#17

Composing his expression, Tennessee cut off Megan’s criticizing words and started with a question.

“That woman. Kaelen. When did she stop working?”

“Recently. Why?”

While their bodies were entwined, Tennessee had been able to see a hidden side of her that she hadn’t shown. As far as he remembered, there were no signs of field work on her hands, such as blisters or scars on her body. What kind of woman was she? He had no physical evidence, but it was suspicious enough, and Tennessee was not a man who believed in coincidences.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t hire her anymore.”

“If you’re saying that, there must be a reason.”

Megan didn’t pry further into that matter.

“Oh, Tennessee, do you remember someone named Taylor Watson?”

“No.”

Since the face didn’t immediately come to mind, he must have only heard the name.

“They’re in the documents.”

Megan gestured with her chin toward the child. Behind the nodding Tennessee, Megan waved her hand, saying, “If you’re not going to help me make money, get lost already.”

* * *

When the car came to a stop, the child looked visibly bewildered.

“Where are we?”

You don’t need to know.

Tennessee swallowed those words. Not yet realizing Tennessee’s resolve, the child asked several questions. Having spent a few weeks with Tennessee, the child had learned a bit of his patterns.

“Are we changing cars again?”

As the child spoke, they began gathering their belongings, checking under the seat to make sure nothing was left behind. However, the child stopped moving upon seeing Tennessee pull out a gun. It seemed they weren’t switching cars after all.

“Stay here.”

The child felt as if those words were being carved into their eardrums. With a sigh, the child nodded. Tennessee opened the door and leaned his body out.

“Um, Tennessee.”

The child asked cautiously as Tennessee looked across the street.

“Is it okay if I don’t have a gun?”

A gun is not a cool weapon at all. It is heavy and merely cold. No matter how hard one plays a game, just as a console dies when the plug is pulled, a human’s vibrant life ends with a single bullet.

Realizing this, the child never wanted to hold a gun again, but this place felt somehow desolate and dark. Not only were there no passersby, but it felt as if no one would know even if someone died right here. It would be fine if Tennessee were by their side, but hadn’t he finished preparing to go out? After tossing out a single phrase: “Stay here.”

“…….”

It was the longest silence the child had ever witnessed from Tennessee. Tennessee, silently attaching a suppressor and scanning the surroundings, gave no answer, but the child got the impression that he was in deep thought.

“You’re not needed.”

At the final answer, the child nodded. If Tennessee said they weren’t needed, then they weren’t.

But suddenly, those words sounded ambiguous. The child’s heart sank, but they comforted themselves, telling themselves not to be overly sensitive.

“When are we going back?”

In the dark space, a red fire flared brightly at the tip of a cigarette. In a place without a single speck of light, even the smoke Tennessee exhaled was invisible.

The cigarette dropped from Tennessee’s fingertips. He soon turned his body away.

He didn’t give a clear answer.

He was a man of few words, but Tennessee was someone who answered immediately when asked. Anxiety howled like thunder. The child curled up.

It felt as if they wouldn’t be returning. A faint intuition told them so. No, Tennessee would return.

‘I’ll tell you in advance, if I’m going to leave you behind.’

Because he promised to tell them if he were to leave.

‘I told you not to trust people.’

Even if he had said that.

* * *

They didn’t have the courage to attack directly. They couldn’t just start shooting in the hotel. There was no way to find out in advance where or when he would head. However, they knew he traveled with the child.

Therefore, Tennessee concluded that targeting the child was a natural logic. It was a calculation even a fool could make.

‘I don’t know how important that kid is, but since that man keeps taking them along, there must be a reason.’ They were likely calculating something like that. Tennessee read Alejandro’s mind clearly.

Until now, Tennessee had known that some members of the gang were lurking and waiting for an opportunity. Since this car was received from Alejandro, it would be easy to track. He intended to set up a proper stage for them.

Since the number of gang members would be far greater, the child might suffer in the crossfire. However, collateral damage always occurs.

Tennessee held his breath, hiding his presence.

‘You didn’t eat breakfast this morning, did you?’

He was merely tightening a loose screw, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that the loosened screw was falling to the ground.

It was after Tennessee had waited for about fifteen minutes that two unfamiliar cars pulled up.

The child had been stuck at the hotel the whole time, and if they went out, they were accompanied indoors, so it was no wonder these people were anxious. The fools wouldn’t even imagine that this was a trap. Not knowing when another opportunity would arise, they must have urgently decided to handle it now. Tennessee smirked and waited for them.

