“You’ve never heard of a chicken biscuit?Are there no Chick-fil-A’s in Arkansas?”
Arthur looked from Gathe to me.“Is it drugs?Are you all looking for something so you can buy more?”
“I thought I told you I was going to ask the questions,” I replied as I walked around the desk and in his direction.
He moved toward the wall slightly but stopped.
“Who in your family are you looking for?”
He licked his lips nervously.“My, uh, niece.”
I took another step toward him.
“I’d say that’s a very loose description,” Than said, swinging his gaze from the window back to Arthur, who was now locked on him.
“What do you know about it?”he asked Than.
Than raised his brows slightly and cut his eyes to me.
“We know that you don’t have a niece.Your sister has no children of her own.”
Arthur paused.“She has a stepdaughter.Problem child.What business is that of yours, and how do you know this about my sister?”
I laughed then, hearing the sinister lilt to it as I did.“Child?Oh, Cressida hasn’t been a child in a long time.And she was never a problem.”
Arthur’s eyes widened then, and his bravado was raising its head again at the sound of her name.“You know Cressida?”
“I’d be careful with your tone,” I warned him.
“Listen, if she’s done something, I can fix it.Just tell me where she is.My sister and brother-in-law are worried sick.”
The blatant lies and dark flicker in his eyes pushed me too far.He was slammed against the wall with my hand around his throat before he could finish the sentence.
Now that he was unable to speak now from the lack of oxygen, I bared my teeth as I got in his face.“Lie, and you’ll pay for it.I came for the truth.”
He shook his head, his eyes no longer hiding his terror as he stared at me.I eased up on my grip just enough so he could speak.
“Why are you looking for her?”
I felt his throat bob under my palm as he swallowed.“Worried,” he choked out, and I gripped his neck tighter and slammed the back of his head against the wall again.
“I said, NO LIES!”I snarled.
His eyes were watering, and he was getting the blue hue from not being able to breathe.I gave him enough to keep him from passing out, but dug my fingers into the sides of his neck, needing to cause him pain.
“Try again,” I urged.
“Sh-sh-she was mine.”
Those words were a mistake on his part.His head hit the wall so hard this time that I heard a crash from the other side of it.He went limp, his head falling to the side.
“You’re gonna give him an easy death if you keep that up,” Than pointed out.
“It’ll be an easier cleanup,” Gathe said.“I mean, unless you do it hard enough that his brains start coming out his fucking ears.”
I let go of his neck, and he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes slumping over to the side.
I then held my hand out to Gathe.“Give me his phone.”
