The ruthless man kicked Joey, making him twist in pain while holding his stomach.
Joey tried to move, but his body hurt so much.
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he endured the pain.
Underneath his shirt, his back was black and blue.
When the man choked him, Joey fought hard to stay alive.
He kicked the man with all his remaining strength, but what could a child like him do to defeat a strong
and angry man? The man easily threw him away.
His small body hit the corner of the tea table, which made him groan in pain.
"I asked you to get up.Are you deaf?"
Again and again, the man kicked Joey.
"Don’t play tricks on me! Get up and eat! Or I’ll kill you now!"
Enduring the pain, Joey held onto the sofa for support and sat up.
The man looked at Joey’s alert expression and sneered.
"Are you scared now? Weren’t you very arrogant earlier? Hey! Where’s your guts now?"
There was no way Joey could talk back.He was already coughing blood.
The man turned around when he heard footsteps coming from the stairs.Upon seeing his boss, the
man quickly flashed a fawning smile.
"Boss, you’re awake."
The leader put his hand on his neck and twisted it as he yawned.
"I didn’t sleep well.There was a wild dog outside last night.It was so noisy."
"The dog disturbed your sleep? What a stupid dog! I’m going to kill it right now."
Just as the man reached out for his gun at the back of his waist and turned around to leave, his boss
stopped him.
"You don’t have to go."
Hearing this, the man paused and looked at his boss in confusion.
As the leader walked towards the living room, he said indifferently, "It’s dead now."
The dog was poisoned to death.
To quiet the dog down, the leader tossed the dog a ham sausage with some drug in it.
Soon after eating it, the dog started to froth at the mouth and fell to the ground, where it died shortly
thereafter.He just stood by the window watched the dog die.
As if on cue, a child’s cry came from outside.
Then it was followed by comforting voices of adults.
"Honey, don’t cry.Don’t cry."
"Oh my God! Why did the dog die suddenly? I don’t know who is so wicked to poison a dog!"
"It must have been a thief!"
"How cruel!"
Just as Carson said, in order to avoid the surveillance cameras, the kidnappers had to drive on the
countryside road.
Moreover, the commercial vehicle was very obvious, so they couldn’t go back to the urban area.
They could only find a place to stay in the rural area and wait for someone to send a car to pick them
up.
The location of this guesthouse was ideal, but it was situated in a village surrounded by the homes of
the locals.
In addition, the courtyard of the guesthouse became a gathering spot for ladies here since there were
normally a few guests coming here.
The women outside were talking about the dog that had been poisoned to death.
The man didn’t need to ask what happened because he understood how the dog died now.He put
down his hand and said, "By the way, according to the weather forecast, it might rain later.Hendrix said
that the people who wilk pick us up are on the way.I asked the owner of the guesthouse to prepare
some food for you, boss.Would you like to eat something? After that, we can change and leave."
When the leader heard that it was going to rain, he looked out of the window.
The sun had been shining only an hour before, but it was indeed gloomy now.
"Okay."
For some reason, the leader felt a little uneasy.
"What time are those people going to arrive?"
The man, who was about to go to the kitchen, stopped when he heard his boss talk.
However, he didn’t notice the latter’s uneasiness.
"It's been half an hour since Hendrix received a call from the client, saying that the people who will pick
us up have left.I estimate that they would arrive in about an hour,"
"About an hour…" the leader murmured.
"I hope nothing goes wrong."
"Boss, what did you say?"
"Nothing."
Only when the leader looked around did he notice Joey curling up on the sofa.
"What happened? I have told you not to beat him too much!"
Joey’s skin was as fair and sensitive as Rachel’s, and a simple pinch could leave a red mark on his
skin.
His bruises, including the mark of the man’s hand on his neck when he strangled him, were very
evident.
Besides, Joey’s face was pale, which made him look like he was tortured and was going to die at any
time.
"Boss, I…" The man struggled to explain.
"I didn’t beat him that much." Glancing at him, the leader said nothing.
The way his boss looked at him made the man guilty.
After all, he did beat Joey hard.
But he wouldn’t do that if the kid didn’t bite him.He muttered in a low voice, "I didn’t expect him to be so
weak."
"All right, all right.Go and get some food!" the leader shouted impatiently.
"Yes, boss!"
In a hurry, the man turned around and went to the kitchen.
Meanwhile, the leader walked towards the sofa.
Joey was too dizzy to see things clearly.
But he did notice the leader coming over.He unconsciously clenched his fists, seemingly more alert.
The leader bent down and pinched Joey’s cheek with his big hand.
"Wow, you can still stare at me.It seems that you are not seriously injured.I’m impressed.".
Joey didn’t say anything.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the hand that was pinching his cheek.
The tattoo came into his view.
Before Joey could get a better look, the leader let go of him.
After a period of silence, the leader called out one of his men.
"Hendrix!"
As soon as he heard his name, Hendrix left the front door and came inside.
"Boss, did you call me?"
"Get some ointment from the owner of the guesthouse and apply it on this child’s neck."
The leader ordered while looking at Joey’s injuries.
"Otherwise, we’ll have a hard time explaining to our client."
Coincidentally, the man who had beaten up Joey came back from the kitchen.
He was a little dissatisfied when he heard their boss’s order.
"Boss, we don’t have to do that.His injuries are nothing serious.We are mercenaries.Anyone who dares
to hire us should know our rule that we won’t guarantee the safety of the hostages."
To generate money, mercenaries risked their lives.
They would do whatever it took to get the job done.
There were some hostages that were disobedient, so the mercenaries had to discipline them in order to
complete the task smoothly.
It was just common for hostages to get beaten up.
The man just taught Joey a lesson.
And his boss wanted them to apply ointment on the boy’s neck.
The man felt that his boss was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Suddenly, the sound of rumbling thunder filled their ears.
Through the window, they watched the rain poured down heavily.
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