“Why?” It sounds juvenile and stupid.
“It’s fun.” He shrugs.
The words WALL OF RECORDS are at the top, written in red. Below are their names, and under each one a list of entries.Spiked ball,terrified to death,skewed toes.The last one isUri’s.Toothpick skin carving.Sounds tiresome.
“Remember what happens in the FUNS rooms stays in the FUNS rooms,” Lori feels the need to tell me.
I turn toward the corridor, and I see Ramiel and Hunter in a corner. The PI is trying to calm down his boyfriend, cupping his face while whispering to him. Ramiel’s body loses some tension as Hunter kisses him.
Everybody has a breaking point. I need to find Nine’s and tear her apart.
When I look back at the FUNS room, Gabriel is on his phone. Linda is pacing, and Uriel is staring at me, tossing a knife in the air and catching it in his palm.
“How did you find him?” His voice comes out of the speaker over the door. He points the blade at a still-sleeping Marlon Finch before resuming the tossing.
“Acquaintances,” I answer vaguely. Vulture told me it wasn’t easy. And the information cost me a retro arcade game I had to win at a fucking online auction.
“Thank you,” Ramiel says between gritted teeth, stopping near me with Hunter behind him. I nearly roll my eyes. He knows it was Vulture, so why is he thanking me?
“I want to stop Nine,” I simply state.
“This prick has more info than we think. I know he does.” Linda narrows her eyes at him.
“And I have some as well. Is that shithead, Jacob, still with you?” Ramiel asks me.
He already told me that Jacob’s phone didn’t get us anywhere near Nine. She never leaves digital footprints and the messages were encrypted, impossible to find the source.
“I found out who the girl was he fucked with. Gabriela Mendez, daughter of Pedro Mendez, a drug lord for the Mexican Cartel here in Chicago. Jacob told you that Mendez didn’t go after him even though he told him he would.”
I nod at Ramiel.
“I know Mendez from when I was in the police,” Hunter interjects. “He was a low-ranking Falcon. The piece of shit never goes back on his word, especially if it was a threat.”
“Nine must have stopped him somehow,” Linda hisses.
I think Jacob’s had enough time to ponder his life choices. It’s time to question him once more.
“Raphael, Gabriel, and I will go ask Mendez a few questions as soon as Rami gives us the word. We know where he is, we just need to get to him,” Hunter finishes.
A cartel drug lord must be heavily protected; that’s why they need Ramiel to find a way in.
“It’s still unsettling seeing you and Uri near each other. You are like Frankenstein’s monster’s brother,” Bezaliel grunts.
Lori laughs at that, but I don’t get the hilarity. I look at my identical twin. We are very similar, but also fucking different. I’d never get those lame dreads. His phone rings. The fact that he answers after one ring tells me it’s Sariel. He only picks up a phone call that fast for his boyfriend. Now I get it.
“Okay, Baby Blue,” he is saying. “You need to know the exact amount of the poison and the other components he used to get Meg sick.”
The sound of the phone has woken up the poisoner. He blinks a few times, eyes still foggy with sleep, until he focuses his gaze on us on the other side of the glass wall. Uriel must have kept the smart glass clear since the donor can see us.
“Wha…?” He tenses when he realizes he’s naked and restrained. He hazards a look at Uriel, who ended the call and is still playing with his knife again, and then at the horrifying hula girl plasticsheets covering the walls. It works like a charm. His mouth opens and closes as he starts to hyperventilate, pleading eyes locked on Linda.
“Please. Pleas…”
Her hard slap halts his pleading voice and makes his face snap to the side. The poisoner’s watery eyes move on Hunter—who is now entering the room with Ramiel—and he starts shaking uncontrollably.
“Oh god,” he sobs. How do they put up with this level of pathetic?
“He’s a grizzly but a domesticated one,” Ramiel hisses menacingly at him, patting Hunter’s round pec. “It’s the one with the knife you should be terrified of.”
