Leonard’s panicked breaths crowd my face. “Wait!”
Returning my attention to Leonard, I raise a brow. “Got something to say?”
“The Alienist. That’s his name.”
Standing back up, I pick up the pliers and rip off Leonard’s pinky nail. He howls in agony.
My hand waves between Leonard and me. “We both know The Alienist is good old Lewis Whitlock. I want to know wherehegets the pills from. How does he distribute them to you and the other dealers? How does he find dealers to work for him? That’s the kind of thing we want to know.”
“He-He leaves them in my locker at the hospital.”
“See? Now we’re getting somewhere,” I say enthusiastically. “Dealers. Where is he getting them?”
“They’re patients.”
I flinch my head back. “Excuse me? What?”
“They’re patients who plead insanity but aren’t actually insane. They have an agreement. They get to come and go as they please as long as they sell Lewis’s product.”
My jaw clenches.
Lewis and these people are taking advantage of the system. Insanity plea is for those who actually need it. Not for criminals who don’t want to face the repercussions of breaking the law.
Without warning, I take Leonard’s thumbnail. Leonard turns his head to the side and vomits.
“Party foul, man!” Griffin scolds.
“Now we have to clean that up,” Knox complains.
Leonard coughs, spitting out the rest of the acid in his mouth. “What was that for? I’m cooperating.”
Shrugging a shoulder, I wear an indifferent expression. “I felt like it.”
“Psycho bitch!” Leonard hurls at me.
A wide smile splits my face. “Well, if you insist.” I drop the pliers and snag the first thing my hand finds on the worktable.
Hedge clippers, it is.
With a grip in each hand, I raise them above my head, disregarding Leonard’s cries. As I tighten my core, I thrust the sharp end into his stomach. Leonard grunts and begins coughing up blood.
Bending down, I place my mouth next to his ear so he can hear me. “I am the monster you helped create.”
Stepping back, I find his eyes wide and his pupils dilated. Raising the clippers again, I stab him again.
And again.
And again.
Eventually, I can’t lift my arms, and my hands drop the clippers of their own accord.
Hesitantly, I face Griffin and Knox. “It’s okay that I killed him, right? We didn’t need him for anything else?”
They look back at me with a fire in their eyes.
Relief swarms me, and I sag backward. Two sets of arms catch me before I can fall. My favorite scents engulf me—sea salt and bergamot mixed with vetiver.
“So beautiful.” Knox kisses my cheek.
