“Son of a bitch!” Alex’s rage boiled over. “Where is she?”
Wolf grabbed Alex from behind. Even as the rational part of Alex’s brain told him to stand down and shut the fuck up before he blew it, his body strained against the man’s grip, wanting to break away and tear Frank apart.
“We need him alive, brother,” Wolf said. “Dead men can’t answer questions.”
“Sometimes they can when you know what to look for,” Gina said, practically materializing next to them. “But in this case, it’s easier to ask him while he’s still breathing.”
Alex took his foot away and hauled Frank up by his shoulders. He bent the man’s arm behind his back and force-walked him into the building to the empty kennel room. All the dogs were outside in the practice yard with Shane.
“You’re going into one of the cages,” Alex said as calmly as he could. “If you don’t tell us where the hell Sylvie is, I’m turning you into dog food.”
“Please, just take Betty in,” Frank murmured, glancing up at the camera on the ceiling. “She’s going to need a new home.”
“Fuck yeah, she is,” Alex answered. He shoved Frank into the empty cage on the end. He slammed the door shut with a satisfyingclangand locked it. Frank sat cross-legged on the floor, eerily calm.
“Where’s Betty?” he asked. “Can you please take off her flak jacket?”
“She’s in the yard with the rest of the pups,” Kyle said nonchalantly. He cracked his knuckles. “In the meantime, you’re going to tell us what the fuck happened yesterday and where Sylvie Madden is, you traitorous piece of shit.”
“And then you’ll kill me.”
“That hasn’t been decided yet.” Kyle paced in front of the cage. “All depends on you, friend.”
Frank studied each face in turn, ending with Alex’s. “She means a lot to you.”
“She means everything to me.”
“To all of us,” Gina added.
Frank nodded. “The cartel has her. She was trailing Tom after our meeting with you and George, suspicious that he was with them. From what we put together, someone from the gang ambushed her before Tom took Brianna.”
“We? You mean Capitoline,” Kyle said. “You’re with those motherfuckers.”
Frank nodded once. “I had no idea who they were at first. But, yeah, I’m with them now. It’s why I’m here. They sent me to tell you that they will help you get her back.” He looked toward the door leading to the yard. “Can you please check on Betty? She was overheated.”
Kyle ignored his request. “They said they’d be in touch again. Didn’t think it’d be this soon.”
Frank shrugged, looking indifferent. “You’ll have to make up your mind in a hurry if you want Capitoline’s help. Or else Sylvie stands a good chance of disappearing forever into human trafficking.”
“And I suppose we give you our answer and then let you waltz out of here to go tell them. After which,youdisappear into the better life they’re promising you in return.”
Frank sighed. “Yeah. That’s one alternative. The other is to just turn around,” he pointed up at the camera in the corner of the room, “and tell them directly.”
“No one move,” Kyle said. “Everyone, keep track of where you are. Frank, if you want to live you will do exactly what I tell you when I tell you. Now, the real questions start. I—”
Kyle stopped when they heard footsteps running down the hall. Alex glanced at the door without moving his head and saw Shane coming toward them. He stopped just outside of the door—and the camera’s view—and held up a piece of paper. He mouthed the wordclean.
His face away from the camera, Kyle said, “Go ahead and talk, Shane.”
“Flint and I took Betty aside and checked her for explosives of course. At least you didn’t rig her,” he told Frank, then turned his attention back to Kyle. “But we did discover a note from the asshole here. Found it under her flak jacket.” He unfolded it and read, “‘In case you killed me outright and find this note later, I’m here to tell you that Sylvie is with the cartel and that if you don’t act quickly, they’ll traffic her. But that’s not the truth. She’s been set up as bait, and Capitoline will use you to take down the cartel. She’ll die in the process. They’ll frame you for killing her and Tom. And killing me if you went that route, and I don’t blame you. I hate what I’ve done even though they gave me no choice. My daughter is in danger. I don’t care about me, just protect her. I know where they’re holding Sylvie but you have to hurry because they’ll turn her over no matter what.’”
Shane looked up from the letter. “There’s an address and a rough map. We know where she is.” He stared at Frank. “So, you can kill him now.”
Kyle turned his head and addressed the camera. “Here’s my answer, Capitoline. Go ahead, Alex.”
Alex pointed his Sig at Frank’s head. His eyes widened in shock, then his face slackened in acceptance.
“Bang, bang, bang,” Alex said as he pretended to pull the trigger. Everyone else reacted as if bullets actually flew.
