Page 93 of Wicked Little Nightmare

"See, you're not leaving this room until we say so," I continued, tapping the phone on the counter as I thought. "And how much pain you experience in the meantime? Well, that's entirely up to you and how cooperative you decide to be."

As I spoke, I couldn't help but marvel at how easy it was to slip back into this role. The charming psychopath, the ruthless interrogator. It felt like putting on a favorite, well-worn jacket.

But there was something different this time. A nagging voice in the back of my head that sounded suspiciously like Rose's. It whispered that maybe we could use this situation to do some good for once.

I pushed the thought aside.One step at a time. First, we needed answers.

"Now," I said, locking eyes with Beaver. "Let's start with you telling us everything you know about these neural chips.

I swiped through Beaver's phone as he grunted, refusing to answer my question, my eyes narrowing as I uncovered more about the tracking system. Each new detail helped the puzzle pieces click together. They even had tracking systems on their operatives, though they were labelled with four numbers and had a letter denoting some kind of hierarchy system. Thatbegged the question, they wouldn’t just let anyone have this information, so who the fuck was this guy to them?

"Fuck me," I muttered, scrolling through a list of coordinates. "They've got these bastards tagged like animals. All of them. Including the operatives."

Lakey clicked her tongue in disapproval. "What else you got there, sugar?"

Before I could answer, the floor creaked behind me. Rose had moved towards Beaver, her eyes darting between us. She’d been so quiet, I’d forgotten she was even in the room. Excitement wrapped around me, the gleam in her eye darkening the closer she got to him.

"Well, look who's joined the party," Lakey chirped, her smile razor-sharp. “Want another shot?”

Rose straightened her back, chin lifted. "That man," she said, jerking her head towards Beaver, "he told me he loved me. Said he'd save me."

Oh, sweet little flower. No mommy or daddy to tell you that men were dogs. This fucker was just playing the long game, and his time clearly ran out to shoot his shot.

"Did he now?" I sighed, turning to face our captive. "Ain't that sweet. You hear that, Beaver? Sounds like you've been playing Prince Charming."

Beaver struggled against his bonds; face contorted. "Rose, baby, you don't understand—"

"Shut it," I snapped, my voice like ice. To Rose, I said softer, "He played you, sweetheart. But we're gonna make it right. I suppose no one taught you that men will say anything to get in your pants."

I caught Lakey's eye, saw the gleam there. We were on the same page: this fucker was gonna pay.

Funny how things change. A week ago, I wouldn't have given two shits about playing hero. It was one of my girl’s favoritethings to sarcastically call me when I played her protector. But now? Looking at Rose, something had fundamentally changed. Like maybe there was more to life than just me and Lakes against the world.

Christ. I couldn’t figure out if this made me stronger or weaker. But as I watched Rose's shoulders relax slightly; I couldn't bring myself to care.

Did that mean I wasn’t a psychopath? Or did that mean that I was capable of caring about someone if I considered them mine? Something to file away to research later when I had time.

Lakes sauntered over to Rose, her usual lithe gait softening. It was like watching a lion try to play nice with a lamb. Fucking surreal.

"Oh, honey," she sighed, placing her hand on Rose’s shoulders. "Men are such lying bastards, aren't they?"

Rose's eyes fell to the floor before looking up again as they filled with tears, uncertainty written all over her face. "I... I thought he cared. He… he’d sneak into my cell at night and tell me he loved me. He brought me extra rations. Tried to make sure they picked the other girls for the more corrective punishments. How… how can he lie? He said he’d save me."

"That's what they all say," Lakey sighed, patting her arm. "But don't you worry. We'll take good care of you."

I couldn't help but smirk. Lakey playing the protective mama bear was a sight to behold. It made me realize that I wanted to get her daughter back. There was not a single woman out there that could have as many different personalities as mine, and yet somehow still pick the right one when the need arose.

Meanwhile, Beaver was putting on quite the show. "Rose, please! I do love you! This is all just a misunderstanding!"

I rolled my eyes. "Save it, Romeo. Your act's about as convincing as a three-dollar bill."

Lakey sighed loudly and dramatically, putting her fists on her hips as she pointed the gun at him, her finger playing with the trigger. We needed a game plan, and fast. Before she decided to jump the gun —literally— and end it before we got to the meat and potatoes.

"Hey, sweet cheeks," I called to her. "Got a sec?"

We walked into the kitchen, where I could stay in eyeshot of our prisoner. "Those trackers… they look like they also track the people we want to go after. We could use that to save us time finding Sister Anne and Father Christopher." I muttered, thinking of all those blinking dots on Beaver's phone. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, and we can match the numbers up to Skeet’s info in his laptop, so we don’t shoot in the dark at who is who. Chimera might even be one of them, though I doubt he’d be so stupid.”

“Chimera could also be a she, Cam. Why you always gotta be so damn sexist? Besides, we don’t even know if Chimera is a person. Might just be the whole fuckin’ network. More stupid shit to figure out. Another day, I suppose.” Lakey exhaled, her eyes rolling back into her head. "But. Agreed. That chip in Rose's head? That's gotta go."

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