Page 47 of Savage Little War

Dmitri notices the realization on his face. “Were you at the farmhouse? Did you torture her?”

He tenses as Dmitri presses the gun against his forehead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I strain my ears, trying to pick up any notes of familiarity in his voice. I swear that I’ve heard it before but not often.

“Yes, you do!” Dmitri snaps at him, planting his foot even harder on the man’s chest.

The guard grimaces. “Stop! You son of a bitch. I’m going to rip your fucking tongue out!”

That insult sounds familiar, but it wasn’t because I talked too much. It was because I didn’t talk enough.

“Whistle,” I say.

“What?” the guard scoffs at me.

“Whistle,” I say in a firmer voice. It’s the only way for me to test my theory.

“You fucking heard her,” Dmitri growls as he nudges the man’s forehead with the end of the gun barrel.

The guard clenches his jaw in frustration before starting to whistle.

The tune curls through the room, the same stupid, cheerful melody that kept me awake in the basement.

“He’s one of the guards,” I tell Dmitri, my eyes not leaving the man’s as he glares up at me. “He was in charge of feeding me, and I can’t count how many days he conveniently forgot to do his job.”

“You starved her?” Dmitri’s voice drops as he cocks the gun.

The guard tries to shrink back as much as he can. “Wait!”

Dmitri draws the gun back, only to slam it against the guard’s temple. “Don’t tell me to fucking wait!”

The guard grimaces in pain as he grabs his head, nearly curling up in a ball at Dmitri’s feet.

Dmitri turns to me, fire blazing in his eyes. “Once I’ve got what I need, he’s done,” Dmitri says. “Then I use the radio.”

I nod in understanding. If the guard has no use to us, there’s no reason to keep him alive. “Do it.”

“Are you sure?” Dmitri asks as he holds the gun out to me.

“I’ll get the next one,” I tell him, the corner of my mouth turning up. Honestly, I want the one who tried to make me miscarry the most.

Dmitri mirrors my expression before turning back to the guard and lifting the gun.

“Wait! Wait!” the guard cries out as he lifts his hands in surrender. “What do you want? Don’t kill me!”

Air puffs out of Dmitri’s nose. “Going to crumble that quickly, huh?”

The guard nearly shakes. “I can give you information!”

“Get your radio. Tell me what’s happening on the other floors,” Dmitri replies.

The guard grabs his radio and turns up the volume, different voices bursting through the speaker. All of the voices sound urgent as they rattle off Italian. “We…We’re losing men.”

“How do I know you’re not fucking lying?” Dmitri snaps as he steps closer to him.

The guard quickly shakes his head. “We’re pinned down in the kitchen on the first floor and in one of the bedrooms on the third floor.”

“Any word on Ferro?” Dmitri questions him.