Page 77 of Dissension

Her shoes are on grass and she loathes herself for feeling weakness in her knees. She doesn’t want to die-

The goggles come off, revealing a familiar face, expressionless, and a midnight sky full of stars, vacant of citypollution. Lights from a large house fill the night, bouncing off the trees, a car idle on the long, winding path.

Kara stares, a certain numbness falling over her in a wave. It’s as if an icy blanket has been thrown over her flesh, sinking into it like a terribly unwelcome embrace. Words elude her completely and her fingers clench into fists, her wrists still bound together.

Good thing, because wrath is starting to coil in her veins, trying to thaw the freeze that she’s found herself caught in.

“Go ahead and scream,” Dieter says flatly, eyes like green wastelands. There is no warmth there, only shadow and reserve. Kara has seen these eyes before, just never on him.Saoirse. “I know that’s what you want to do.” He steps behind her casually and undoes the belt around her hands, setting her free.

She’s his puppet and his words have cut all her strings.

All this time, all this fucking time he knew. He knew about the torture warehouse. He was able to get her out, and if he was able to do that, it meant that he was running it-

Kara collapses down into his perfectly manicured lawn and shrieks from the very core of her soul. All the fraught emotions, the horror, pouring out of her. He’s fooled her so entirely with his charming façade. Underneath, he’s always beenthis.

It’s her curse to find bad men. Only, this one isfar worsethan her father ever was. He hid his darkness behind a perfect mask, so perfect that even she didn’t see behind it. A broken sob tears out of her and she digs her fingernails into her forehead, as if it will remove her from this dark reality she’s found herself in. She’s been working for a monster all this time.

The new witness waspaidto frame the owner of theDark Mirage. A controlled witness, unlike ‘X’, who was murdered.

Dietrich Bittinger must have planned for all of this. He’s too calculating for it to be anything else.

Taking in a shaky breath, ready to wail again, Kara is interrupted.

“Anyone who hears it will assume it’s coyotes,” Dieter says lightly, simply observing her come unraveled, as if watching a particularly boring television show. “They sound like children crying, did you know that? The pack does. Quite eerie-”

How dare he?

“Iknowwhat coyotes sound like, you fucking snake!” Kara yells hoarsely, her jaw aching from tension. She grew up even further from the city than he did; she’s used to the wails in the night from her childhood. The way their cries used to mingle with the loneliness in her soul.

His mouth twitches a bit, as if wanting to smile affectionately, but doesn’t have the energy for it. “Of course, you do.”

The sight of his familiar face is like a knife to her chest. Never has she felt this sort of pain before, not for as long as she can recall. After her brutal experience…and knowing he’s in on it…it’s too much to bear.

Kara’s voice is nearly broken with emotion. “How could you do this?”

He gives a short, unpleasant little snort, gazing off at the large swath of trees around his estate. The moon above bounces off his pale hair, giving him a halo that he doesn’t deserve. “Are youreallyasking me that? Do better, chickadee.”

Hearing his fond little nickname for Kara nearly disembowels her.

“No,” Kara says bitterly, tasting her tears on her tongue. Salty. “Howcould you do this tome?”

He looks upwards briefly, casually placing a hand in his pocket. He still looks cool and in control, the way he always is. Dieter is thinking through his words, but he finally settles on something extremely safe and vague. “What are you referring to? Paxton or-”

“What. Do. You. Think?” The words slash out of her mouth like the dropping of razorblades from her tongue. As if she’s spatthem up from her lungs with each word. Her heart is an open wound, oozing blood.

Dieter moves to crouch down to her level, bringing them eye to eye. He’s looking to put her at ease, because he knows how to manipulate people all too well. “I saved you,” he says matter-of-factly, utterly unconcerned about what sheknows about him. “I didn’t put you there, but the people whodidbelieved you would be a threat to The Operation. You were snooping deeper, looking into the witness we put up to bag Poor Pax. Navarro got nervous, didn’t like what you were up to. He took matters into his own hands, as you can see. Tried to take you off the playing field, especially after hearing your conversation with that unfortunate PI-”

“…the witnessyou put in placeto bag Pax? Are you fucking with me, Dieter?” Hysteria rises. They’ve completely screwed with justice. This is a complete frame job, just as she suspected. Another thought comes to mind, inky black. “Navarro is the man that was watching me at night, isn’t he?And you’re working with him?!”

He waves his hand dismissively. “Never mind all that. It’s what landed you in that nasty torture business, isn’t it? Learn your lesson, chickadee. You’re fine, of course. I made Navarro see reason as soon as I realized he had taken you. He won’t bother you again, never worry. You’ll settle in. Put this in the past. It won’t be too hard.”

Put this in the past? Settle in? As in, getting comfortable in a chair full of knives?Settle in!?“Are you fucked in that pretty skull of yours?” Kara hisses, voice rising precariously. “This isn’t a minor criminal infraction we’re talking about, Dieter! This is amassive, repulsive felony. This is…this iswrongon so many levels.” It’s so horrid that she can’t even find the words to say, can’t quite figure out how to shape her feelings into meaning.Her fingers are trembling uncontrollably. “How could you do this to people-”

“That’s the magic.Idon’t do a thing. I simply provide a place for a certain cut of the profit.” There’s no inflection in his voice whatsoever. Terrifyingly so. “There’s demand, so there must be a supply. I know people in dark places. The blackmail I have on some politicians…astounding.”

“So, your hands are clean?” Kara feels her face twist, her eyes stinging. “Is that what you like to think?”

Now, his lip twitches, almost unnoticeably. Amusement, flickering there and gone. “I don’t think about it at all, actually.”

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