Page 35 of Prohibited

Stanley took him by the tie again, wrenching him to his feet and then bent him over his desk. With a practiced grace, he slipped his hand into his coat and drew out his revolver and placed the barrel directly against Linus’s temple.

“Christ!” Roberts said.

“Look, I don’t want any trouble!” Linus ceased his struggle and put both of his hands up next to his head, spreading his shaking fingers so that his hands were flat on the desk.

“Then quit borrowing it,” Stanley said, softly. “Where’s Evelyn?”

“I told Roberts already, I don’t know,” Linus said. Voice cracking with frustration and the beginnings of panic. “Don’t you think I’d want to know where my wife is?”

“I think you do know where your wife is,” Stanley said, bending forward. Voice still low. Pistol hand steady. “And I think you’re going to tell me exactly where that is.”

“I don’t, I really–”

The distinct sound of a hammer being drawn back made Roberts’ pulse jump. Linus actually sobbed.

“I really don’t know! Roberts, are you really– Do something!” Linus’s voice kept crawling upward again until it cracked. “I don’t know where she is!”

“If I find out that you do, you’re going to be very, very sorry,” Stanley said. He dropped his voice to a whisper. Roberts had to lean forward to hear him. “And I promise you, they will not find a single piece of you. You wouldn’t be the first person I’ve had to make disappear.” Slowly, he put the hammer on his revolver forward again. The small click drew a sigh of relief from Linus. Roberts wasn’t so prepared to allow that danger had passed. Tension in his body wound tighter and tighter as he watched Stanley’s face. His cold eyes never left Linus’s face.

Suddenly, his hand darted forward and grabbed the letter opener that was standing very neatly in its vertical sheath on the desktop next to the fountain pen. In one smooth motion, he unsheathed it and drove it straight down through Linus’s hand, pinning it to the beautifully polished mahogany desk.

The sound Linus made could have curdled milk. He shrieked again and started to thrash, but Stanley kicked him in the back of the knee, forcing him onto the ground in front of his desk while he wailed and clawed at the letter opener.

“Maybe this will refresh your memory,” Stanley said softly.

“You fucking–” Linus screeched, then he bit the words off. Stanley walked around the front of the desk, so he could watch him. His hand glided into his pocket and drew out his cigarettes and his lighter. With nimble fingers, he selected a cigarette and lit it between his lips. Roberts walked slowly around Stanley so he could see his face while he watched Linus trying to pull the letter opener from his hand and keening like a wounded rabbit.

Unsurprisingly, but still unsettlingly, there was absolutely nothing in Stanley’s expression.

“I’ll be paying you a visit again soon,” Stanley said. “To check in about how that memory is working. And if you even think about leaving town, well… there’s no place far enough for you to run, Colter.”

Slowly, Stanley turned away. He glanced up briefly at Roberts and then walked to the door.

“She isn’t even your wife,” Linus bellowed behind them, voice chaotic with pain and fury.

“Not yet,” Stanley said. Then, he opened the door and went out into the hall.

“Stanley!” Linus shouted after him. “I’m going to fucking ruin you!”

“Funny,” Stanley said, turning to look back over his shoulder without a trace of humor. “I said the same thing to your wife.” He touched the brim of his hat and turned away. He did not look back even as Linus hurled obscenities after him.

Roberts hesitated. Then he went to the desk and reached for the letter opener.

“Get away from me,” Linus snarled. His face was white and totally wet with sweat.

“I’m just going to–” Roberts said.

“GET OUT!” Linus picked up the heavy paperweight on his desk and aimed it at Roberts’ head.

He didn’t need to be told twice. Roberts ducked and sped out into the corridor. Stanley was already at the other end of it, strolling along like he’d just left a social call. Several people were standing outside the doors of their offices, looking on in concern. Margaret had her back pressed to the wall of the corridor, watching them in terror as they left.

“Margaret!” Linus screamed from his office.

She didn’t need to be told twice, either. She took off like a mouse, scuttling down the corridor toward the sound of her boss’s voice.

“Shut the fucking–” The snap of the door cut off the sound of his voice, but Roberts could still hear the muffled sound of yelling. Sighing, he sped up to reach Stanley, who was stepping onto the elevator.

“To the lobby, please,” Stanley said to the elevator operator. He wasn’t remotely out of breath or in any wayflustered. Just the idea that he could so readily and sincerely threaten murder and then maim a man’s hand and not bat an eye sent a vicious chill through Roberts. He knew that Stanley was a ruthless man, but seeing it up close like this for the first time was a different story.

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