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The two other men grip Charlie tighter as Deklan grabs him by the hem of his pants and rips them down. He begins to scream as Deklan reaches down. I can’t quite see what he’s doing with the dumpster in the way, but I have a pretty good idea.
“No! Don’t! Don’t! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything!”
“That’s better.” Deklan nods and takes a step back as the two men release Charlie.
Charlie drops to the ground on his knees, grabbing at his pants and trying to pull them up as he falls.
“I was hired, okay? I wasn’t going to do anything to her—just watch and report.”
“Report to who?” Deklan circles around and kicks him in his bare ass, sending him sprawling on the concrete.
I have to step back to avoid being seen and to fight against correcting Deklan’s grammar.
“I don’t know! I just call a phone number and leave a message.”
He starts to scream again, and I peek around the corner to see Deklan dragging him by the hair to a puddle near the wall. He shoves his face into it and holds him there for a moment.
“Care to revise that statement?” Deklan says calmly as he hauls the guy back to his knees.
One of the men with Deklan leans back against the wall and lights a cigarette. He puffs on it a couple of times before handing it to Deklan. He holds the lit end up close the Charlie’s eye.
“No! Please!”
“Give me a name. Give me a name right now, or so help me God, I’m going to burn out your eyes, blow a hole in your head, and let Mac over here skull-fuck you.”
The guy who lit the cigarette snickers and rubs the front of his pants.
Charlie stares at them both wide-eyed until Deklan slams his head into the puddle again.
“Give me a fucking name!”
Charlie coughs and sputters. He chokes out a sound, but I can’t tell what he’s said; I can only see Deklan’s reaction. He goes completely still for a moment. Then his shoulders flex as he pulls C
harlie’s face close to his. I can tell they are talking but hear nothing. I strain my ears and take a half step closer, but I’m afraid of being seen.
“Motherfucker,” Deklan mutters as he stands up, drops Charlie to the ground, and pulls out his gun.
“No! No, please! There’s more! I can tell you more!”
“Start talking fast.” Mac hands a cylindrical object to Deklan, and he attaches it to the end of his weapon before pointing it at Charlie’s head.
I gasp, and Deklan turns his head to see me.
“Goddammit!” He passes the weapon over to Mac and stalks out of the alley. He grabs me by the arm and pulls me over to the car, checking left and right to make sure no one is watching us. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I wanted to know what was happening.”
“Tell me how much of that you saw.” Deklan’s voice is soft and calm, but his eyes aren’t.
“Most of it,” I whisper.
“Jesus Christ, Kera.” Dek closes his eyes for a second before he pulls me against his chest. “I never wanted you to see anything like that.”
“Who hired him?”
“Later.” Deklan holds me at arm length. “I’ve got to…to finish up here. You are not going back to work. In fact, you’re going to quit.”
“Quit?” I stare up at him, hoping he doesn’t mean what he’s saying. “I don’t want to quit!”
