Mercy

Chance sighed and stuffed the cards back into the wallet. "Is there somewhere else we can take him?"

"Who is he?" Fait asked for the second time.

"He is one of my employees or rather, he was one."

"As in he isn't one now. You are not responsible for him anymore." Fait didn't understand why Chance would protect someone who clearly had meant to harm him.

"I just want to talk to him when he wakes up. You said it yourself, even if he gets arrested it won't amount to anything serious. They'll probably just let him go once he sobers up."

"He tried to attack you!" Koty interjected.

"You know that and I know that. But other witnesses just saw a drunk man stumbling around the room before getting tackled. I think it is safer, for now, if we keep him."

Fait and Koty were quiet as they tried to think of ways to dissuade Chance. They couldn't deny that he was right but they didn't feel comfortable bringing the man along.

"If I may make a suggestion." Lola broke the tense silence. "The Lovewell group owns a number of hotels with adequate security for a one night stay."

Fait fired a cold glare his way. She was shocked that he had so easily agreed with Chance.

In all fairness, Lola was not really trying to show mercy to their captive, though he suspected that Chance was.

He had a hunch, that if they sent this man away, he may not live to see the morning. Those that hired people to hurt others usually had no qualms with disposing of the people that they had used.

If this was the case and someone harmed the man, it would take much longer to get answers to their questions.

"Thank you, Lola." Chance nodded in approval and then gave out further instructions. "Please help Koty bring Mr. Malone to the car and put him in the back seat. Fait, please make the necessary arrangements with the hotel."

Fait and Koty nodded and begrudgingly carried out their assigned tasks.

Moving Tucker Malone wasn't a difficult task. The middle aged man was smaller than average. Even though he had recently taken to drinking and had put on some weight, it wasn't enough to slow Lola and Koty down.

Tucker was promptly loaded into the backseat of the SUV. He was buckled in on one side, Chance was on the other, and Koty was stuffed in middle.

Chance had offered to take the middle seat since it was the smallest and least comfortable. Koty refused. He absolutely would not let Chance sit directly next to a threat. Subdued or otherwise.

If Koty had it his way, he would have cable tied the man's feet together, opened the rear lift gate, and then just tossed him into the back. Why should he be buckled in anyway?

Fait sat up front with Lola so she could easily make phone calls to arrange what they needed for the night.

In addition to a room for Tucker, she booked a room for herself and a suite for the guys. She put them all together to keep Chance from sneaking out to see Tucker by himself.

She had a feeling that if she left him unattended, he might disappear along with their detainee.

Fait also called her three secretaries to arrange a few sets of clothes and a new phone for Koty and a few other things. Then she delegated her tasks for the following day just in case she didn't make it into the office.

She almost gave Roy a call. He was the most skilled interrogator that she knew. It was one of the reasons he was such a great lawyer. But, out of consideration for Eve, she decided it could wait until tomorrow.

Chance stared out the window, deep in thought. He was trying to recall what he could about his former director of human resources.

They'd only ever met a formally few times and hardly saw each other in passing. Sometimes they had shared small talk in the elevator but they weren't particularly close.

Chance's impression of Tucker was that he was a cheerful and happy-go-lucky kind of guy. For him to go from that to this, he could only wonder.

'What happened to you?' He tried to steal a glance at him without Koty noticing.

This man looked at least a decade older than the one in his memories. His hair had lightened, his face had wrinkled, and he had definitely put on a few pounds. And much like the Chance of a week and a half ago, he was completely disheveled and had dark circles under his eyes.

Koty caught Chance studying the man so he leaned forward, just enough, to obstruct his view.

Chance sighed and went back to staring out the window. 'What else is there?... Something about marriage... He's married.'

He started to recall bits and pieces from their short chats. Tucker pretty much always bragged about his wife and would try to convince Chance that he was missing out by staying single.

He could almost hear him saying, " Mr. Addison, I'm telling you. There's nothing quite as satisfying as having a wife. If only I could have met her sooner."

From what Chance could remember, Tucker was not a bad guy. There was no way that he would come after him on his own. Chance had no doubt that he had been forced by someone else.