Page 32 of Crossover

The coward began to crawl away on his back like a crab.

Which served as a good reminder for me. The guy should be incapacitated for what I was about to do.

I pressed my foot on top of his right forearm and stomped down.Crack.The sound of a thick twig snapping echoed off the concrete walls, as did his howling scream.

I moved my foot to his other forearm.

Crack.

Screaming.

His left shin.

Crack.

Crying.

His right shin.

Crack.

Tears bled down his cheeks.

“Please stop,” he whimpered.

“I once read that the heat of a blowtorch is something like 3500° Fahrenheit. Did you know that it only takes 2000° to cremate someone?” Look at him quiver. “I wonder if anyone has ever been cremated inch by inch?”

Elliott continued to beg.

But every time he did, images of Ivy chained to that pole, the fear in her eyes, her pain…well, it drowned out his screams.

I brought the torch closer.

And got to work.

17

GRAYSON

I quickly dialed Seth’s number on my cell. “Hey, it’s me,” I said as soon as he picked up. “Do me a favor; burn any IT trace of ever talking to me today.”

There was a brief pause before Seth responded, “Why?”

“When they come looking, I don’t want you implicated.”

“I take it, things didn’t go well.”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

Seth cleared his throat. “Was Daniel there?”

“He was.” And according to what my brother said, “Daniel confessed to Ivy that he’s the one behind all this. He fabricated evidence of Ivy’s guilt.”

“Fucking hell,” Seth said. “Do you knowwhy?”

“Something about another crime, but I didn’t have time to get into more than that with my brother.” Not yet.

“Jesus.” Seth’s voice was tense, but for someone who was just told his boss was actually a criminal…

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