Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
“So she agreed to take them on? Jezebel says they’re insisting on going with Iris wherever she goes from here.”
“She more than agreed to it. Besides, even if she didn’t think she could handle it, we’d still take them with us and find a home for them in Iron Tzars. Got plenty of men willin’ to take take on the role of father to those girls. And I mean that in the most respectable sense.” I looked at the men getting ready to spill all they knew before they died. One of them looked like he was ready to kill us. One looked resigned to his fate. The other two looked scared shitless. Did my heart good. “You know. On second thought, I’m right where I want to be.”
“That’s the spirit.” El Diablo rubbed his hands together like he was eager to get started. Given the maniacal gleam in his eye, I believed it.
The interrogation didn’t take long. The two pussies sang like canaries, giving names and locations the second we took the tape off their mouths. The pissed-off one thrashed and yelled behind the tape, probably threatening the two with death or some shit.
“You don’t get it, do you?” Chief said in his lightly accented English. I had no idea what nation of natives he belonged to, but Chief was the real deal in all respects. “It’s not a matter of if any of you are going to die. You are. Your threats to hurt them are empty because you’re going to die too.” The big man drew his knife and casually made a slow cut down the guy’s face. He cried out, but the tape held. Wonderful stuff, Duct Tape. “It’s a matter of how soon you die.” He nodded at the two men giving us the information we wanted. “They will die soon, but it will be a quick, clean death. You?” He shook his head solemnly. “Not so much. There is much evil you’re responsible for, and you must pay your due.”
Chief made another slow, deliberate cut, this time down the center of the guy’s chest. Again, the guy screamed in pain. Blood flowed from the open wound in a bright crimson streak. Chief laid down his knife and picked up another blade. This one lay in the coals of a brick oven. Again, with slow deliberate movements, so the guy knew what was going to happen. He positioned himself so the knife hovered over the cut Chief had just made.
Chief grinned up at the man. “This may sting. Just a little.”
He pressed the flat of the blade to the cut. Again, the guy screamed. This time it was higher pitched as the wound cauterized. The scent of searing flesh filled the room in all its gruesome glory. The two men cooperating whimpered and watched in horrified fascination, unable to look away.
When he was done, Chief turned his black gaze to them. “You’re doing well. Please continue to do so.” The eeriest part about the whole exchange was the casualness with which Chief delivered his torture. There was no expression on his face whatsoever.
After El Diablo and Chief were convinced the two had given all the information they had, Chief gave them the quick end he’d promised by slitting their throats. We watched as they bled out. It took about thirty seconds or so. Not an instant death, but quicker than the other two were going to get.
Brick took over from there. Just as he’d promised Jerrica, he made them suffer. Together, he and Chief skinned both men alive. They weren’t any more guilty than the other two, but follow-through was everything. It caused both of them to give us a few more pieces to our puzzle, including how Mr. Brown had traded girls at the home where Iris and Jerrica lived for silence on the embezzling he was doing from the fund Black Reign had set up for kids leaving the home to get an education in college or trade school, or to have something to start out life on their own with. That man would get more of what was happening here very soon. May he rot in hell alongside these scum.
“I think that will do,” El Diablo said in his clipped accent. “I have what I need. I’ll get the information to Giovanni and let him take it from there.”
Rycks raised an eyebrow. “Not Shotgun?”
“Not this time. This is above his pay grade, so to speak. The men I’m looking for are better left to the Shadow Demons. They can take care of the bigger problem. All I want is for these scum to be out of my region. I think that problem is currently solved. Shotgun will ensure it stays solved.”
“Good. With this business all done but the cryin’, I’m goin’ back to my woman. I don’t want her to wake up without me.” I was done with this shit. “Besides, these motherfuckers aren’t worth another second of my time. Brick, I need your help with an internal matter.” Brick would know exactly what I was talking about. “El Diablo, I’ll need to ask for a favor when Brick and I are through.”