Chapitre 22: (His Mercy)
Calum slammed his foot on the gas pedal, the engine roaring as the car surged forward. It felt like someone was chasing them, the speedometer needle climbing higher with each passing second. Trae, in the passenger seat, seemed to revel in the speed, his grin widening with each jolt of adrenaline. This road trip was a dangerous game, a hunt for their victim, a mission steeped in violence. Calum knew he had to be extra careful. His face, plastered across news reports after a few high-profile incidents, was a familiar one to the police.
Spencer Fox, a former spy for Crow, had made a reckless decision that morning. He'd quit, believing Crow had approved. But Crow wasn't a man who tolerated betrayal. He suspected Fox might turn against him, and Crow wasn't one to let a potential threat live. He needed to erase Fox's existence from the world.
Calum and Trae, a seasoned team, navigated the checkpoint with ease, their expertise honed by years of dangerous missions. They entered the city, their target in sight. They wasted no time, heading straight for the condominium where they believed Spencer resided. Before stepping out of the car, they donned their black, hooded masks, their presence a chilling omen in the otherwise peaceful building.
Calum knocked on the door of room 43. A man with blonde hair, wearing only a towel, opened the door, his eyes wide with fear and confusion. He tried to shut the door, but Trae's strong hand held it open.
"Hey Spencer, we're here to finish what you started. We need you to cooperate," Trae said, his voice a low growl.
"What do you want? I'm out. I'm done with all this," Spencer shouted, his voice trembling. The guns in their hands made his stomach churn.
"That's the problem, you quit. You should have known that when you walked away, you were signing your own death warrant," Trae said, his words laced with icy menace.
"What are you talking about?!" Spencer's jaw clenched. He knew they were here to kill him.
Calum remained silent, his focus laser-sharp. He raised his arm, aiming the gun at Spencer's head. Spencer froze, his body locked in a silent scream. He couldn't escape his fate. He had gambled with his life by leaving Crow, and now the consequences were upon him. Tears welled up in his eyes, but words spilled from his lips.
"Please… my wife and child… I want to be with them," he pleaded, dropping to his knees, his head bowed. He knew it was a long shot, but he had to try. His wife had just given birth to their child. The sound of his son's cries had awakened a sense of innocence he had been so quick to destroy. He didn't want to raise his child on money earned through violence and death. But he couldn't deny the reality. He lived with a gun, and he would likely die with one.
"Honey… What's happening here?" A pale brunette woman appeared, carrying a sleeping baby.
Trae immediately pointed his gun at the woman.
"No! Please! Don't hurt them! Kill me, but please, don't hurt them!" Spencer cried, his voice filled with desperation. He stood, shielding his wife and child with his body. The baby started crying, and the woman tried to comfort him, but her own tears flowed freely. She was terrified, seeing the guns pointed at her and her husband. Panic surged through her, her heart pounding with fear.
"I'm begging you! Don't hurt them!"
Calum stood silent, his jaw clenched, a strange, unfamiliar feeling creeping into his heart. Mercy wasn't a word in his vocabulary, but time was writing it into his life, without his permission.
"I'll take the woman, you handle Fox," Trae said, his voice firm.
Calum, his piercing eyes fixed on Spencer, took a step closer, grabbing his neck with his left hand.
"Please stop! No?!" The woman cried, holding her child close, her hands trembling. Terror filled the room.
"You die," Calum whispered into Spencer's ear, before pulling the trigger. The gunshot echoed, a loud, deadly sound. Spencer's body slumped to the floor, blood staining the carpet.
"He's dead, Trae. The cops will be here soon. We need to go. Just let the woman go, she's not part of this," Calum said, his voice emotionless.
Trae smirked and released the woman. She rushed to her husband, her heart breaking as she saw his lifeless body.
Trae walked out of the room, while Calum paused for a moment, his eyes meeting the woman's. He felt a flicker of something he couldn't quite define, a feeling he had long suppressed.
"Give him some aid," he said, his voice a strange whisper of concern amidst the carnage.
Calum's words hung in the air, a stark contrast to the violence that had just unfolded. He quickly followed Trae out of the room, leaving the woman standing there, frozen in a tableau of grief and confusion.
"Honey… Are you okay? How's our son?" Spencer's voice, weak and trembling, reached her ears. He looked up at his wife, who was still holding their child.
"He shot you in the shoulder," she choked out, barely able to speak.
"Yeah, he saved my life," Spencer replied, a strange, wry smile twisting his lips. He had been spared, but at what cost? He had traded his life for his wife and child, a grim bargain that left him forever marked.
The woman, her mind reeling from the events, cradled her son closer. He was oblivious to the horror that had just unfolded, his tiny hand clutching at her shirt, his innocent eyes gazing at her with a trust that seemed to mock the violence that had shattered their world.
Calum and Trae, their faces hidden behind their masks, sped away from the scene. The city lights blurred into streaks of color as they navigated the streets, their minds already planning their next move. The hunt was over, for now.
Calum, though, felt a strange unease. The flicker of something he had felt in the room, that fleeting moment of empathy, lingered in his mind, a persistent whisper against the symphony of violence that had become his life. He pushed it down, buried it beneath layers of callousness, but it refused to be silenced. He knew, deep down, that this was just the beginning. The world they lived in, a world where death was a tool and mercy a weakness, demanded a price, and he was destined to keep paying it.
***
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone