I gritted my teeth. “If you know who she is, then you don’t need any information from me. I’d never tell you anyway.”
He zapped me with the Taser for another few seconds. I shook and convulsed, the pain shooting up my spine, finding new and unexpected places to torment me.
Dwyer watched impassively, then shut it off again. “All I know is her first name. I never caught her last name when West talked about her, and she wasn’t marked down in our records as an official visitor with an appointment when she first came into the office to speak with him. And remember, he wasn’t supposed to be looking into your disappearance, so he was careful not to leave a paper trail of any kind. He stored almost everything up here.” He tapped on the side of his head. “Unfortunately, his ‘up here’ is sprayed all over the edge of some road in the middle of nowhere.”
“You’re disgusting,” I whispered.
He sighed, ignoring my jab for now. “An unfortunate oversight on my behalf. I really should’ve asked him before I.…” He trailed off, miming a gun at his own head, and then an explosion.
I glared at him, wishing my eyes could shoot annihilating lasers. “I’ll never tell you anything, you sick fuck.”
He shook his head. “You’ll only delay your demise. I’ll have to hurt you more than I already planned to.”
“Fine,” I whispered.
I didn’t tell him the obvious. If he wanted to know who Samara was so badly, he could just find my social media profiles and search through my friends list to find her last name. But he was in his late fifties or early sixties and likely not very social media savvy, so it must not have occurred to him that such a thing was possible.
I wanted so badly to smile at my tiny victory over him, but the feeling immediately faded. The Circle employed younger guys as their henchmen or guards. Like Dan. Eventually, one of them might suggest the idea. Or perhaps the Circle itself had members who were younger or more internet savvy than Dwyer.
Ultimately, they’d find Samara one way or another, and she’d become yet another innocent victim. Another casualty. The thought made me want to tear my own hair out with guilt.
“Give me her full name and address,” Dwyer commanded. “Or I’ll melt out one of your eyeballs. That won’t make anyone suspicious once your body is finally found by hikers in a forest somewhere, because everyone knows animals like to pick at corpses. Especially the eyes.”
He picked up the blowtorch, and I began to cry hot tears of fear. Still, I didn’t budge. “No,” I hissed, bracing myself for the pain.
Before Dwyer could do anything, something beeped in his pocket. Sighing, he put the blowtorch down and checked his phone. “You’re lucky,” he muttered. “Saved by the bell. I have to get to work and put on a friendly face to the world.”
I swallowed hard, thanking my lucky stars. I wouldn’t have them to thank for too much longer, though. Work would be over in a few hours, and Dwyer would be back here, burning me, beating me, raping me. Eventually, he’d kill me.
He uncuffed my hands and feet, then yanked me off the table. “Get over in the corner,” he said, gesturing toward a bucket. Next to it, there was a packet of white paper napkins.
I was confused for a second, but then it hit me. He wanted me to use the bucket so that I didn’t wet myself while I lay restrained on the table. That would make his ‘fun’ less enjoyable.
His upper lip curled in disgust as I dropped my pants and squatted over the bucket, and he turned away and faced the door while he waited for me to relieve myself. I didn’t even feel like I needed to go that badly, but I forced myself to pee anyway, knowing it would be the only chance I got for at least eight more hours.
After I’d wiped myself off and zipped my pants up, Dwyer restrained me again. Then he left the room, slamming the door behind him.
With tears running down my face, I pictured Alex. I closed my eyes and imagined that this was all some horrible nightmare, and he was right next to me in bed. When I woke up, he would wrap me in his arms and kiss my head, telling me it wasn’t real. He would chase all my demons away and keep me safe forever, just like he always promised. I could almost feel him, smell him, taste him… but then I opened my eyes again.
He wasn’t here. He wasn’t coming to help me, either.
No one was.