“Can you hold his legs for me?” she asks Nickel.
He does as she asks, with Brass taking one and him the other. We watch as Nora removes Lloyd’s shoes and socks, then opens the metal cage and fits it over his foot. She tightens a screw at the bottom of his left foot, then his right.
“You guys will have to hold him tight when I screw the bottom ones in, but first, let’s give him a cocktail to get him talking.”
Norah goes back to her bag and removes a black case. She holds it up to show me the vial with needles and a syringe inside. “Truth serum. No idea what’s in it. The Skulls make it. I only know that it works. I could have used it first, but I wanted him to hurt.”
“Fair enough,” I agree. “I’d want him to hurt, too.”
And I would. If it had been Opal, I’d have done the same thing. Nora is showing more restraint than I would.
She makes quick work of locating a vein and injecting him. It’s clear this isn’t the first time she’s done this.
“Bee,” Nora calls out, waiting for Bee to turn her attention from Copper. “Take notes.”
“Will do,” Bee replies, tapping Copper on the shoulder to set her down. She takes her phone from her back pocket and opens it. “Go for it, sister.”
“Tell me about the shipments, Lloyd,” Nora demands, dropping to her knees. She tightens the bottom screw.
Eade is a fountain of information; he doesn’t even attempt to hold back. He suddenly screams, throwing his head back as Nora calmly tightens the screw on the metal cage she secured to his foot. Blood flows from the holes as she twists the screws. Whatever she’s doing is causing damage. He screams until he passes out. The nurse, whom I’d all but forgotten, thrashes on the table.
Bee rolls her eyes and hands Copper her phone. “Hold this, Sugar.”
She chooses one of the knives on the wall, casually walks over to Beatrice, and slits her throat.
No one knows what to say. Copper doesn’t look surprised, just proud. Women can be as ruthless as men, and Bee and Nora seem to have it in abundance when it comes to protecting and avenging their loved ones.
“We good?” I ask as Bee deposits the knife in the sink and washes her hands.
She returns to Copper and takes her phone from him. He wraps an arm around her waist, taking her weight as she rests against him.
“Bee,” I ask again when she doesn’t answer, absorbed in her phone.
“Huh?” She looks up and waves a dismissive hand. “Oh, yeah, we’re good. She was annoying me. I didn’t need to torture her because Jeanie took care of it. Besides, the information Nora’s extracting from Lloyd is far more fascinating and tallies with what I found in the ledgers.”
“We’ll have more in just a minute,” Nora says, approaching Eade with another syringe, “But he may not last as long this time.”
Copper grins at me. I shake my head and turn towards Nickel, who’s watching Nora with a stupid smile on his face. If he were a cartoon character, he’d have hearts flowing from his eyes.
I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re not needed; our only purpose here is as muscle.
Bee pats the wall next to her and Copper. “Stand here, Pres, and relax. You guys will have to do the heavy lifting once we’re finished.”
Nickel and Copper chuckle. I’m glad Bolt isn’t here because he’d be all over this shit. Deciding I may as well do what Bee suggests, I join them.
Nora gives Lloyd whatever the hell concoction she’s got in those needles. He starts talking again until she tightens the screw and the blood flows, until he passes out.
“Did you get it all, Bee?”
“Yep, got it. Also, those shoes are something else.”
“They are. My favourites.” Nora stands and presses a finger to Eade’s neck. “Still alive.” She pulls two boards and a hammer from the wall, then turns to Nickel. “Can you let him down?”
When Eade is back in the chair, she unties his hands and fits a board under each, securing them to the chair's arms.
“Need to wake him up again,” she mutters. She pulls a vial from her pocket, breaks it open, and waves it under his nose.
Eade opens his eyes and stares blearily at her. “Nora. I don’t know any more,” he whimpers.
