Cormac did not just hurt her. He erased her. Hollowed her out and filled the space with obedience and self-loathing.
I push off the desk and resume pacing. I stop at the window and stare out into the night.
I hated seeing her body like that.
I think about it and shake my head.
And why the hell should I care? It is not my job to fix her.
But Jesus Christ.
If this is what Cormac does to his own blood, what the hell has he done to everyone else in his little cult?
I pull out my phone and pull up the delivery app and scroll through the list of pizza places. I find the best one in the city, the place that charges too much and delivers too slow but makes everything from scratch.
Hawaiian. Premium toppings.
I add it to the cart and pause, staring at the screen.
This is not kindness.
It is logistics.
She is too damn thin, basically malnourished. I need her alive long enough to talk. To get everything she knows. A dead informant is useless.
I repeat it in my head.
I hit order on the screen.
Why do I not believe my reasons?
I watch the confirmation screen pop up and lock my phone.
It buzzes in my hand and I glance at the screen, thinking it is a confirmation or something.
Shit. The meeting. Why I left in the first place.
One of our suppliers was caught selling our stuff for a little side profit. Harmless to our operation in terms of money lost, but we cannot allow that to go unnoticed. It will spark others to do it too, and I cannot have that.
It is the perfect kind of bullshit that requires my full attention and a clear head.
I grab my coat off the back of the chair and shrug it on.
One last glance at the ceiling, toward the East Wing.
Toward the room where she is locked up.
I mentally curse myself for thinking about her again.
She is a source, that is all.
I button my coat and head for the door.
I can still see her face. The way she looked at me when I covered her up. Confused. Like she did not understand why I would not take what she was offering.
Like no one had ever said no before.
I yank the door open and step into the hall.
