I followed behind like a lost little puppy. It was easy to confirm all my suspicions about Anita once we walked into the room where Alexander was tied up. He looked a little worse for wear. His face had been used as someone's punching bag. That someone was likely Anita. Blood was dripping from his leg, but it was his chest that had me asking, "Did a bear attack him?" What could only be described as claw marks ran down the center of his chest.
"No." She walked over to a table full of tools and grabbed a heavy-duty garden rake. At least that's what it looked like. "The Spanish Tickler. Nice way to shred the skin off a person."
Well, okay. I guess this was the portion of the day where Anita tried to make me squirm. It was obvious she had no plans of easing me into things.
"He's alive, right?" This whole thing would be pointless if he wasn't.
"Should be." Anita shrugged. "We're about to find out." There was no hesitation in her movements. Anita walked the short distance to Alexander's body and swiped the tool down his chest. Alexander's head shot up like a jack-in-the-box while a bloodcurdling scream filled the room. Chunks of flesh dangled from his body and the tool when Anita stepped to the side.
"He's all yours."
There were cases where I saw horrific shit, but nothing compared to watching it done to a person still alive. And yet Anita didn't look the least bit phased.
I pushed down the nauseous feeling and squatted in front of Alexander. "Bet you never thought you would be in this position."
"Fuck you," Alexander slurred. "Aren't you supposed to help people? This bitch is crazy."
I glanced over my shoulder at Anita. If him calling her a bitch and crazy affected her, she didn't show it.
"See, normally I would, but my boss told me not to touch you, so this is me following orders." Well, that wasn't how he put it, but I wasn't about to split hairs on technicalities. "But I would love to know what's going on between you and Deputy Director Banger."
Alexander smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know."
"Actually I would. Hence the reason I asked." No wonder he looked like shit if he had the same attitude with Anita. I doubted she had much patience for him.
"You don't get it." Blood and spit dribbled down Alexander's chin.
"I guess not, so how about you enlighten me."
"People like Bangar get to the top by crushing the good guys beneath him."
I tensed at his implication. It's what I suspected, but I didn't think Alexander would freely hand over the information.
"And how does he do that?"
"By taking cases away from agents like you. Then ruining their careers." I tried to hide my surprise, but apparently I didn't do a very good job because he chuckled. "You think I don't know everything he does? Banger doesn't work for the FBI. He works for men like me."
I was disgusted. I knew there were a lot of good agents in the FBI, but unfortunately the bad apples, such as Bangar, ruined it for the rest.
"Why should I believe you? You're known for fucking people over."
Alexander looked positively evil when he sneered. "That bitch isn't letting me out of here alive. I might as well take down as many fuckers with me as I can."
Now that, I could believe.
I stood up and glanced back to where Anita was leaning against the door. "I'm done. I've got the answers I came for." Iwas also done being a federal agent. I would find a new way to help victims. Possibly take a page out of Anita's book.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ANITA
It sucked when good people had to learn the shitty way of the world. Beckett was definitely one of the good ones even if I was still pissed with him for not listening to me about Mason.
Seven years was a long time to hold a grudge, and it was obvious my body didn't give a shit what my mind thought.
I followed Beckett out of the cell. Alexander could wait. It wasn't like he was going anywhere. Unlike Mason, Alexander was good as dead. It was just a matter of how long I dragged out his sentence.
"Is there a place we can talk?" Beckett stopped in his tracks and spun around to ask.
