Page 57 of The Merciless

A goose chase that one then.

Angel matched her gaze, his thoughts matching hers, no doubt. Ray hummed and watched the warehouse sitting atop the hill, “And the last?” she asked,

“I don’t know how to say this,” Neera replied, “But it looks like this place might be a hostel. For orphans.” She added. Ray thought back to how Micah had pointed at that very spot and had looked at her warily,

“Be careful here.”He’d said, his voice twinging with a rare catch,“It’s where the worst of us hail from.”

“That might be the place where they recruit and train children,” Ray replied darkly. Neera went silent for an entire minute.

“I’ll start making adjustments to get them all out.”

Ray nodded even though she could see her movement, “I’m standing on a small hill. There’s this warehouse sitting on top, and it looks empty from here, but we need to go check it out. It seems to be in a good condition.”

She turned to Angel as the others responded, asking her to be safe and stay on the call,

“Do you have your gun?” she asked quietly and saw him inch closer, his necklace swaying with the movement.

Angel leaned down and bonked his forehead against the top of her head lightly, making her blink in surprise,

“Don’t worry about me.” He murmured in response and Ray saw Mia stride forward without looking at either of them, “I have everything I need.”

“Can you both stop for five minutes?” came Irene’s tired voice from their earpieces and Angel leaned back in surprise, a small grin on his face as echoes of agreement followed.

“Fuck off–”

Ding!

Ray snapped her gaze down at her vibrating phone in hand, her brows furrowing.

“Did any of you send me a message?” she asked tentatively, a sudden ball of dread rocking her stomach.

“No,” everyone responded, and Akash continued, “Why? What’s wrong?”

No one else had her number, that’s what was wrong.

Ray breathed out harshly and lifted her phone, her body suddenly shaking with anticipation as she saw a sealed message from an unknown number in her notifications.Shit,if someone had her number, that meant their communication was fucked as well.

“We’re compromised.” Ray said as quickly as she could, “Get off the line.”

She didn’t wait for their response, just ripped the earpiece from her ear and slammed it to the ground. A satisfying crunch filled the air as she slammed her heel down on it. Angel followed her actions, his brows furrowing as Ray opened the message from the unknown number.

‘Miss me?’

Ray grit her teeth and looked up at Angel, not at all surprised to find a tick feathering in his jaw.

She looked back down as her phone vibrated in her hand again.

‘I have another gift for you.’

The message was followed by a video.

Ray didn’t wait, was too afraid to when she clicked the video with shaking hands and waited for it to load–

All air left her lungs as she saw the image of a man tied up against a metal pole, a gag on his lips as his entire body sagged forward. There were light bruises on the sides of his face but no dangerous markings. Ray’s world tilted, suddenly nauseous, and would’ve almost fallen back if it hadn’t been for the hand Angel braced against her lower back.

“Who is that?” Angel asked her, his voice tight as she looked at the man over and over again, unable to piece where she’d seen him. The video proceeded and the man’s head lolled to one side, revealing his beard and a marred, round face.

“You’re better off not knowing my name…”

---