Chapter 37: Coercion
William had tied Christmas and Gunnar to the far end of the line of men. The order was Christmas, then Gunnar, then Yin Yang, Toll Road, Caesar, and finally Barney.
He had fired at the tree trunks behind them, making his hands shake slightly just before shooting. It was a bluff. He had used anesthetic darts, but the dose was low. In the dark woods, without a moon, the members of the Expendables hadn't seen the small darts on Christmas's and Gunnar's necks.
Furthermore, the Expendables weren't wearing their usual body armor. When William's bullets hit the tree trunks, the veterans assumed the rounds had passed clean through Christmas and Gunnar.
In reality, they had all been terrified by the gunshots. Seeing their teammates slump over without moving, they assumed they had been killed instantly.
Gunnar shook his head in confusion and said, "Are we in hell? Well, I didn't expect to be here with all of you."
"Speak for yourself, you're the only one going to hell. Gunnar, you bastard, you're not dead! And Christmas too! I thought we were all about to meet God." Caesar then said, "Oh, thank God. Lord, thank you for your mercy, for letting us live."
"You should thank me, Caesar."
At that moment, William walked over to Barney, took a small recorder from his pocket, and played back the recording of Barney revealing Church's information. He nodded happily at Barney. "This recorder is excellent. The recording is very clear. And you spoke so well, Barney—quickly and loudly. It seems I have some leverage on you now. I like it, ha!"
William pocketed the recorder and walked over to Christmas, untying the ropes that bound him.
Then he retrieved a stack of files from his car and walked to Gunnar. "Gentlemen, I have all of your detailed information. No one can escape my sight." He took out Gunnar's file and threw it at his feet, then moved to Yin Yang. "This one's yours."
"This is yours, Toll Road."
"This is yours, Caesar."
"And this one is yours, Barney. I really didn't expect you to have three such beautiful daughters. Wow, they're angels. In a dozen years, Barney, you might just become a world-class father-in-law." After speaking, he tossed the file at Barney's feet.
"If you have any questions, ask Christmas," William said, looking Barney in the eyes. "But I'd advise you not to tell anyone else. You wouldn't want to cause trouble for your team, would you, Barney?"
"Of course," Barney promised quickly. "Only we and Christmas will know."
"That's for the best. So now you owe me six lives, right, guys?" William said to Barney.
Barney thought for a moment. "Yes. Although things got a little unpleasant, the result is good. I owe you six lives. We'll pay you back. You can find us if you ever need anything."
"Good. I'll need your contact info, Barney. What's the name of that tattoo shop you run? By the way, is it Toll Road who does the tattoos? I hear his work is as good as his knife skills. I'll have to get him to do a piece for me sometime, once I have a good design. Alright then, Barney. See you around."
William looked at Christmas, who was still working on his ropes. Looking at Christmas's bald head, he was suddenly reminded of the 'green hat'—the symbol of a cuckolded man.
"Hey, buddy. There's one more thing I should tell you, though I'm afraid you won't like it."
Christmas was defiant. "What? Is there anything I can't handle? I've already died once tonight."
William glanced at Christmas's bald head. "Alright, guy. According to my information, it seems your girlfriend is cheating on you. My condolences, Christmas."
Hearing this, Caesar shouted, "I told you! I told you that tramp—the one with the huge headlights—was no good! I told you in the bar last time, but you just wouldn't believe it!"
Barney quickly interjected, "Shut up, Caesar! Now's not the time for this."
Seeing that Christmas was free, William addressed the group. "Alright, everyone, I'm leaving. As for how you get out of London, I suggest you run. Your personal effects are all in this bag. Well then, members of the Expendables, see you around."
With that, William tossed a bag from his car onto the ground, got in, and drove back toward London.
Once William was gone, Christmas used his knife to cut his teammates free.
As the six men rubbed their numb hands and feet, they retrieved their weapons and gear. They stood in a circle, looking at each other, speechless.
Finally, Caesar couldn't stand it anymore. "Damn it! How long has it been since we were this humiliated? I don't remember the last time I had a gun pointed at me like that. I swear, I never want to see that guy again."
Barney, feeling depressed, reached for a cigar, but his pocket was empty. "That son of a bitch took my Zippo lighter. Damn it, my daughter gave me that."
Yin Yang said angrily, "Barney, is now the time to be talking about a lighter? What are we going to do?"
Gunnar cursed, "Who is that damn guy? If I ever find out, I'll put a bullet in his back. That son of a bitch stuck the anesthetic dart right in my windpipe."
Toll Road complained, "We should be thankful the guy isn't familiar with anatomy or anesthetic doses. Otherwise, you and Christmas wouldn't have woken up so quickly, and he could have gotten all our secrets. In that situation, if he'd asked for my wife's measurements, I would have had to tell him. I didn't want to see Yin Yang and Caesar killed in front of me."
He held up the file in his hand for everyone to see. "Guys, I don't know what your files say, but mine details my entire past. It even clearly describes what happened to my ear."
Seeing that Toll Road was about to launch into his ear story again, Caesar quickly changed the subject. He didn't want to hear it for the eight-hundredth time.
"It's the same with me," Caesar said. "That guy even knew how many girlfriends I had when I was young, and that I robbed a neighborhood thug after I retired because I was short on cash. He also wrote down that my son got two teeth knocked out at school. What the hell is this? Was it necessary to write down so much detail?"
With that said, all eyes turned to Christmas. Everyone knew the mysterious man had originally wanted to contact him, but their interference had messed up the plan and gotten them all captured.
Barney said, "Alright, I'll tell you what I can. Don't ask about what you don't need to know. You know the rules."
Caesar complained, "So we're just going to forget about it? We've never suffered such a huge loss before. We were tied up like pigs for him to do whatever he wanted."
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