He doesn’t know what they’re for. He delivers them unconscious and receives cash on the spot. He doesn’t know the name of the truck driver, though he says it’s almost always the same driver.
The only bit of useful information is that there’s a second load ordered for this month. In two days, he’s to drop off another victim.
Myro presses the button on the hand drill. It whines in his hand, making the guy whimper.
“I advise you to think of something important, or I’m going to let my brother play with you,” Myro says.
“Yesss,” Ellory hisses.
“I don’t know anything,” he demands.
“How long have you been kidnapping people and selling them?”
“A year.”
“From Flagstaff?”
He shakes his head. “Not always. Just the last few months.”
That makes sense given what I found when I randomly searched missing people. “His timeline doesn’t add up. A man went missing last week.”
Myro can hear us through an earpiece.
“Are you the only one who abducts people in this area?”
The man shrugs his shoulders, shaking his head at the same time. “I don’t know. I only do my job.”
I suppose the other guy could have been a coincidence. Something else entirely. My gut says that’s not the case.
“What can you tell us about the truck?” Myro asks.
“Nothing. I don’t know anything!”
Myro holds the button on the drill down and brings it toward the man’s hand. He’s already screaming as he tries to tug his handaway. It’s not moving, of course. This isn’t our first day torturing people.
The drill drives into the nail on his middle finger. Blood spatters. His screams change pitch. When Myro hits the block under his hand, he pulls the drill back.
“I don’t know,” he screams, over and over.
“How do you recognize the truck?” Myro asks. “Is it always the same truck?”
“Black trailer with a silver stripe down the side.”
“A Quick Ride,” Myro says, recognizing the style before I do. “What else?”
“There’s a red circle on the back of the one I meet. The same driver almost always. That’s how I recognize the truck.”
“License plate?”
The man shakes his head. “I don’t know. I swear I don’t know. I’ve never thought to look.”
Myro turns to look at the window we’re standing behind. I don’t think we got anything overly useful. Just more anxiety. Once a month, whoever they sell people to gets a restock. Does that mean I have a month to find Brek?
My gut tells me no.
“Ellory can play with him. Don’t kill him. Just make him beg for death,” I say and turn away. I left Jessica in my office, watching the security feed for the truck stop. Hopefully, she has something more useful.
Dad joins me as I leave the barn through a side door and climb into the white truck. The trucks are the only vehicles that drive beyond the houses if we can help it. Nothing identifiable. There’s no telling them apart. We also take the license plates off them since they only drive around on personal property.
