Raising my eyebrow, I look at Bee. “You think he let the girls who asked for help leave when they begged?”
Bee walks over to the other side of the table and looks down at the snivelling man with disgust. “Doubt it. Men like him are bullies.”
“See? My friend agrees with me,” I say conversationally, returning my attention to Burres.
“No,” he whimpers. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Bee looks at her tablet. “You are Andrew Miles Burres-Winston, yes?”
I pick up a knife from my tray and stab him through the fleshy part of his thigh. “My friend asked you a question. Are you Andrew Miles Burres-Winston? Answer her, or I’ll stick you like a pincushion.”
“Yes.” He nods.
“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Bee shakes her head at him. “You’re the CEO of several companies, on your fourth marriage, and you have no children. Is that correct?”
Iraise my knife.
“Yes, that’s me,” he hurriedly answers.
“Well, then.” Bee smiles happily, patting him on the shoulder. “You are the right man.”
“No, no, I’m not. I don’t know why you’ve kidnapped me. If it’s for money… a ransom, I’ll pay you whatever you want.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Bee waves a dismissive hand. “We’re already draining your accounts and funnelling money to various charities. What we want from you is information. My friend here is very good at torture.”
She leans forward and whispers, “I’d answer her questions pretty sharply. She doesn’t have much patience for human traffickers, but you more than anyone else. See, you trained Lloyd, and he sold her sister. You’re in for a world of hurt.”
Bee stands as he whimpers, patting his shoulder with mock sympathy. She gives me a wink. “Have fun.”
I love my friend. She always injects humour into these situations, which is off-putting for those we want to extract information from.
Picking up the Pear of Anguish, I hold it up so he can see it clearly and slowly turn the screw to open it.
“I don’t know a Lloyd,” Burres whispers.
“Really?” I tut and raise an eyebrow, turning the screw the other way so the device closes. “You don’t want to lie to me, Burres. You lot never learn. We can find anything when we follow the money. And we’ve got the best of the best on our side.”
I pause for emphasis. “So you see, we know we have the right man. Besides, Lloyd squealed like the rat he was. Right now, the authorities think you’ve done a runner, so nobody is looking for you. And this place is very remote, so you can scream as loudly as you want. Nobody will hear you.”
Leaning over him, I hold his gaze. “And youaregoing to scream, that I can promise you. Every time you do, I want you to remember each woman, man, and child you’ve trafficked over the years and think about how their screams went unheard. But my friend is right. I want information.”
I turn to select the head strap from the tray and secure his head to the table, making sure he can’t move. “But first, I’m going to make you scream.”
His scream becomes a gurgle as I insert the pear into his mouth.
“A little unfair of me, I know,” I say as I unscrew the bolt and the pear widens. “But I’m sure some of their screams were silent too.”
When the device is completely open, stretching his mouth wide, I use my knife to cut his clothes from him. Leaving him naked on the table, I toss the garments onto the plastic to be burned.
“Well, that’s not a pretty sight,” Brass complains.
“It’s really not,” I agree, standing back and looking at the pale, pasty body on the table.
“Do you need a hand?” Coal asks.
I look at the brothers, leaning casually against the wall. Bee has her face buried in her tablet, ready to take notes once we get to the truth serum stage.
I hesitate for a split second before I look at Nickel. He’s seen me do my thing, but that was before he made me his. Will I see disgust in his eyes?
