Page 63 of Ghost's Obsession

I watch Merc flinch at hearing Rigs’ stern words. Merc knows the deal. We all do, including Joker.

“Do you know why you’re still breathing?” I ask, stepping closer. I keep my voice calm and steady. “I’ll give you a hint. It’s because you’ve got something we need. We’re gonna give you one chance to give it to us.”

Joker rolls his eyes. “We’re not snitches.”

“No,” Siege tells him bluntly, “You’re cowards. There’s a big difference.”

I pull a folded print from my back pocket. It’s a photo meant to drive home to them what’s at stake, rather than to threaten or intimidate them.

It’s a picture of Heather, from the night of the gala. She’s in her long dress. Her hair is curled and piled high on her head.Her hands are resting over the soft swell of her baby bump. She’s smiling at me in the shot, and she looks absolutely radiant.

I toss the photo onto the table between them.

“Do you know this woman?”

They both nod. Joker speaks up. “That’s Heather. Of course we know. She’s Carnage’s old lady and that’s his baby in her belly.”

“She used to be his old lady. Now she’s mine.”

Joker’s face takes on a stubborn cast. “That’s still his baby in her belly. You know that, right?”

“When he laid his hands on her he lost any rights”

“Heather’s a nice lady. Carnage hit the jackpot with her,” Joker says.

Merc speaks up in a soft tone, “She used to cook for us. And she was nice to us. We ain’t never had a beef with Heather.”

“But you helped Carnage force her back to him when she didn’t want to be with him anymore.”

Merc finally looks up. His eyes flick to the photo, then away again. Like he wants to pretend he didn’t see how beautiful and innocent she was in all this.

“How do you think Carnage is going to react when she doesn’t warm up to him again? Do you think he’s gonna let her be or force himself on her?”

“Carnage wouldn’t hurt her,” Joker says confidently. Then shooting Merc a worried look he adds, “He’s… he’s obsessed with her, but he’s not stupid enough to do anything to harm her.”

“You sure about that?” Rigs asks. “You sure he won’t break her just to prove he can?”

“That man worships control,” Siege adds. “You think someone like that is gonna handle rejection well?”

I take a step forward, keeping my eyes locked on Merc. “Siege is right.”

Merc’s hands twitch against the restraints. He looks like he’s holding back something.

“You two were in deep with him,” I say. “You know what he’s capable of. You know how far gone he is.”

Merc swallows hard and then opens his mouth.

Joker turns towards him. “Don’t.”

“You shut the fuck up,” I snap.

Siege grabs the back of Joker’s chair and jerks it back sharply. Joker grunts, his jaw locked.

That leaves Merc in the center, wanting to tell us something that might be the difference between life and death for the woman I love.

I kneel down in front of him to look him in the eyes. “You don’t owe him anything now. You owe her. If you let this go on any longer, the next time we see Heather, she’ll be a hollowed-out shell of her former self or in a body bag. You want that on your conscience?”

His voice comes out like sandpaper. “He talked about a fallback position.”

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