Page 37 of Going Down Smooth: Part Two

Wait, did he just say his mate and pack? I didn’t get a chance to see my parents, but if this is true, then is it possible they know what he’s done? I know my mother and Edward have been keeping their distance and Christopher hasn’t been home since the day she made him leave the hospital. Maybe he knows he’s lost them both.

“Look, just make yourselves useful. Get them up. You’d better hope she is okay. She is worth more alive than dead, you fool,” Christopher says, as if I’m some priceless object and not a human being. I feel a harsh hand wrap around my ankle and suddenly I am being yanked forward and tossed onto a pew. My body immediately slumps to the side. I may be awake, but I don’t know if I can sit up yet.

A wave of nausea hits me suddenly and I have no choice but to visibly retch, my mouth opens with an audible gag and the men in the room go quiet. Tears sting my eyes and my stomach contracts again, bile and saliva pool in my mouth, making me drool. I would be embarrassed, but I really don’t give a shit what any of them thinks.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” Christopher beams at me, looking like a psychotic maniac. “Mercy, you have caused me a lot of pain and suffering, Daughter. Too much. I always knew you would be a problem. If you had never come back. . .well, you wouldn’t be sitting here, but you know your dad always spoiled you, even in death. Ben always believed you would return, you know. He and Edward were always hopeful. I am glad you ran, it put me one step closer to my goal. Power. Control. If you had gone through with the mating ceremony, he would have eventually handed you the keys. You didn’t deserve that.” He shrugs as Derrick lifts my body into a sitting position and holds me there.

“Fu—ck you,” I spit out along with some more drool that’s making its way down my chin. Disgusting.

“So willful,” Derrick says as he grips my hair tight and forces my head to look in Christopher’s direction.

Christopher claps his hands as no one in the room is paying any attention to him. “Now. Your transport will be here soon so let me get to the point of all this,” he says as the sound of Miss Caroline’s sobs interrupts him.

“Ple—ase, Christopher you promised. I did what you asked. Why am I still here?” I can hear regret in her voice as she looks over at me. I can barely see her out of my periphery. She has blood stains down the side of her face, her clothes are torn, and my heart aches at the sight. She didn’t ask for this.

“Oh, but, Caroline, I’m afraid I can’t let you go. Your mates understood that when I put a bullet in their heads. I thought you would understand it as well. I can’t have any witnesses, you know,” Christopher says so compassionately, it’s borderline psycho. I look at this man, he is a stranger to me. How did my mother, sisters, and myself ever love him?

Miss Caroline screams, her voice rising higher and higher at Christopher’s confession. Tears run down my cheeks as I watch her fall apart mourning the death of her mates. “You son of a bitch! She didn’t deserve any of this! How could you be so cruel? What the fuck is wrong with you?” I shout, surprising myself at the strength in my voice, in fact, I feel as if I can finally sit up on my own. I yank myself out of Derrick’s hold as another wave of nausea hits me as heat washes over me in an intense wave. Oh no. Please, God, no.

“I did what you said. I got her to you. I did what you said!” Miss Caroline pleads, grief-stricken as she rocks back and forth in her seat. She looks over to me, her teary eyes meeting mine. “I didn’t mean you any harm, Mercy, I would never hurt you, I would—”

The sound of a gun going off startles me, my body jerking in fright. My heart pounds as I watch blood and tissue spill from a hole in the middle of Miss Caroline’s head. Her body drops, folding in on herself like a puppet whose strings had been cut by the puppeteer controlling her in the seat, as screams, my screams, fill the air.

He shot her.

He shot her right in front of me. My body begins to shake uncontrollably at the sight of her lifeless body.

“She is a loose end. I can’t have her telling anyone what happened here today. Shhh. . .Mercy, shhh . . .” Christopher says calmly. “Now, what I need you to do is sign over Smooth Bourbon. This is not a negotiation, but a demand. Just your signature and you get to leave here unharmed.”

“Hell no!” I shout. “You’re fucking mental. I will never sign anything over to you, so if you’re going to kill me, then do it. If I die, the company goes to my mates, and there’s no way you will get your greedy, dirty, motherfucking hands on it,” I say as my anger rises.

Am I afraid? Fuck yes. Do I want to die? Hell no. Am I going to need another ten years of therapy on top of all my other trauma? Absolutely. But I will not let this motherfucker win. Yep, profanities are all I can muster as adrenaline floods my limbs. The need to do something, anything, to put some distance between myself and them, is strong. I know I can’t fight four Alphas, but if I can just get to my feet.

