“We didn’t ask him any questions.” Tony shrugs. “With Maximo laid up in the hospital, I’m not really sure what we should do with him.”
“Let me worry about that,” I tell him as I motion Trenton to follow me and march across the room. I open the door to the interrogation room and blink at the flood of bright light. Jamie and Chris have set up a spotlight in each corner of the room, brightly illuminating the handcuffed man dangling from a chain hung over a rafter. Jacob is struggling to keep his weight focused on his unbroken arm, but every time he shifts, and his broken limb drags against the cuffs, he cries out pitifully. He’s shirtless and his chest is covered in small lacerations and blistered patches of burned flesh.
Jamie sets the small blue butane torch he’d been holding down and smiles at us. “Constance, Trenton. Good to see you. How is Maximo holding up? Leonard told us he made it through surgery.”
“He’s still unconscious,” I tell Jamie as Chris, sitting in the corner, shakes his head in resignation. “The doctors areoptimistic, but he almost didn’t make it. The only reason he survived was because we were already at the hospital.”
“It’s going to get worse for you,” Jacob rasps at me. “My mother won’t forgive you for what you’ve done.”
“I don’t want that bitch’s forgiveness,” I sneer at him. “I killed your brother for what he did to my family. I ought to kill you right now for what she did to Maximo today. But I’m not inclined to let you off that easily. Jamie, get him down from there and uncuff him for me.”
“Sure.” Jamie shrugs as Trenton crosses the room with his box and sets it down beside Chris.
“Trenton, get the vest ready,” I order him.
“I gotcha, Constance,” he says, already digging out the thick ballistic vest stuffed inside.
“What do you have there?” Jamie asks as he unhooks the chain from the wall and drops Jacob unceremoniously to the floor.
“A bulletproof vest we filled with weight plates, like bodybuilders use,” I explain. “Trenton, how much weight did we load into that thing?”
“At least sixty pounds,” Trenton plays along with my explanation as Jamie undoes the handcuffs binding our prisoner.
“Put it on him and cinch it up tight,” I instruct. Trenton turns the back of the vest to show Chris and Jamie the three large bricks of C4 that are wired into the plate carrier, though he makes sure Jacob can’t see it from his position.
Trenton manhandles the limp and broken man into the vest, then refastens the handcuffs onto his wrists and loops the chain back through them. “Okay, string him back up,” he tells Jamie.
This time, it takes Jamie and Chris both hauling on the chain to lift Jacob back into the air. He lets out another anguished wail but doesn’t seem to have any other snide comments for me. Iwatch him dangle there helplessly for a minute as sweat breaks out on his pale face and he gasps for each breath.
“My first instinct,” I finally tell him, “was to kill you for what your mother did to Maximo today. But this cycle of violence has to end. Give me a phone number to contact Irina, and I’ll propose a trade with her. I’ll trade you for Salvatore Bianchi’s son, and we’ll call a truce.”
“She won’t agree to that,” Jacob wheezes at me.
“She will, unless she wants to lose another son.”
“You just want her number? You just want to talk to her? Fine,” he spits the words, then recites a phone number. I don’t bother writing it down. I just pull Maximo’s phone out of my purse and unlock it with his code, then check the number Jacob gave me against the one Sergei had provided earlier.
When I see that they match, I turn to Trenton. “I need a burner phone. I don’t want this conversation trackable to any numbers we use.”
“Leonard will have one. Let’s head up and make the call.” Trenton picks up the box with the rest of the supplies and leaves the room.
“What should we do with him?” Jamie jerks a thumb at Jacob.
“He’s not going anywhere,” I shrug. “Turn the lights off and leave him hanging there tonight. Lock him in, but have someone check on him every hour or so. And keep him awake. I don’t want him getting comfortable.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Jamie says as Chris gets to his feet and starts turning off the spotlights.
“Guess we’ve had enough fun for today,” Chris remarks.
“Nah, you can be in charge of keeping him up for the first few hours,” Jamie tells him as I leave. “That should be good for all kinds of entertainment.”
“You need me for anything else tonight?” Tony asks me as I walk back through the armory.
“Jamie might, so check with him. Otherwise, though, we should be fine. I think we can manage our guest from here.”
“Take care, Constance,” Tony tells me as I start climbing the stairs. “Text me tomorrow and let me know if you need me, and how Maximo is doing.”
“I will.” I nod to him, then leave him to finish his dinner. Once I’m upstairs, I see Trenton talking to Van in the kitchen and walk over to join them.
