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He kept his eyes on the knife Reaper held up, inspecting it. “Stanley Philips.”
“Huh. That’s an unfortunate name. You know they say not to trust people with two first names.” I waved my hand. “Or something like that.”
When he didn’t acknowledge me, I went straight into the questioning. “Who’d you tell about the tapes?” Stanley sneered at me before focusing back on Reaper and his knives.
I got it. It was easy to dismiss me when there was a giant in the room playing with stabby toys. If he paid a little more attention, he’d realize that the scariest person in the room was me. I knew how to torture until it was a mercy to kill.
Reaper came up to me, knife in hand. “She asked you a question.”
“Fuck you.” The words came out breathless, like he’d just sprinted a mile. “I called Lowenstein before you grabbed me. He’s coming.”
“That’s fine. He was already hanging around.” I shrugged. “A few more questions.”
“I’m not telling you shit.”
Reaper let out a despondent sigh. “You hear that, babe? He’s not talking.” I hummed in response.
Reaper dragged a knife down the side of Stanley’s face, nicking his earlobe. “What if we cut off his ear?”
“No. Too much blood, not enough payoff,” I said. I could read the questions Reaper wanted to ask in his eyes. He wanted to know how I knew that. I shook my head, because I’d never tell.
“Fine. Eyelids.”
“It’d be easier to tape them open. The skin’s too fragile to cut the lids off, it’ll take forever to finish. Taping them open so he can’t blink will give us the same result.”
Reaper turned to face me, a flirty smile on his face. “Really? I’ve never cared much about how big a mess I make.” He leaned closer. “What else do you know about torturing someone?”
“Thumbs. Big Toes. If you want them to live but never have a moment where they aren’t thinking of you.” I took a finger and made a slicing motion at my thumb. “Tendons.” I pointed to my Achilles. “Can’t walk without that.” Reaper nodded, eyes going hot the more I told.
“For fuck’s sake, stop flirting while you talk about torturing the guy. It’s fucking weird.” Midas said.
Chuckling, Reaper swooped down and gave me a chaste kiss before he got to work.
He barely finished with the first thumb before Stanley started singing.
Everyone stood around the conference table, various levels of scowls on each of their faces.
I’d just finished relaying everything Stanley Philips, private investigator extraordinaire, had said while begging Reaper to stop. Thanks to the camera, he’d told Lowenstein that Reaper, and most likely Redemption, were involved. That was all he’d managed to pass on to the client before we grabbed him.
He was too busy sobbing to tell us much else, but I was able to grab all his electronics from his hotel. I’d find out easily enough if he was lying.
“Well then, guess it’s time to move onto plan B,” Betty said, pushing off the wall. “Guess it’s a good thing you guys have plans B-G to go through.”
I preened, pleased that I was getting the credit I was due for being so overzealous with preparations.
ChapterThirty
REAPER
I whistledas I walked through Bridge City Security’s HQ until I got to the open office area. I leaned against the wall, bag of food dangling from my hand as I took in everything that was going on.
Numbers and letters that made no sense to me danced across a screen.
Peyton was hunched over her keyboard, fingers flying. Completely in the zone. Number and letter combinations showed on one screen, videos moving faster than normal on another. Punk music played low in the background. Minutes ticked by, and I stayed silent.
It was mesmerizing. I could watch her work all day.
Adrienne caught sight of me from across the room, narrowed her eyes, and called out over the music, “Pey, someone’s here for you.”
