EMRIS
I haveto physically pull myself away from that room. To not go back in there and pull her into my arms, to tell her everything. I know I need to, but fuck! What if this changes her view of how we do things?
What if she can no longer stand me once she realizes what I do? I’ve never cared what people think of me, but it’s different with her. I want her to love me for me, but what if this is the final straw that pushes her away?
I refuse to lose her. Not when I just got her.
I can hear her muffled cries through the door, and I know I hurt her, which is so much worse than her anger. I can manage her being pissed off at me, but she looked broken as I closed the door, like I betrayed her.
I fucked up, and I’ll fix it as soon as I get more answers.
I descend the stairs and find Carson leaning against the wall next to the basement.
“What the hell, man?” he asks, his face full of disappointment. “Why won’t you tell her? She has a right to know what kind of danger could come her way.”
He’s right. I should tell her everything. Explain why we are doing what we do and why there are two people tied up in thebasement, but there’s a small chance she won’t be able to handle it.
Or can she?
I don’t fucking know. I’ve already told her the basics. I don’t want her to know the darkest side of my life. Susie is important to her, and if I tell her the full extent of what she’s done, it’s going to kill Brielle, and I don’t want her to hurt anymore.
“I’m doing what I need to do to protect her, Carson. After I’m done down there, I’ll tell her everything she needs to know and pray to whatever god is listening that she’ll understand.” I don’t let him reply as I push the basement door open and make my way downstairs.
When the man tied to the chair comes back into view, the anger in me before is now back tenfold.
People like this deserve to rot in hell, and if I can’t send him there myself, I’ll happily make it hard for him while he’s still breathing, which won’t be long. He had already started talking when Brielle came down. I need him to continue.
I walk over to the table on the left side of the room that holds all my weapons of choice. Grabbing a pair of pliers, I stalk back over to the man closest to me and give him a big smile.
“Ready to talk?” I ask, and he pales all over again. Blood drips down his nose from the baseball bat I hit him with earlier.
“Please… I have a wife and kids,” he pleads, thinking that’s going to change my mind. If anything, that solidifies it even more.
“Now why would I leave someone alive who sells and rapes women and children? Especially now that I know you have innocent people at home who you might hurt?” I drop down so I’m eye level with him, and his body trembles.
“I-I would never hurt them,” he denies, but I know he’s full of shit. There’s no way this man has a shred of humanity in him,and I can’t wait to watch the light from his eyes dim when I end his life.
“Oh, yeah, sure. Let’s go with that.” I scoff at the way he thinks he’s got me fooled, but I know exactly who this man is. I also know who his wife is. I mean, she’s the one who hired me through Archer to take him out.
I didn’t take a goddamn dime from her, knowing Peter is the man he works for. It was a win-win for me. He has some info that might be useful to me, but not one second after I get that information, he’ll be dead.
“How were Lacey and the kids last time you saw them? It was only last night you were home with them, right? Had dinner, a glass of wine, while your kids kept their heads down at the dinner table. Too scared to even say a single word about their day to theirowndad.” I shake my head in fake disappointment. Those kids will be better off without him. “Were they worried your fists would hit them again or if they’d say something to upset you since you’d been drinking?” I stand, grab his tied hands in his lap and use the pliers to peel off a single fingernail. His screams bounce off the cement walls, and I smile, loving the way it sounds.
I don’t give him a chance to say anything as I slowly peel off each nail until his hands are a bleeding mess.
I set the pliers down and grab my favorite tool.
“Now, let’s get to talking.” I begin to pace the small room as I bounce the hammer in the palm of my hand. “Tell me what you know about Peter and where he’s selling the women and children.”
The man starts vomiting after the second hit to his knee lands. Fuck, now it smells terrible.
“Better get talking before I get even more bored.” The threat leaves my mouth easily, and I can see him visibly swallow down his fear.
“He rarely gets children and when he does, he keeps them. It’s almost all women that he sells. The location changes. Each time he has an auction, it’s somewhere different. Sometimes it’s in Jamestown. Sometimes here. But we never get the address until a few hours before,” the man says, his breathing coming in ragged.
Damn it, that’s not enough. I need more.
“When is the next one supposed to take place?”
