Page 54 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

“I’m not sure sad is the word I’d choose.”

Jackson turns to me. “We have a spare bed and an air mattress, so I was thinking we’d put the air mattress on the floor of the spare bedroom. Ellis, you can have the bed since you didn’t abduct the wrong person.”

“I could literally sleep on a floor and be fine with it, I’m so tired,” I assure him. “But is there a way I can contact my mom? So she knows I’m okay?”

“I have a phone you could do that on. You can actually keep it. It’s untraceable, so do whatever you’d like on it,” Leland says as he heads off to grab a phone that’s probably super illegal. I’m grateful for it regardless and hurry over to the spare room they point me to. I’m glad to be alone as I call my mom’s number, but the person who answers is definitely not my mom.

Anxiety fills me until the woman goes “This is Ward,” a name I realize that I recognize from when I was younger. She’d been our main contact when we were being shipped off to a new location. She was there when I was given my new name and my new life.

“Um… this is Ellis. Can I speak to my mom?”

“I have her phone at the moment. She’d tasked me with getting ahold of you. When we contacted the number you’d called from previously, the… gentleman said he’d left you at some gas station. Where are you so we can come pick you up?”

“I’m safe. But I just… I just wanted to make sure they’re safe.”

“Ellis, you’re not safe until you’re here,” she says.

“I’m okay, though.”

“Can you tell me what happened?” she asks as the door opens and Tavish walks in. Instead of leaving, as I’d assumed he would, he sits down in a chair tucked in the corner of the room and watches me.

“Umm… some guy named Arthur Wilson had me abducted and had another guy beat me, wanting to know about my dad. Arthur told me he was going to use my mom and sister as leverage against me to get me to talk, but I don’t know anything.”

“Arthur Wilson?” she says, sounding amused. “Arthur was extremely distraught over your father’s disappearance. His worries were what led us to believe there was something more happening and what led to you and your family being taken into protective services. I’m sure you’re mistaken.”

“I’m not. He said that was his name.”

“Okay, we’ll look into it, but we could also go under the assumption that it might be someone else using his name. Either way, we’ll see what we can find. But why don’t you tell me where you are, and we’ll pick you up and get you back with your mother and sister while we figure that out?”

“When I need help, I’ll reach out,” I say before hanging up.

I’m probably making the wrong choice. But last time, they quickly gave up looking for my father… yet maybe these guys won’t? Maybe these guys will find him, or information about him, and figure out what the hell he got caught up in that was bad enough that it disrupted everyone’s lives.

SIXTEEN

TAVISH

“You alright?” I ask, since Ellis has just been standing there in silence for a solid minute.

“I don’t know,” he admits. “She said that Arthur was the one who protected my family when this all went down, and that I’m wrong about who the guy who took me was. Anyway, do you think I could take a shower?”

“Of course. You’re safe to go anywhere but the basement. Whatever you do, don’t go in the basement if you value your mental health,” I warn him. He’d be wise to listen so he doesn’t get scarred for life. It might be worse than running across Murder Island.

Weirdly, he doesn’t even inquire about that or ask for specifics. He just nods, and I watch him head out to find Leland or Jackson to ask about using the shower. Finding myself alone, I lean back in the chair as I think.

What the hell have I gotten myself caught up in?

My body is stiff, my shoulder hurts—but at least the pain is tolerable—and I feel dead tired. I get up to find my own shower and stumble across Leland instead.

“Weasel,” I mutter as soon as my eyes touch him.

“Sloth bear.”

“They’re trying to tell Ellis that the guy who abducted him is the one who was originally trying to protect him.”

“Interesting. I’ll shoot that over to Cassel and see what he can get out of that.”

“Uhhhhhhh, thanks… for taking us in,” I say.

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