline follows in haste. Then, we lose visual on them.

“Elevator cameras, Mac, stay with them,” Quincy commands harshly, but Mac doesn’t react, he immediately gets to work bringing up the camera in the elevator.

“I got eyes,” Mac confirms as he adjusts the camera, zooming in on Mercy with her back to Miss Caroline, who is looking more and more anxious by the second.

I growl in frustration as I shift from foot to foot. “I hate that we can’t hear a damn thing.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t get you audio. Most buildings don’t have that type of surveillance. It would make our lives ten times easier if they did,” Mac says matter-of-factly as he continues to click away at the keyboard.

“Wait, what is Miss Caroline doing?” Nate’s panicked question brings me back to the monitor screen. I see Mercy is talking to her, but Miss Caroline slowly pulls something out of her purse, her hand is shaking as we watch in what feels like it’s in slow motion when she plunges a needle into Mercy’s arm.

“What the fuck!” I shout, my heart begins to beat wildly in my chest at the sight of Mercy stumbling toward Miss Caroline only for the older lady to evade her. We all watch in stunned silence as the elevator stops abruptly. Mercy hits the back wall and slides to the floor like a rag doll. It’s clear that whatever was in that needle was meant to incapacitate her.

“Why? Why would Miss Caroline do this? She’s been supporting Mercy and Freeya for months now. This is not the woman we grew up with. Something is wrong!” Knight begins to pace in the tiny room we are in.

“Does she support Mercy’s father, Christopher? Could he have gotten to her somehow?” Quincy muses out loud but none of us reply. My eyes are on my mate as her body slumped further to the floor. It is clear Miss Caroline is in distress, her hands are flailing wildly as tears run down her face. Knight may be right, but I can’t find it in my heart to care about her after watching this.

The elevator begins to move again. Miss Caroline pulls a phone from her pocket and begins to talk into it. She is sobbing, but all I want to know is who she is talking to.

“Where are they going?” Quincy asks, his eyes searching until he finds Sam, the security guard, holding up the back wall behind us. “Sam, where would you exit if you didn’t want someone to see you. Is there any access—”

“The maintenance level, sir,” Sam says nervously as he walks forward. “This elevator goes down to the maintenance level. It’s used mostly by janitors and morticians. There’s an exit that takes you out near the incinerators and trash disposal,” he replies a little more confidently now.

“Mac!” Quincy shouts.

“Yep!” Mac replies, pulling up the cameras on the maintenance level just as the elevator doors open.

There’s an audible gasp as we take in the scene in front of us. Quincy curses under his breath and pulls out his phone, typing furiously. “Dez is going to lose his shit. How did they manage to arrive without our notice? I need to call our team back. They are still out there looking for these assholes,” he says frantically.

We watch in horror as Derrick, Chasson, and Mal wait by the elevator, then my gaze shifts as Derrick walks toward a semi-conscious Mercy in the elevator. Chasson yanks Miss Caroline out of there and hits her over the head with the butt of his gun. Mercy is clearly trying to fight to stay awake, but the drugs are doing their work. The room erupts into growls of rage as Mercy passes out and Derrick puts his hands on our mate, lifting her up and tossing her over his shoulder.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Trey shouts in panic as he snatches his glasses off his face.

“Is there a camera out back?” Knight asks with the same level of panic. My eyes don’t leave the screen as Mercy’s unconscious body swings back and forth. Chasson practically drags Miss Caroline along the floor like she's a dog on a leash. All I see is red, and their blood will be on my hands.

“Here,” Mac says to get our attention. A black van sits outside of the exit doors, the front view blocked by a massive trash disposal, but we can see the back door easily enough. We watch helplessly as Mal opens the back doors and Miss Caroline and Mercy are tossed inside. They all rush to jump into the van and seconds later they are speeding away with my life, my future, my everything.

“I can tap into traffic cameras but it’s going to take me a minute. Is there a way you can track her?” Mac turns in the swivel chair, waiting patiently, as all four of us pull ourselves together. This is not the time to fall apart, we have our mate to save.

“Her phone!” Nate snaps. “She should have it on her. I doubt those idiots patted her down.”

“Okay, I can work with that. Give me her number,” he says, gesturing for Nate to move in next to him, and both of them get to work.

“I’m calling Alister. Dez is not available, I don’t want to trouble him with this. Plus, we need the local police. Who knows what we are about to walk into,” Knight says, seeming to have regained his composure. He puts his phone on speaker.

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