Two cars stopped, but someone stepped out of only one. Bandanas, sagging pants. A swaggering gait. It was a sight that naturally drew a scoff.

After exchanging a quick conversation in Spanish, they moved faster upon confirming that the child was alone.

“Did they say there wasn’t a duplicate key?”

“None. We’ll have to break the window and drag them out.”

It was around then that the child noticed the people approaching. Tennessee could hear their bickering. The movements of those trying to open the closed door became violent. Even the sound of harsh shouting reached him. English and Spanish were haphazardly mixed.

8 – Chapter

Keeping one ear open to the noise, Tennessee moved swiftly. Those who had come to keep watch were instead watching the kidnapping unfold from the car. There weren’t as many of them as he had expected. They likely thought it would be an easy task, since it was only the kidnapping of a single child.

He had once been a soldier, a mercenary, and an experienced hitman. Aside from the fact that they moved in packs, gang members were no different from delinquent teenagers to Tennessee.

Just break the window!

As they argued, the child’s voice, which had been heard occasionally, grew louder.

“Stop it!”

“Shut up.”

Finally, coinciding with the sound of shattering glass and a piercing scream, Tennessee pulled the trigger. The driver noticed something was wrong and turned around, but there were only two of them.

Was it a scratch from the broken glass, or were they simply being rough? The child’s screaming shriek sank into his ears. Having quickly dispatched the two, Tennessee looked up.

The child was resisting desperately, with all their might.

“Let me go!”

“Will you shut up?!”

“Let go! Let me go!”

The child’s cries pierced clearly through the rapid Spanish. They cut through the air and exploded all at once. It was a call.

“Tennessee!”

“I told you to shut up?!”

The child’s cheek snapped to the side from a blow delivered without restraint. The man panted as he slapped the child’s cheek, then clenched his fist.

He probably had no intention of killing the child. He likely considered the child valuable, so he would kidnap them first to lure Tennessee out. And once he dealt with Tennessee, he would make the child carry drugs or do odd jobs, just as he did with other kidnapped children. If he had intended to kill the child from the start, he would have shot them already; Tennessee only needed to follow their trail. This was the fastest and most efficient way.

“Tene— ugh, Tennessee!”

The child cried out, curling their entire body. Suddenly, Tennessee’s mind suffered an overload. His cold, calculating reason felt as if it had tripped over a stone and was grinding to a halt.

“Tennessee! Tennessee! Tennessee!”

It was the moment he realized he was being irrational. However, Tennessee did not think twice and moved instinctively. Tennessee’s muzzle rose.

“Tennessee!”

The child, who had been screaming while clutching their head, gasped for air. The indiscriminate violence had suddenly gone silent, as if a button had been pressed. His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. The sobbing child slowly raised their head.

The man who had been dragging them down and slapping their cheeks just a moment ago was lying on the ground. It was just like last time. A hollow, futile death. Surprisingly simple. How could death be so effortless?

Gasping, the child looked up. Familiar shoes entered their field of vision. It was Tennessee.

“Te… Tennessee… hic, Tennessee.”

The left cheek, which had been slapped several times, began to burn with delayed pain. A surge of rough emotions, difficult to describe in words, rushed in. Sorrow, relief, anger, resentment.

As the tension that had been stretched to its limit snapped, the child became overwhelmed by the simultaneous flood of words in their head and found themselves unable to speak.

The child reached out. Tennessee was a man who rarely touched others, but it felt as if he would willingly embrace them now. They remembered that firm, warm embrace.

Though they reached out, the expected warmth did not come. Instead, the acrid scent of cigarette smoke descended.

Tears blurred their vision, making it impossible to see Tennessee’s expression. The child struggled to lift an aching arm to wipe away the tears.

“Where… sob… where did you go?”

Resentment spilled out toward Tennessee, who did not embrace them. A thank you should have come first, and though they certainly felt relief, a complaint was what leaked out first.

You told me to stay here. Something terrible almost happened. Some men came and broke the window. They tried to take me, Tennessee. Where did you go? Where did you go, leaving me behind? Don’t go now.

The child tried to speak while stifling their sobs, but only the bitter cigarette smoke returned. Wiping their tears bravely, the child thought they heard a sigh within the smoke.

Finally, a hand reached out. A cool touch, unlike the warm embrace.

Tennessee lifted the child up in one swift motion with one hand. Held in his arms, the child finally burst into loud wails. They had tried to wipe their tears, but it was useless. They flowed uncontrollably, like a faucet left open.