Page 300 of Affair
They weren’t alone.
“Take the dog,” he said, handing Poe their furry friend, so his hands were free to get to the guns he was carrying.
The second he did, he saw the red scope light in the middle of Poe’s forehead.
And Gamble did what he needed to do.
He stood in front of him, protecting him with his body from who he suspected were the mercenaries.
“If you fight, he dies,” the voice said. “If you attempted to escape, he dies. There’s one on the back of his head too.”
Oh, shit.
Poe didn’t move as he was behind Gamble. It appeared they were fucked.
“We don’t know what you want,” Gamble said. “You came at us. We’re just trying to stay alive.”
When he said it, he heard the rustling all around them, and he knew there was more than one person with a gun.
The men came out of the surrounding trees, and Gamble knew he couldn’t fight them. The second he went for them, they’d shoot Poe.
So, he raised his hands.
“We don’t have the key,” he said.
The men laughed.
“Oh, but you know about it,” the one man said, moving closer.
He explained since it was likely common knowledge that he’d handled the people in the barn, and the one by the orchard.
“Your mercenaries talk a lot of shit,” Gamble admitted. “Maybe they should learn that silence is golden.”
At his words, the man hit him in the abs with the butt of his rifle, and Gamble went to his knees.
Rufus went nuts in Poe’s arms, and they threatened to kill the dog.
“Shut him up, or he’s dead. You made a mistake coming back for the dog. You were in the fucking clear. We had no clue where you guys were. Who’s the dumb fuck now?” he asked.
No, he didn’t.
That dog was his, and Gamble didn’t leave anyone behind. That was the whole point of being a Marine.
LOYALTY.
As he was trying to catch his breath, Poe was grabbed, and Rufus fell to the ground with a thump and yelp.
“Where is the key, Doctor?” the one mercenary asked as he held onto the man.
Poe didn’t want Gamble to suffer because of him and his family. If he had it, he’d offer it up.
“I don’t know. I don’t know where it is. I didn’t speak to my brother before his death. He was deployed!”
Since they didn’t like that answer, they began beating on Gamble. They held him there, and they began beating on him unmercifully.
He took blow after blow, and this was what he feared, but in reverse.
They’d kill him in front of Poe.
