Page 109 of The Masks She Wore

?I suppose they weren’t as stupid and useless as Azrael claimed them to be.

?I zip tied each ankle to a leg, cinching them down until her circulation was just about cut off before zip tying her hands behind the back of the chair.

?Lastly, I wrapped a chain around her neck, padlocking it tightly before looping one end over a pipe above her, pulling on it and weighing it down to keep her taut and on the verge of suffocation.

?I finally took off my jacket and tie before pulling on some leather gloves, grabbing a pair of pliers, pulling up a chair, and finally sitting down. I gave her a good dose of ketamine, but it had been a few hours, so she should be waking up soon.

?I studied her carefully, studied the way she was sitting, wondering how they had locked Rae up if my thoughts on her torture were right.

?She had no scarring on her wrists or ankles, her neck was clear too. If they held her down, they made sure it didn’t cut her skin, but my guess was they just didn’t restrain her.

?Nothing about how she acted showed me that she was trained to fight. They wouldn’t have had to hold her down to hurt her, they just needed to keep her in a room. Probably a small one. Maybe they used a hose to wear her down before cutting her, stabbing her. Maybe they had starved her, forced her to listen to white noise, made her stay awake. The best way to make a mind crack is to take away sleep.

?Or maybe Marla had trained her well and those people had done all of that anyway. If you held a person long enough, they would break, no matter how strong their mind was, they would always break.

?With each passing thought, my anger grew. Even picturing her locked up in a room, helpless, defenseless, it made me see red.

?I shoved myself up and walked up to Nora. “It’s time to wake up, dear Art Director,” I spoke, grabbing her jaw and gazing into her mouth. As soon as I caught sight of that cyanide capsule, cleverly hidden in place of one of her back molars, I carefully pinched it with those pliers and jerked it out in one swift pull.

?She jerked awake with a cry. “Fuck,” she grunted, blood dripping from her lips.

?I tossed the pliers and capsule to the ground, and grabbed her jaw again, forcing her eyes to find mine. “Nora,” I sang, her eyes slowly focusing. “Hello, Nora,” I smiled when realization finally hit her.

?Fear filled her eyes instantly.

?I stepped back, watching as she struggled and screamed, fighting to get out, only tearing her wrists and straining her shoulders. I allowed it only because it would tire her out. The more tired she was the easier it would be for me to get the answers I needed.

?It didn’t take her long to realize the chain around her neck cut her oxygen in half. Her eyes started to roll, tears streaming down her face. “Money,” she panted, her body sagging a bit, “if you want money—”

?“Why does everyone always offer money?” I asked, walking over to the workbench where I had spread out the tools I thought I might want to use. I picked up a three-inch knife. “If I wanted money, Nora, I would have cleaned you out without ever coming in contact with you. Draining bank accounts is easy, everything is online.” I admired the knife as I turned back to her. “I want answers.”

?“Answers?” she breathed out, chest heaving. “Answers towhat?Let me out of here!”she screamed, only to start coughing when the chain tightened a little around her throat.

?I came to a stop in front of her. “Nobody can hear you. Cooperate with me and I’ll let you go back to your perfect little job and your perfect little husband.” A perfect lie to tell anyone in this predicament. She was weak. A little hope was all she needed to get her to spill her secrets.

?She swallowed, gasping and grunting for air. “Piece of fuckingshit,” she spat, blood splattering outward.

?I slammed the knife down into her thigh, a scream ripping from her chest. “Fuck!”

?I ripped it out and grabbed her jaw, spit flying with each gasping exhale.

?“You fucking asshole,” she panted.

?“Marla Bennett, what do you know about her?”

?Her brows pulled together. “Marla? Why do you want to know about her?”

?I released her jaw and lifted the knife again.

?“Fine!Fine,” she seethed. “Marla Bennett, uh…” she shook her head. “Marla, she…” Her eyes found mine again. “She supplied me with beautiful paintings. We did a few business transactions in the past. I was heartbroken to hear about her murder.”

?Yes, I could tell by the sorrow in her eyes. “Did you ever meet her daughter?”

?“Rae? Of course. I met her twice. Once when she was 4, the other a couple of years ago. Marla brought her to a Gala. She appreciated a few of the paintings, only the ones her mom had supplied me with though. I don’t know if she knew that her mom had bought them or what,but she had an eye for art. Loved them.”

?Didn’t explain her reaction. “You saw her at the masquerade, why didn’t you speak with her?”

?Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Who are you? Someboyfriend? Her feelings got hurt so she had you kidnap me? That fucking psychopath.”

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