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52
I pulled the black Lexus into the dark parking lot and parked beside Sam's SUV. Looking over, I could see Joseph Mollel's face staring back at me from behind the wheel, smiling a serene and friendly smile that sent shudders up my spine. I turned around and looked at Amy and Darla in the back.
"Give me the word," I said, "and I'll take off out of here right now. I'll hide you and protect you as long as I have to."
Darla smiled at me. "And what about Amy's friend Sam?" she said.
I just stared back at her. We all knew the answer to that question. "Okay," I said. I looked down at Amy. "Take care of your mother."
"I will," she said. She looked perfectly calm. "He won't hurt us, Simon. You'll find us. I know you will."
I turned away quickly as I felt tears gathering in my eyes. "Stay here," I said, and I opened the door and got out. Joseph saw this and got out of Sam's car as I closed the door and walked to the back of the car to talk to him.
"Hello, Simon," he said. "I am very glad you decided to bring them."
His friendly tone was more than I could stand. I lost it. Moving more quickly than he could follow with his eyes, I punched him firmly in his left eye with a right and, catching him in his right armpit as he stumbled, I threw his weight around and flung his back into the rear of Sam's SUV. He bounced off the car and stumbled forward onto his hands and knees. I moved behind him quickly and, wrapping my left arm around his neck from behind I pulled him back to his feet, but kept him slightly off balance, holding him upright by his neck.
"Tell your fucking name!" I screamed into his ear.
"Simon," he panted, wincing in pain, "there's no need for this brother."
"Don't call me that!" I hit him with a strong right fist in his right kidney. He screamed in pain as I pulled him around to the side of the SUV away from the view of Amy and Darla and hidden from the street.
"Simon," he gasped, "please. I will gladly tell you my name. There is no need for violence."
"I'm waiting," I said, giving his neck a squeeze.
"Hael," he said. "My name is Hael."
"Give me your bond that you'll not hurt them," I growled, "or I will kill this body right here and now."
"Please," he panted, "I would rather give it willingly, not like this. I was going to give it to you anyway. It means nothing under duress. Please."
Was that true? I had never heard that before. Was it a trick? I wanted so badly to snap his neck for what he'd done. A traitor. A kidnapper. Cami. Darla. Sam. Amy. It would be so easy to snap his neck and be finished with him. I knew, however, that I still needed him. "You deserve to die," I growled at him, and I released his neck and pushed him forward, hard, into the pavement. He landed on his hands and knees and knelt there, catching his breath, for almost a minute, before struggling back to his feet with a groan. He turned to face me, a sad look on his face. His left eye was already beginning to swell badly.
"I didn't want it to be like this, Simon," he said.
"I bet you didn't," I said.
"There are things I wanted to tell you, Simon. There are things Joseph wanted you to hear." He placed a hand to his right side where I'd punched him and winced at the touch. Looking at him standing there in pain, I felt a sting of shame in my cheeks. He was an old man compared with me, trained as a healer. I was a young man and a trained killer.
It dawned on me then that the Knights would want me to kill him right now. They wouldn't want to risk letting him leave. What if I couldn't find him again? He might not be a Sword Master, but he was a trained Knight. The Knight Lord wouldn't consider Sam's life worth the risk. These thoughts were bitter to me as I watched the beaten and bruised old man standing in pain in front of me.
Something about the was Joseph-Hael looked at me in silence told me he knew what I was thinking. He knew he could not stop me if I decided to kill him. He waited to see what I would do.
"I want your bond," I said.
"You have my bond. My name is Hael, and I promise you no harm will ever come to these two treasured women. Their lives will be joyful and comfortable and long. My name is Hael, and I give you my bond." He smiled a painful smile.
"Look," I said, unable to look him in the eye, "You deserve worse than you've gotten."
He looked at me and nodded. "I understand," he said.
"I'm sorry," I said, looking at his feet.
"I've already forgiven you," he said. "It is your training. How could you do otherwise?" He smiled.
How could I kill the man?
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