“Oh, Mercy, you talk a big game,” Christopher says as Derrick grips my shoulder tight, pinning me to my seat. I don’t react to the pain. I’m too busy trying to find a way out of this. Mal and Chasson grab Miss Caroline’s body and I watch in relief as they leave the room with her corpse. Okay, two Alphas out of the way, the odds are suddenly in my favor. “I won’t harm you, Daughter. Like I said before, you are worth more alive than dead. You’re being sold. There are a lot of buyers eager to get their hands on the infamous Omega who believes she can be an Alpha.” He spreads his arms widely, like he’s doing me a kindness as he offers me a satisfied smile, his eyes filled with a manic sort of glee. I struggle in Derrick’s hold again, but his grip only tightens as Christopher turns and reaches for a stack of papers.

“Now, we are running out of time. Your chariot awaits, you have a plane to catch, then you never have to see me again. You will vanish, poof, and I will tell the world that you ran. You know all about running, don’t you, Mercy? Your Alphas will find a new Omega. They are used to rejection. They will get over it, again. Now, sign.” He holds out the papers and pen expectantly. I eye the pen, look up at Christopher, and smile slowly.

I grab the paper between my fingers and his eyes light up with delight. He thinks I am going to give him what he wants. “You’re right, I am good at running,” I say in mock sadness, letting him see that everything he just said has cut me deeply. And the Academy award goes to. . . I know I won’t get but one chance, and with the drugs still in my system, I don’t know how far I will get before they catch me, but I have to try. I have to try. I press the pen to the paper and hang my head in defeat. Everything happens in a burst of speed, well, as much speed as I can summon. I strike out, jabbing the pen upward and behind me. The sickening squelching sound makes my stomach roll with nausea. Derrick roars, releasing an ear-piercing scream. He releases his hold on me to cover his injured eye. Another gunshot goes off, making me flinch, but I don’t give myself time to wonder who could be coming through the door as I make myself move. Christopher bellows in outrage behind me as I spring to my feet and take off down the aisle toward the front of the church. I hear pounding feet behind me, but I don’t look back. I do what I do best. I run.

* * *

TREY

“Target has been spotted. I have visual inside the church,” the voice of one of Dez’s security personnel says quietly in the earpiece I’m wearing.

We are all hidden in the shadows amongst the trees surrounding the church. The sun is beginning to set, and I am just happy that we’re finally here. My songbird is inside, so close, yet too damn far away. It took hours for Alister’s partner to arrive at the hospital with a team of police officers. It took even longer for them to come up with a plan that wouldn’t lead to Mercy getting hurt in the process.

“There are procedures put in place for a reason,” Brad, Alister’s partner kept reminding us every time one us snapped in frustration at the delay with their incessant need to plan.

“Roger, that, Mark,” Quincy’s voice breaks through the silence.

The four of us know these woods like the back of our hands so we were allowed to take point as we made our way through the trees from a side access road. Police surround the perimeter so no one can get away. Derrick, Mal, and Chasson evaded Dez’s team once, Quincy is not about to let it happen a second time. For what they did to Mercy, and to their own mate, they deserve to rot in jail.

I scan the trees, noting my brothers’ locations and I realize that I am closest to the front door. It would be so easy to reach the steps and make my way inside, but I know that’s not the plan. I am not usually the one to go charging headfirst into danger, but my love for Mercy has made me see an entirely different side to myself. I am practically bouncing with nervous energy. I can feel Mercy’s panic, and it only makes me want to get to her. I know I am not the only one. Lox is gripping the tree so hard, I’m afraid for the bark. Knight is behind me at an angle, his eyes fixed forward as he watches the front of the church. I turn and see Nate is not far behind, he is crouched low to the ground, as if he’s ready for a gun to go off, signaling the start of a race.

“We have eyes on the van, Brad. You might want to call the coroner, we have a visual on two males and a female body,” one of the police officers whispers, his voice strained. “I will continue my recon around the back of the church,” he continues before it goes quiet again.

“Coroner’s enroute, but they will hang back until we are done,” Brad states matter-of-factly. My thoughts turn to Mercy. Who knows what Christopher is doing inside, what any of them are doing? I’m even worried for Miss Caroline. It was clear earlier that she had been threatened. Who did those bodies belong to? Miss Caroline is a Beta. Her pack consists of two Alphas and their Omega Betty. I hope, oh God, I hope it’s not them, I wonder as the sound of a gun goes off inside.

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