Not long after Amalia had left the room Hunter had hung up his call with Cage. In a short amount of time, Hunter now had all the information he needed on the three men who had killed her father.
It was aggravating that he couldn't just give the order himself. He wanted more than anything to eradicate the men who had left her so broken and terrified. But he had made a promise. The more he thought about sending her into that den of filth the more he felt like puking.
He knew he had to let her go, but there was no way she was doing it alone. As soon as Charlie was healed he would be going with her, as well as Cage. They were the only two he was willing to trust with her safety.
Having hashed out the details with Cage he headed off to find Amalia. What he saw upon entering Charlie's room had his heart hammering in his chest.
There on the bed, he saw 'his Lia' in the arms of another man. It didn't occur to him she had been crying. He didn't stop to consider the possibility that Charlie was comforting her. All rationale seemed to escape him as he looked on, his body coiling with tension as his voice went cold.
"Amalia, we have the intel we need. We need to go prepare." He looked to Charlie on the bed and, with the voice of one who was used to speaking with authority, spoke.
"You need to get better. You need to recover and be stronger. The mission I am assigning you is dangerous and I won't tolerate failure."
The implication was clear. If they failed in this mission, they would be treated as rogues. There would be no extraction. No rescue. Hunter was dead serious this time, he was the cold and aloof boss of the Soldiers.
Amalia pulled herself away from Charlie awkwardly and stared at Hunter. Annoyed. This tone was not him. She didn't know where this heavy-handed attitude came from but one thing was certain, she didn't like it. She merely nodded her head to the two of them and left the room.
Hunter looked over to Charlie raising his brow in question. He wanted to interrogate him on what he thought he was up to with his boss' woman. The only problem was, he couldn't. Not yet. He needed to get a hold of that punk, sit her down and clear the air.
The two men stood for a few moments staring each other down. Neither one of them budging. It was Hunter who broke the silence first.
"Get some rest." came the order. He didn't wait for a reply, he merely walked out of the room to chase down Amalia. He had wanted to do this much sooner, but things kept getting in the way. Come hell or high water he was going to make her understand - she belonged to him.
Amalia, in the meantime, had found her way out of the hospital. She was turning the corner from the hospital, about a block away, and making her way to her new apartment. She was distracted and angered. What had brought that on? Why was he suddenly, so cold? She didn't get it. And to talk to Charlie like that. After he had already taken a knife for her. She was fuming.
Amalia was so consumed by her anger, she didn't notice the vehicle slowly creeping up on her. She didn't hear the doors open, nor the shuffling of footsteps as they came at her. She had tunnel vision, and the target of all her frustration was Hunter.
Three men in black followed, flanking her all sides, as she rounded another street corner. Their timing was perfect. It was fortunate for them she wasn't as aware of her surroundings as she usually was. In a moment they were on her.
The first of the three had crept up on her from behind and held her as she struggled in his grasp. She thrust her body hard against his torso attempting a body check to knock him off balance. In the meantime, another had come at her from the right, needle in his hand as he prepared to inject it into her arm.
The third one was not so lucky. As he approached her from the front, he felt her foot connect with the right side of his jaw. He cursed loudly as he swung his fist, taking advantage of the fact his comrade's had her occupied he hit her, his fist colliding heavily with her jaw which sent her spinning.
Taking advantage of the shock from the impact, the second man on the right approached her with the needle and jammed it roughly into her arm. Within moments Amalia felt a burning sensation spread up her arm, her vision began to swim as she continued to struggle, until at long last she collapsed.
Amalia felt her world go black as she fainted. Her body went limp in the arms of the man who held her. Together the three of them lifted her with care into the van.
The one the left picked up the phone and made a call.
"Yeah boss, we got her. Yeah, she fits the description of the one from the apartment. Be there right away."
With their target loaded into the back of SUV, the three of them fled the scene their tires squealing on the distance.
Meanwhile, In the van, Amalia was fading in and out of consciousness. The drug they had injected her was a powerful one. Try as her body did to fight it, it kept pulling her under. She was only vaguely aware of the conversation happening around her. The voices of the men in the back of the van sounded horrifically familiar. She would never forget them as long as she lived and as they crept into her consciousness, she felt a sickly nauseating feeling grow in the pit of her stomach. It was them.
Hunter had been following somewhat close behind her, but not close enough. He began to run as he heard the sounds of a struggle coming from her direction. But he was too late. By the time he arrived on the scene, all that was left of her was a single solitary shoe.