#23

Tennessee pulled up a chair and sat down.

“I didn’t see any signs of training.”

“……That’s a bit harsh.”

Then Kaelen nodded.

“I’m not a field agent, so I only received basic training. And since I’m mostly a desk jockey, I forgot it pretty quickly……”

Strangely, he felt tired even though he hadn’t started the torture yet.

For someone who wasn’t a field agent, Kaelen was far too composed. As she said, she probably wasn’t just a helpless and naive agent. He didn’t know what her angle was, but he was willing to listen for once.

Tennessee wiped his forehead and ordered her to tell him everything from the beginning.

“There’s an operation the FBI is pushing. Someone like you, who……”

Kaelen frowned ambiguously. Tennessee finished the sentence for her.

“……Who kills people for money.”

“Right, that! We’re recruiting people who do that. But since they’re such secretive individuals, we set up a fake client. So that when the job is done, we can use that as leverage to……”

Tennessee closed his eyes. Now the puzzle pieces fit together.

“You were planning to offer to make it go away in exchange for taking on a job, I assume?”

“I admit it’s a cowardly method, but your lot won’t even take a call without that kind of leash.”

Kaelen gave an awkward laugh. That awkward smile seemed genuine.

Tennessee hated this baseness, but he was a man who made a living thanks to that very baseness. Cowardly people wanted someone to disappear immediately, yet they wanted to keep their own hands clean.

If such cunning didn’t exist, there would have been no demand for Tennessee.

“By the way, Tennessee, that day was really great.”

Tennessee never imagined the day would come when he would be sexually harassed by a torture subject.

“You know, that thing, that day, inside me, your waist, you know, that thing.”

Should I just kill her? As that thought appeared on Tennessee’s face, Kaelen spoke quickly.

“I’ll give you work, Tennessee. Accept it.”

“I refuse.”

“You’ll end up accepting this job anyway.”

Though she was kidnapped and tied up, Kaelen spoke as if she were the one holding the leash.

“You know that if you don’t accept, that child will be sent back to Oregon, right? The child will return to Mr. Huston.”

Since she had been watching, he expected her to know about the child’s existence, but hearing it from Kaelen’s mouth left a bitter taste.

“Even knowing how children are treated in that house?”

“I’m a good agent. I’ll report it, but that’s all.”

Such threats didn’t work. Tennessee was already planning to kill Huston. And other human trash like him. But the important part was what came next. That’s where Kaelen’s threat became effective.

“Then what happens to the child? Can a child receive proper care in a place with a lacking budget? The child is already eleven. Soon twelve. It won’t be easy for a child entering middle school to be adopted. What about life after that? College? Their future life? Is there any guarantee they won’t turn to drugs?”

Tennessee couldn’t definitively say the threat wouldn’t work. He no longer had any living blood relatives, but he now had something to care about.

And he couldn’t guarantee that there wouldn’t be a second Huston or a second Derek in the child’s life. Such things weren’t something an individual could control.

The child needed a home. A family that truly cherished them and wished for a better future.

“Won’t the child resent you, Tennessee? You owe that child a debt.”

And Tennessee did owe the child a debt. Though he hadn’t even realized he was in debt.

“Tennessee, I’m not telling you this because I think you’d actually change your choice over one child. I’m helping you justify it. We already have evidence that Tennessee committed contract killing.”

“Circumstantial evidence, most likely.”

“……That’s true.”

Kaelen was a woman who was unnecessarily honest, which made it hard to tell if she was being serious.

“Why me? There must be plenty of other mercenaries and soldiers.”

“Mercenaries are skilled but move for money, and active soldiers have great loyalty to their country, but…… hmm.”

Kaelen frowned as if she didn’t know what to say, then blurted out.

“Strictly speaking, they aren’t the best single players in the industry. Those people work in teams.”

And she added.

“Tennessee doesn’t just kill anyone. At least, not right now. We respect that. If we give you a pardon and money, we need someone who won’t cause a shooting accident using that as an excuse. Someone who knows where the line is and knows how to keep it.”

“……So that the FBI can hold the leash?”

“If you put it that way, we sound like such bad people.”

“Will you do it?” she asked, and Tennessee couldn’t answer immediately.

Now that he knew her identity, it was enough. That alone was a great harvest.

Tennessee prepared to leave the place.

As he stowed his gun and checked his watch, he heard the sound of metal clashing in the distance.

Tennessee looked up. The surroundings were quiet. It was always quiet here, but Tennessee sensed the tension of a predator lowering its body and holding its breath.

