Chapter 6: At Jake’s mercy .

Ray’s jaw tightened as he ground his teeth, “clean up this mess” he motioned to George, shifting towards the red glistening BMW packed on the far end of the compound.

He strode through the pile of bodies, feeling his shirt tighten around the goose bumps that formed on his skin.

His feet suddenly felt much heavier than he knew them to be, in that moment he became a 12-year-old boy again, staring into the four caskets that clung onto his family more than he ever had the opportunity to.

His stomach twisted, leaving his tongue bitter.

He blinked hard, lasering his gaze straight ahead to the car as he pushed forward.

He hadn’t driven for about 5 minutes, when he brought the car to a halt and pushed open his door, groaning and pouring out the contents of his stomach.

He had seen dead people before, at least he saw his family, but those 6 bodies at his house weren't what one was expecting to see first thing in the morning.

“Hey!!! Are you alright?” a slender blond lady, dressed in a black sports outfit called out from across the other side of the road.

He ignored, tightening his face.

The stench of the now somewhat fermented wine he just vomited mixed with the rush of air that brushed his back and the cologne of the now sprinting lady making her way to his side of the road made him even more nauseous.

He let his gaze fall to the contents of his gut on the tarred road.

“Are you good, is there any way I can help?” Her voice grew softer from what Ray could easily tell was pity.

He felt his chest tighten.

He lifted his face, cold as ice.

She stiffened. “Sorry, I was just trying to help,” she stuttered through each word.

Taking an instinctive back step to increase the distance between them.

Ray stared still. He wanted to yell at her for daring to look at him with pity, but he just stared, afraid that the mask he had spent so much building might slip.

She scrambled along, almost stumbling on a stone on the road.

Ray shut his door, pressed his head against the headrest with his eyelids sealed tight and his nostrils wide to draw in the musky lavender scent of his air freshener.

After what almost felt like forever, he reached for the car clutch, to continue his ride, but caught sight of a blinking tiny red light taped around the clutch.

His gaze narrowed as he yanked the foreign object slowly from the car.

A dry bitter smile played on his lips, he twisted his wrist to get a better view of the object, “They couldn’t even use an expensive tracker”

Ray wasn’t exactly a slow driver and today wasn’t any different, he sped past traffic lights and stop signs, only stopping at the center of the recently reconstructed Valley Field Bridge.

Ray’s pov

He stood next to the metal rail of the bridge, face cold and eyes scanning the depths of the water beneath his feet before he swung the tracking device into the river.

Watching with a laser gaze as the body of blue liquid swallowed it up.

“Find me if you can”

By the time the ray returned it was almost noon, the bodies were gone and everything was back to normal, at least on the surface level.

He walked past George on the staircase and headed straight to the bathroom.

“Sir there’s another problem,” George blurted out, his voice ringing with an intentional hint of caution.

Ray, who was a step above George, stopped on his track, shifting to let his back fall on the sparkling white acrylic side wall.

“Continue,” he motioned.

George nodded, “Sir, I have been trying to get more protection but my source tells me that it's a risk nobody is willing to take on” George paused, searching Ray’s eyes.

But Ray's face remained expressionless.

George swallowed hard.

“Sir, the best way to fight this is to get someone from the other side to work with us.” George's hand dipped into his pocket.

“I will suggest you reach out to him sir,” George said, stretching a business card out to Ray.

He collected the blue imprinted card and continued his journey to his room.

He dropped the card on the well-arranged folds of his master bed duvet and made for the walk-in wardrobe.

The fresh scent of lemon essence filled the room as Ray stepped out of the bathroom, tiny droplets of water dripped down from his chin to his well-carved abs muscles, the towel tied loosely around his waist, his eyes dark and smoky trailed the card on the bed.

His hands reached for it. This time taking a closer look.

The card read.

Protectors.

ENZO LEE’S syndicate

He let the card slip back to the floor.

“I’d rather stay locked up forever than run to Enzo for safety” he strode to his laptop.

On the other end of the room.

That was all he knew how to do, bury himself in work when everything started to feel overwhelming.

He collapsed into the office chair next to the table, still only clad in a towel.

His laptop lit up, and he continued working, responding to emails, analysing reports, and sending in feedback.

He had almost gotten himself to forget about the problem he was in when it happened.

His door-sized window glass shattered on the tiled floor of his room, as the bullet sliced through his window, rebounding its shell on the floor.

Ray froze.

The loud pitching sound of the shattered glass and the bullet shell echoed in his ears, without enough time to recover, the second shot followed and he swerved to the side of his bed.

By the time the third bullet came, he had already scrolled through his contact list and dialed a number.

“Pick up you bastard” he cursed out loud.

“Enzo, I agree to your demands, come now!!!” he ordered as soon as the call connected.