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“I’ve told you what you wanted to know.”
“I asked you to tell me the truth,” he replies. “Sadly, that’s not what you chose to do. A bad choice, Ruth. Bad choices have consequences.”
I crane my neck to look at him. “I did tell you the truth. My sister—”
“— is a figment of your imagination,” he snarls. “A good story, though. I almost fell for it. You’re an accomplished liar, Ruth, but that means I need to stop being gentle with you.”
Gentle?
“I wasn’t lying,” I protest. “You have to believe me.”
“Well, that’s going to be awkward,” he replies. “I take it this is yours.” He holds my warrant card before my face. “Police Constable Ruth Lowison?”
“I… I’m not on duty. I’m not here because of that.”
“Nice try,” he sneers. “Now, shall we start over?”
“What do you mean to do?” I whimper.
“My belt hasn’t been persuasive enough, obviously.” He smiles at me, without the slightest hint of mirth. “You need something with a little more bite.”
He strolls back to the door and raps sharply. It is opened immediately, and the man who was going to ‘help’ me undress pokes this head round. “Boss?”
“Bring me a cane, Moses.”
The man nods and disappears again.
I can only gape. A cane? He means to cane me! I tug at the restraints, desperate to escape.
He watches me struggle, his lip quirking. He knows I can’t escape, and of course, he’s right. I’m still frantically dragging at the steel ring when the door opens again and the man returns. He hands three narrow canes to his boss.
“Wasn’t sure which one you’d want.”
My captor smiles and nods. “Thanks, Moses.” He glances at me. “Do you have any preference, Ruth?”
“Let me go,” I plead. “You’re making a mistake, I’m not—”
“This one, then.” He selects one of the canes and swings it sharply through the air.
It makes an ominous whistling sound, and I scream. I’m not going to be able to bear this. His belt was awful, how much worse will a caning be? And it’s not as though I can stop what’s coming by changing my story. I’ve already told him the truth.
He moves behind me and taps my buttock with the tip of the cane. Another scream is ripped from my throat though it doesn’t hurt. The suggestion is enough to send me spiralling. I’m gasping for breath, and my vision is blurring. In some dark corner of my mind I think I might pee myself, but I don’t care. If it’s possible to die of fear, now’s the time to do it.
He strokes my bottom with the cane, back and forth, slowly. Then he raises it, and my knees give way. My wrists are already scraped and sore from my struggles, and they are painfully wrenched when my entire weight is suspended from the metal ring.
Then…nothing. Blackness engulfs me, and I stop feeling altogether.
CHAPTER5
Jack
Fuck!
I spot it, the precise moment her eyes roll back in her head and she loses consciousness. I sling my arm around her waist to take her weight, pull out my pocket knife, and reach up to slice through the cable ties securing her wrists. She collapses into my arms.
I carry her to the bench set into one wall and lay her on it, then I take off my jacket and drape that over her. I drop to my haunches to check her breathing, but that seems to be okay. Her pulse is fluttery and shallow, but settling.
She’s fainted, and I never even touched her.
