Meridian shot his gloved hand up, clamped it around Graham’s throat, and pushed his thumb and index finger into the trigger points until tears flood Graham’s eyes.
“Do you understand?” he asked.
Graham answered with a tight nod.
“Now, let’s start again, shall we?” Meridian shifted his weight. “What was your investment supposed to get you?”
“The connections the organization had with certain agencies. To, y’know, keep the feds off my back and out of my business. And a new set of Ravens that would eliminate my competition. The director didn’t say it, but a lot of us knew that you two and the other Ravens were all uncontrollable.” He swallowed. “We were told the new ones would be loyal, and work for us.”
“Move on to the Whites,” Corvo spoke in his ear.
“These new Ravens… Where’d they come from?” he asked next.
“They were ex-cons, gang members, I think.”
“Names,” Ex said.
“Scar Calloway and Gage Harrington. Both were serving time in prison.” Graham blinked. “Why don’t you guys already know this? I mean, aren’t—”
Meridian moved faster than Graham’s next breath. Whisper spoke, carving a clean, shallow line across Graham’s cheek.
Meridian wasn’t angry… yet.
“You don’t ask the questions,” he said. “You answer them.”
As blood ran down Graham’s jaw, he cupped both hands over his junk, as if he were afraid his balls would be next.
Meridian rested his dagger’s edge just below Graham’s chin, waiting for his next mistake.
“I wasn’t given a whole lot of info on them, only what was public knowledge. The director was careful like that.” Graham’s lips trembled. “Scar and Gage were from rival crews in Chicago. One South Side, the other West.”
Meridian’s tone cooled another five degrees. “Which gangs?”
“South Side Kings and the 13th Ward Hustlers. The most vicious ones,” Graham muttered, no longer able to hold back his tears.
Ex sucked his teeth as Meridian rolled his eyes.
Goddamn crybaby.
“Was it the director who got them out of prison?”
“Yes. I mean, I think.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Whisper kissed the other cheek.
“I don’t know… I swear!” Graham sobbed. “The director shut everything down. Gage and Scar wouldn’t cooperate. That’s what we were told. The scientists couldn’t get their shit right and the experiments didn’t work, so all of us lost our goddamn money when the director disappeared.”
When Meridian killed him.
“All of us?” Ex stood beside him now. “Who’s us?”
“Fuck if I know, man. I think there was a CEO from a pharmaceutical firm. A few politicians, cartel lords, smugglers, black-market brokers.” Graham bared his teeth. “We didn’t exactly have dinner parties to get to know each other.”
Meridian flicked his wrist and opened Graham’s lower lip with a clean surgical cut.
