Page 29 of Broken

It didn’t matter what he said, though, Echo had continued raging and clawing until he ran out of strength and hung limply in his tight grip. Hefting the slight weight over one shoulder, he walked down the alley and entered an abandoned warehouse. Making his way into the deep, dark depths, he reached the very back. It was there that he dumped the kid in one of the empty cages designed for dogs. It would do until he could figure out what to do when the kid woke up.

The cage next to Echo’s rattled when Rogue came awake. The boy kicked at the metal, but Solomon wasn’t worried. He’d spent the extra money on that cage to hold Rogue in place—due to his size. Even at twelve years old, Rogue was big. Next to Rogue slept fifteen-year-old Fisher, curled on his side, still recuperating.

When he locked the padlock on the cage, Echo came awake and clawed at him through the small openings. Solomon snatched his hand away, rubbing at the rising bloody welts.

“Let me out!”

“What’s your name?” Solomon asked, taking a seat in a chair that sat in front of the cage.

The boy grabbed the bars and shook the whole cage, hollering with rage. Long black hair hung into his face, hate filled eyes the color of chocolate glared through the strands. With a dirty face, almost skeletal body and filthy clothes, the boy looked on the verge of death. He had spirit, Solomon had to hand it to him.

“Your name,” he said, lowering his voice to a growl.

“Echo.” The word was hissed and it took a few moments for Solomon to understand that Echo was an actual name. Or at least, that was what the boy was telling him. Echo was unique and Solomon liked it very much.

“Who named you that?”

“My mother when she was high. That’s what she said.”

“How old are you?”

“Twelve.”

“You look like you’re eight.” Solomon smirked.

Echo slapped at the bars. “I do not! I’m ten!”

Solomon chuckled and lifted a heavy piece of rebar from the floor.

Rogue shrank back to the far end of his cage and covered his ears.

Solomon leaned closer to Echo’s cage and shoved the bar through the metal holes. Only when Echo’s screams died to whimpers did he stop.

“Never lie to me again,” he said, tossing the rebar down with a clang and Rogue pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms tight around them.

When Echo’s sobs filled the air, Fisher stirred in his cage and rolled over to stare at Rogue through the bars.

Solomon stood and walked out of the area. If pain and fear stopped working on Echo, he’d deny food. There was always a way to break someone to heel. Perhaps Rogue and Fisher could help the kid out by telling him that he meant business.

The laptop on his office desk pinged and Solomon returned from thinking about the past to the here and now.

First order of business was to make peace with Dave. And in order to do that, he had to make nice with Ice.

Solomon lifted his cell phone, held it for a moment, and then slowly returned it to the desk.

After several long minutes, he lifted the phone up again and made a call.

Echo didn’t know just how long he’d sat there and played in the blood.

“Get up,” Rogue hissed, snapping him back into his right mind.

When had Rogue come into the apartment?

Gazing blankly down at the dead body, he found his gloved hands full of squished intestines. Getting sluggishly to his feet, he along with Rogue’s help found every single one of his daggers and his Ulu knife. He made extra sure to count all his knives as he tucked them away with no sheath left empty.

“What are you doing here?” Echo rasped through a raw throat.

“What does it matter? Get your ass out of here,” Rogue snapped and shoved him toward the window.

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