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My least favorite part of the job.
“Fine,” he sobs again. “I was fired. Drakos fired me.”
I hold up the bloody pliers, and he makes a choked sound, shrinking backward as much as he’s able in the chains, tears streaming down his face. “Why?” I ask flatly, and I see something give in Jakov.
“I had gambling debts. I’d lost all my money and then some.” The words come out wetly, half-slurred, and thick with pain. “I was fucking broke.”
“I can see why. You have a shit poker face.”
There’s a brief moment where I can see him trying to rally, to gather his courage to find a retort, and then he slumps again, looking at me through swollen eyes. “Whatever.”
I click the pliers, and he lets out another sob. “What did your gambling debts have to do with it? Drakos have something against gambling?”
Jakov sags forward in the chains, trying to speak between gasps of pain and tears. “I stole something from him. A piece of jewelry–this pearl ring. It was worth a lot; I heard him talking about it. I figured I could sell it, cover the worst of the debts until the next payday. I’d blame it on someone else. I thought for sure I could pull it off. I knew all the alarms, the security shifts, and his routines. Everything. But I guess someone was suspicious. Maybe they knew about the debts, or he did. Maybe someone was fucking watching me. I don’t fucking know. But I got caught.”’
It takes a long time for him to get all of that out, the words coming in fits and starts. When he finally goes silent again, I look at him, clicking the pliers together. “So you lied to me.”
His eyes go wide. “What? What–no! I haven’t…please, no–”
“You said you were fired.”Click. “But a man like Drakos, if you steal from him, he doesn’t just fire you. I know that. So that was a lie.”
“No!” Jakov screams as I grab one of his feet, still bound together at the ankles, dragging off his shoe. “No, no, no–”
It’s a good thing,I reflect, as I tear off the nail on the big toe,that no one will pass by out here to hear the screams.
“Understand,” I tell a weeping Jakov as I hold up the bloody nail, “that a lie will make this all so much worse. Refuse to answer, and it will hurt. But it will be so much worse if you answer, and I discover it’s a lie.”
“I didn’t, I didn’t mean to–”
“It doesn’t matter,” I tell him gently as I reach for his foot again.
When he’s stopped screaming, and I think he can speak again, I set the pliers down, crossing my arms over my chest. “I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself,” I say flatly. “Tell me what happened after Drakos caught you stealing.”
“I–oh, fuck.” Jakov squeezes his eyes shut. “I wasn’t caught exactly. I wasn’t lying!” he adds, screeching as I reach for the pliers again. “God, just fuckinglisten!”
I press my lips together tightly, trying hard not to laugh. “Fine. Convince me as to why that wasn’t a lie.”
“It was a–a simplification.”Big word for Jakov.“I did get caught trying to get the ring, but they didn’t catch me when I made a break for it. I had my papers on me, just in case something went wrong. My passport, all of that. I ran and managed to get out the window. Not with the ring. But I had a little money on me. I made it to the airport and got on the first flight out. I’m not from Moscow–he didn’t think to look for me here.”
“But there’s a price on your head, surely?”
“I don’t know,” he says, letting out a shriek as my fingers touch the pliers. “I don’t! I haven’t heard anything. I’ve been hiding out here, working at the club. Hoping he has bigger things to deal with. He–well, the night before–”
Abruptly, he stops talking, and I know I’ve bumped up against something important.
“Keep speaking,syn,if you know what’s good for you.”
Jakov swallows hard, terror written over every part of his face, and I can hear the sound of him starting to piss himself again. “I can’t,” he mumbles thickly. “If I say–I won’t–I can’t–”
“You can, and you will.” I reach for the pliers again, ignoring his pleas.
“No, no–” He shakes his head, when there’s only one nail left on the right foot, and I raise an eyebrow.It must be good for him to hold out this long.
It’s time to let him in on the secret of how tonight will go.
I set down the pliers, giving him a sympathetic smile. “Listen,” I tell him slowly. “I know you fear what Drakos will do to you if you tell me the truth. But there is no reason to fear.”
He looks at me, uncomprehending, and I step closer.
