Edward’s eyes roll back in his head, but he fights the drugs taking hold of his system. I crouch so we’re eye level but stay far enough away so he can’t reach me. I can tell he’s trying to figure out how he knows me, but I’m not a little girl anymore, and I don’t think the drugs are helping him with his recollection.
It’s tempting to remind him, to let him know who holds the power now and who will ultimately be the one to kill him, but I keep my mouth shut.
Finally, he loses the ability to sit upright and falls to the side. It only takes minutes. His eyes are heavy-lidded, but he’s not seeing me. Hell, he’s probably happy as a fucking clam right now. I sit my ass on the floor with my knees propped up to hold my arms as I watch him for a few minutes. As much as I don’t like killing these bastards, I do like the power of knowing I’m in control when they took all of mine from me.
I don’t let the high fade too much before uncapping another needle. Eddy tries to scoot back from me, but he’s weak and doesn’t have much fight. My palms sweat inside the latex gloves as I grab his foot by the ankle. When he jerks his leg back and tries to kick me, I pull the gun from my pants and point it at his face.
“Sit still or I will put a bullet in your fucking head.”
“What’d want?” His speech is slurred, but I understand him easily, and I have no intention of answering him.
When I grab his foot this time, he resists a little, but the sound of me thumbing off the safety seems to make him more amenable. I don’t bother spreading his toes, I just jab the needle into his skin and plunge the shit inside him. He’s not as quick to react this time, and it takes him at least ten seconds before he lets out a moan that makes me want to shove a towel down his throat.
I could do this for hours, days, but by the third injection, when he pisses himself, I decide it’s time to get serious. “Here, take this.” I hand him the used needle. He drops the thing after just a second, but his prints are all I needed. “This one too.” He takes the next one and holds it for a second until it’s almost like he remembers he shouldn’t and lets that one roll out of his hand.
I rise to my feet, putting one of the needles on the desk and leaving the other on the floor. His head and eyes track me between long blinks. I don’t think he has any idea he’s going to die lying on the floor with all his secrets and dick out, or maybe the drugs are stopping him from caring.
After planting a few more items around the room, I head back to Edward. I don’t know if he can read the disgust on my face, but something registers as he blinks a few times as if to clear his vision.
“Can you sit up?” I question harshly.
He makes an effort, but he’s really just leaning against the wall. I hand him another needle. “This is the last one,” I tell him sincerely. This has a bigger bump than the others. It should be enough to stop his breathing and then some, just in case.
He looks down at the needle, then up at me. I like that he’s nearly mute. I don’t know if it’s by choice or the drugs, but it’s nice either way. “Go ahead, Eddy.” I nod toward the needle.
“Don’t want to.” He shakes his head sloppily.
I could show him the gun and make him do it, but I try another route. “Want me to call the cops for you, or an ambulance?” I offer as if I’m being helpful.
He nods, but the moment his head moves, puke literally falls out of his mouth. I lurch backward, putting more space between us. “I can do that, but if I do, they’ll see all that.” I gesture toward his computer and everything else he knows is there. He would spend the rest of his life in prison.
He draws his hand across his face, wiping under his mouth with the needle still clutched in his fingers. “Do you want everyone to know how you like to hurt little girls?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“Then all you have to do is stick that tiny little needle in your arm, and you won’t have to worry about it. Easy.” If he were clearheaded, I’m sure he would understand just what putting more of the poison into his system would do, but as he looks down at the needle again, I would bet he doesn’t know. He thinks he’s protecting his secrets.
I watch as he lifts the needle near his arm. It pokes into the skin a few times as he fumbles. I don’t even think he feels it. “You’re killing me,” he says, surprising me.
I don’t deny it. Instead, I ask, “Don’t you deserve it after everything you’ve done?”
“I’m sick,” he says slowly, as if his tongue is too thick in his mouth.
“Yes, but that’s not an excuse. Now take your medicine, Eddy,” I encourage.
He sinks the needle into his arm. I don’t know if he hits a vein, but it doesn’t matter. He might not get that euphoric rush, but it will kill him all the same. His body convulses a few times before he slumps to the side, puking even more as his breathing becomes labored and slow. I can hear his wheezing as if he’s inhaling the vomit, and that seems fitting. I like to think he’s choking on it.
I clean out his stash of cash, netting a little over eighty grand. He was so confident that this room was undetectable, he didn’t even have it in a safe. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one, but I won’t be looking for it.
Instead of carrying everything up to the room I was camped out in, I run up and grab my duffle and finish setting the scene. Before leaving, I press my gloved fingers to his neck, looking for a pulse, even though I’m confident he’s dead. After thirty seconds with no signs of life, I gather my things and exit the same way I have been for the past several weeks.
CHAPTER10
WINGER
“Hey, I need you to run some info down for me.”
“You only call when you want something. You’re not making me feel special, Winger,” Iron drawls through the phone.
