#27
Eli wished he could be surprised at what he was seeing. Then again, he hadn't been truly surprised by anything in a while. Which was probably for the best, considering the way his life was going.
Right now though, he just thought to himself that he really should have guessed Adria would sell them out. Adria looked at Eli, an eyebrow up and an unimpressed look on her face. He just stared back, taking in her very expensive looking heels, the equally expensive looking coat she had on, and the slightly bored look on her face. Eli seriously wished he weren't tied up, if only so he could throttle her.
Then again, Adria might just shoot him before he got the chance.
"You could pretend to be shocked," Adria said. Apparently, her grand entrance wasn't quite grand enough.
"Oh, if only someone could have guessed you'd turn out to be a backstabbing bitch." Eli hoped that was good enough. It probably wasn't, seeing as Adria just rolled her eyes.
"How did it go?" Jack asked, ignoring Eli and focusing on Adria. She crossed her arms, looking like she very much didn't want to deal with Jack.
"Fine. My guys are making sure no one tries anything, and the explosives were all set up before I left."
"Any word from our guest?" Jack said, sounding amused by that. Adria just shrugged.
"He called me, pissed as hell about that little shit going missing. I told him there wasn't much I could do but I'd have my guys take a look. Should be losing his shit right about now," she said, sounding unimpressed. Which was very much like her to not give a fuck.
"Good. The more he suffers the more amusing this will be," Jack said, a satisfied grin on his face. It sounded to Eli like he was talking more to himself than to either him or Adria. Then, he turned to Eli, grin still in place. "Don't worry, you'll get a good seat for the show," he said, as if Eli were dying to watch Matthew get beaten.
"Go fuck a cactus," he said before he could really think about the words leaving his mouth. Which was a common occurrence with Eli, to be honest. He was only slightly surprised when Jack punched him.
"Don't be rude," Jack said simply, as if he were just chastising a child instead of his hostage.
"Oh, I'm sorry, what I meant to say was please go fuck a cactus, sir." Eli knew the second hit was coming. He still wished Jack didn't punch so hard.
"Well, now I see why you didn't mind handing him over," Eli heard Jack say—most likely to Adria—while he felt around his mouth with his tongue to make sure all his teeth were still in place.
"I told you he's a little shit," Adria said. She sounded resigned. Eli felt kind of happy about that for very petty reasons. "But, that does make me wonder, what if Vigilante decides not to come for him?" Eli wasn't sure he liked how Adria framed that question.
"He will," Jack said, a flippant sort of certainty that made Eli wonder how he could be so sure. After all, Eli had no clue where he was, so Matthew was probably equally unaware. Of course, that was when Jack reached into his back pocket and pulled out a very familiar phone.
If Eli survived, he'd have to question the fact that the first thing he felt was relief at knowing Mikey hadn't tossed his phone away. His priorities definitely needed to be re-evaluated.
"You've been tracking his phone, haven't you?" Jack asked, shaking the phone a bit. "And I know Vigilante can also track it. Part of your security measures to keep your end of the deal, right?"
Eli wished he hadn't agreed to that. Granted, he didn't really mind Matthew knowing where he was while there was some mercenary trying to kill them. Actually, he'd been kind of glad.
"And I doubt he won't show up. After all the trouble he's gone through to keep him alive," Jack continued. He glanced at Eli again, mouth tilted into a half smile. Adria followed his gaze, frowning. Eli wondered what had her looking so miserable when she was about to get rid of him and Matthew while getting on Jack's good side.
"Still, we're talking about one life against a building full of people. If he's such an upstanding hero, wouldn't he choose the latter?"
"If he does then it won't matter," Jack said, tucking the phone back in his pocket and walking over to a chair by the wall. "Whatever choice he makes, it'll destroy him. Then he'll come find me. And when he does, then I'll have what I want."
Eli was actually glad he couldn't see his face as he spoke. The tone he used was enough to give him chills. Apparently, Adria felt something similar, because she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but in that room with the mercenary.
"You know, sometimes, there's nothing more satisfying than a good fight," Jack said, pausing and taking a hold of the chair, as if he were about to pull it closer and take a seat. "Thanks for helping me get that." He turned in an instant, hand stretching out towards Adria.
The sound of a gun going off made Eli wince. It was sudden, the glint of silver there for only a second before the shot rang out. Eli's ears were still ringing as his brain struggled to process what just happened.
Then, he saw Adria stagger.
A hand clutched her stomach, blood seeping out slowly and staining her coat. She looked up, eyes showing pure shock as she stared at Jack. In response, he just smirked.
"Sorry, nothing personal," he said simply, lowering the gun.
Adria dropped to her knees, hand still clutching her stomach. She looked up, straight at Jack, and Eli was impressed by the fierce glare she sent his way. It lasted for only a moment, before she fell to the ground, face hidden by her long, dark hair. Eli stared, and didn't really know what to say.
Sure, Adria might not have been his favorite person. She'd even sold them out. Still, Eli knew she had her reasons.
She just wanted to stay alive, some part of his mind supplied.
"I hate guns," Jack said, tossing the gun towards Mikey. The large man caught it easily, tucking it away under his jacket without a word. His face was as impassive as always, and Eli had to question if he'd ever been half as loyal to Adria as she'd thought he was. He certainly didn't seem to care about her at the moment.
"Get her out of here," Jack said, all too casually, snapping Eli out of his thoughts. Mikey walked over to Adria without a word. "Shame, she was actually useful."
Eli looked away from where Mikey was tossing Adria over his shoulder. Instead, he looked at Jack who just stared back with a mocking sort of half smile. Suddenly, all of the worry he'd been struggling to hold back faded away, leaving only a sort of rage that—now that Eli thought about it—had probably been building up in him from the start of the whole mess.
"You're not getting away with any of this," he said, even though he couldn't be sure of that. Right at that moment, he couldn't even be sure he'd survive for much longer.
After all, Matthew had a very difficult choice to make.
"I don't know, it seems easy enough." Jack walked back towards Eli, dragging the chair behind him. He set the chair in front of Eli and just stood there for a second—smirking. "Guess we'll find out soon enough." And with that, he pulled out Eli's phone again, tapping the screen a couple times before setting it down on the chair in front of him. From his seat, Eli could clearly see the timer counting down.
"I hate to leave a guest on his own, but I have things to do." Jack turned making his way to the door. He paused just before stepping out of the room, turning back to look at Eli. "Oh, and don't think about trying anything. I said I'd keep you alive until time runs out, I never said I'd keep you whole." With that, and a wicked smile, Jack was gone, leaving Eli to watch his time slip away.
# # #
Hello everyone! Sorry for the late update, but my internet was down for most of the day. I mean, of course it'd happen on the day I'm supposed to post, lol. Anyway, hope you all liked this chapter, wasn't it fun? :D
Anywho, next chapter should be up on Friday, August 20th, so keep an eye out for that. As always, thanks so much for reading and for your continued support and please vote and/or comment if you can! I always love you guys' comments, lol. Have a great weekend everyone and stay safe out there!
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