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A pause. The man had sweat beading over his forehead. His hair was growing damper by the minute. “I don’t know his name.”
“You’re lying.”
I grabbed the middle finger, rearing back and slicing down with everything I had. The finger came loose, sending out another wail of agony. I tossed that one in his lap too, cocking my head as he began to turn pale.
“Your nose is crooked.”
“What?” The blond blinked, fear truly masking his face for the first time. “What are you talking about. No it’s not.”
“The middle curves slightly to the left. Let me see if I can fix it. I’ll have to remove it. Have you ever imagined yourself without a nose?”
“Hey, man, you’re fucking crazy.”
“Let’s try something new. What’s your name?”
His face drew in, grimacing in pain. “Bob.”
“So, we’re going to play that game. I hate liars.”
I brought my knife forward while he yelled out.
“Keith! Keith Andrews.”
“Where were you born, Keith? And if you lie to me…”
Ragged breaths mixed with cries of pain. “Little Rock. You won’t find anything though. I’m no one.”
“Date of birth?”
He got quiet. The moment I moved forward, he started yelling again.
“December fourteenth. Eighty-five.”
I took out my phone, entering in his information. At first glance, I almost thought he was right. The moment I switched his name around and took off the s, I got more than one hit. I took in the old picture, shaking my head.
“Andrew Keith. Not Keith Andrews. Clever. Not clever enough. I’ve played this game before.”
“Man, no. This…this was a misunderstanding.”
“Right.” I scanned through the information, taking in what I could by glance. “You had quite the record until four years ago. Who made that go away for you? Do they know they only hid it? They didn’t delete it. Is that the thing? You work for them, and they make it disappear. You fuck up, you’re either dead or ruined?”
“You don’t know what you’re messing with. This is so much bigger than what you think. You can kill me like you killed David. Whatever. They’ll send someone new. You’re a dead man. I hope you know that.”
“I’ve been dead for years. Give me a name.”
“I got nothing. Really. I get an email, a name, and a location. Money comes only when the job is done.”
“Then give me your email.”
He laughed, his head swaying. “What are you g-going to do with that?”
“I’m going to find your boss.”
“No way. It’s untraceable. I told you, this is beyond you. It’s beyond anyone.”
“I’ll decide that.” I flattened the blade against his forearm, slowly peeling back the skin. I worked my way around, moving to his bicep when I ran out of room. I didn’t see the blood or muscle. I didn’t even barely feel the blade as I plunged it through his arm. His words spun webs of wonder in my mind. Bigger than me. Bigger. Nothing was bigger than me. No one held a candle to what I could do. And Kody’s life depended on that. These people were part of something more than some band of dark torture-porn psychos. Everything in my being could feel that. This was bad. Probably way more than what I could handle on my own. That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try. I didn’t know how not to.
“Email.”