“My friends are here, Tennessee.”

Tennessee drew his gun.

“Don’t do that. You know that if they intended to kill you, they would have done it already.”

Now they were approaching, making blatant footsteps. Roughly twenty people?

Tennessee had to make a choice. If he played it right, he might be able to get out. But escaping wasn’t the important thing. He had a different priority.

“Shall we have a proper conversation in a different location now?”

Kaelen said with a smile. It was a shy smile, not much different from that day.

Despite saying they would only talk, the FBI agents handcuffed Tennessee. He didn’t particularly complain. The upper hand had already shifted. It was a game where the winner was decided the moment one had too much to lose.

If he hadn’t promised to return to the child, Tennessee would have evaded that moment somehow. He would have used Kaelen as a shield, or fled while killing people without hesitation, even if it meant taking injuries. And then he would have looked back at the weight of the guilt piled upon him.

But Tennessee did not resist and followed them obediently.

Tennessee thought he had grown dull. That he had become soft and useless. It felt as if a sharpened blade had rusted and was only waiting for the day it would break. But listening to Kaelen’s words, he felt that something within him had changed.

“The child will go to a good home.”

“They’d better, Alexa Polson.”

“……You found that out in just one week? Impressive.”

Kaelen—no, Alexa—growled, saying she had to go chew out the security team.

“Keep calling me Kaelen. Don’t go around saying my real name.”

Either way, there was no difference between Alexa or Kaelen to Tennessee.

“The payment?”

“It’ll vary every time, but around this much.”

Kaelen found the relevant page in an open binder and handed it over.

Tennessee frowned. The payments Tennessee used to receive were huge. There were numerous jobs that paid over a million dollars per hit, and the base was ten thousand dollars.

Kaelen ignored that. She knew he wasn’t doing this for the money anyway. And while it was small compared to his previous work, there were many good mercenaries in the world who could be hired with this amount. Though there were those who would sell their own country for a higher sum.

“You’re accepting, right?”

“Before that…… I need to talk to the child.”

At his gesture, another agent unlocked the handcuffs on Tennessee’s wrists. Rotating his stiff wrists, Tennessee wondered if he would be indicted if he smacked Kaelen right now.

* * *

“Tennessee!”

The child came running from afar. It had only been a week, but their cheeks had already thinned. That was weight he had worked hard to put on with fast food and sodium-filled restaurant meals.

Unlike Megan, who aimed her gun as soon as the door opened, the child recognized Tennessee immediately. And then, without a moment’s hesitation, they ran.

They kicked off the ground. The loosely tied shoelaces fluttered. The child lunged into him like a whirlwind. It was just like last time.

Tennessee instinctively reached out. As he hugged the child tightly, Tennessee suddenly recalled his first murder.

After killing his mother, Tennessee had gone out to the backyard and basked in the pouring sunlight. The fields were dyed golden, and the sky was terrifyingly clear.

In that freedom, Tennessee collapsed. The fact that he had finally seen hope, and that it was predicated on someone else’s misfortune. It was a poignant happiness. A liberation he hadn’t tasted due to guilt. And for the first time, Tennessee was feeling a complete emotion.

The warmth pressing heavily into his chest—at that heat, Tennessee tightened his arms and buried the child deep in his embrace.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

The child asked, burying their face in Tennessee’s shoulder.

I was worried. Is everything okay now? I’m glad you’re back. The child poured out words rapidly.

“Don’t cry.”

The child bit their lip. They thought they were about to burst into tears, but before they knew it, they were crying. It was a sorrow that had overflowed without them even realizing it. And somehow, Tennessee knew, holding the child and telling them not to cry.

“Is it settled?”

Megan, who had been watching the tearful reunion with distaste, asked. To Tennessee, who nodded, Megan pointedly held out her arm.

He looked at her arm as she wanted, but because of the dense tattoos, he couldn’t tell what he was supposed to be looking at.

“Here! Look!”

Tennessee’s gaze followed Megan’s fingernail. It was a faint laceration. Even in the midst of anxiety, Tennessee remembered the child clutching the gun firmly.

“……Did they actually shoot?”

“Yes! That damn brat did!”

“It just grazed you. You get hurt that much just going into the kitchen.”

“Are you kidding me?!”

The child flinched and burrowed deeper into Tennessee’s embrace, as if there was something they were guilty of that Tennessee didn’t know. With unfamiliar movements, he stroked the child’s back.

“Get the apology from the kid. Here’s the key. Thanks.”

“That son of a bitch!”