Cray is pacing back and forth in front of him. His head snaps around to look at us and he states irritably, “You’re late. I started without you.”
“I can see that,” I say wryly. “Did you manage to get any meaningful information?”
“No.”
I crouch down in front of Weaver. He’s trembling but is doing his best to hold it together. Up close he looks even younger than he did on Mac’s video. His face is smooth and he looks barely young enough to grow a beard. Someone you would never expect to be involved with one percent clubs.
“Do you know who I am?” I ask.
“You’re her husband,” he whispers. “The accountant.”
“That’s right. And you took my wife off the street, didn’t you?”
“He made me do it,” Weaver stammers. “Threatened to kill my mother. I had to.”
“If you don’t help right the wrong you committed, I just might kill your mother myself,” I growl.
When Cray snorts a laugh, my head snaps up. “Do you mind, I’m trying to interrogate the prisoner?”
Turning back to Weaver, I tell him in no uncertain terms, “Don’t give us that shit about being coerced. We already know you work for Darkness and that you collaborated with Bran. You’re gonna tell me where they took her or I’m going to take out my knife and begin carving you up.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” he stammers. “You’re not like them.”
I grab a fistful of his hair and jerk his head back. Staring into his eyes, I say, “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m exactly like the others, only ten times more vicious because while you’re wasting my time playing games, Darkness could be doing anything to my wife.”
“You can’t win against Darkness. He’s too powerful and has too many men. I should know. I tried.”
I release his head and move back. “Look around,” I tell him. “Count the men standing behind me. Every single one of them will kill you if you don’t tell us what we want to know. Even now my family is gathering upwards of a hundred men to move against Darkness. You don’t work for Darkness anymore. From now on, if you wanna keep on breathing, you work for me.”
Weaver’s eyes dart around the barn, taking in Rock’s hard expression, Mac’s crossed arms, Cray’s bloody knuckles, and all the others. I can see the moment his survival instincts kick in hard and fast.
“Dead Man’s Pass,” he says, the words tumbling out. “There’s a cave system underneath the ridge. It’s where Darkness stashes his inventory. Guns, drugs, cash. It’s where he goes when he doesn’t want to be found.”
“How do you get to it?”
“Fire road off Route 9, about two miles past the pass marker. There’s a chain across the road. You follow that road for maybe a mile and there’s a clearing with a campsite. The cave entrance is on the north face, behind a tree line.”
“How many men does he have there?”
Weaver swallows. “His core crew. Maybe six or eight, plus Bran.”
“What does he want with Nova?”
Weaver’s face goes pale and he looks at the floor. “I don’t know everything. Just what Bran tells me. Darkness wants todestroy everything connected to the promises you made at the regional council meeting. The businesses, the territory, and...” he trails off.
“And what?” My voice doesn’t change pitch, but something in my face must shift because Weaver flinches away from me.
“He wants to make an example of her,” Weaver says hoarsely. “He wants to ruin her completely, her face, her body, everything. Then dump her somewhere public so the whole world sees what happens when Ragers make promises they can’t keep.”
I feel Rock’s hand close on my shoulder. Not to hold me back. To let me know he heard every word and he’s right behind me.
I stand up slowly. “You’re coming with us,” I tell Weaver.
“What? Why?”
“Because when this is over, you’re gonna call for backup and lead your fellow officers into that cave. They’re gonna find a weapons cache, a drug stash, and the members of a criminal organization. You’re gonna be the cop who cracked the biggest bust this county has seen in years.”
“I don’t understand,” Weaver whispers. “Why are you letting me go?”
