Chapter 6

   Ray spat saliva and blood onto the gravel alleyway floor. He laid there, a heaving pile of pain and swollen lips. The four huge men looked down at him like lions ready to feast when one of their phones went off.

   “It’s like a movie just got ruined,” one of them said, smacking the head of the one whose phone rang. “Answer it.”

   The one with the phone was with the curly brown hair. He flipped the phone open and every one of them stood rigid.

   “Understood, sir,” he said, nodding. “We’ll leave him be and be on our way.”

   He closed the phone and all four of them looked like they were in an honestly bad mood. The all four lined up next to each other in front of Ray’s nearly unconscious form.

   “The master decided that he’d rather not have you,” the one with brown curly hair said. “At least not now. So don’t think this means you’re off the hook.”

   All four jumped to the tower next to them and disappeared into the night.

   After a good long moment of just catching his breath, Ray tried to sit up but yelped like a pathetic, injured dog. His arms were bruised almost to the bone because the two men had held him while the others beat him senseless.

   Why does this have to happen when I’m finally out of the way of their radars? He thought, shaking in pain. His legs had been kicked relentlessly and he didn’t think he could walk, much less crawl back home. I should seriously start thinking about holing up in the safe house for longer periods of time.

   He tried once more to sit up but his back gave up and he fell onto the gravel, his back muscles contorting in spasms all over.