Page 70 of Looking Grimm

It took several more minutes for me to drag myself off the white-sheeted mattress and stand. I shuffled toward the bathroom, still wearing the scrubs and grippy socks provided by the infirmary. Before I made it to the doorway, a mechanical beep announced the arrival of a visitor.

I turned to see the barred door slide aside. Holland walked in, wearing a different outfit from the last time I’d seen her. Night must have come and gone and given her time to go home and change. She held a pair of handcuffs and swung them almost provocatively around one finger.

“Face the wall, Mister Farrow,” she said.

No preamble, no explanation, not that I needed one.

“Can I rinse off first?” I jerked my thumb toward the open bathroom. “No showers in solitary.”

She shook her head. “Justice won’t be stalled, Mister Farrow. And Thorngate is packed full of filthy criminals. You’ll fit right in.” A wave of her handcuff-toting hand encouraged me to turn toward the wall.

I hesitated, puzzled by the shift in tone from our lastconversation. Did she have a personality transplant overnight? If so, it was no kind of upgrade.

Reluctantly, I moved to stand with my palms and chest pressed against the painted cinderblock wall.

The investigator pressed in behind me, shoving me hard against the wall and then kicking my legs apart like she intended to frisk me, too. The cuffs clicked down around my left wrist which was tugged down and across my back to join with my right. I had limited experience with prisoner transport, but this felt different. Holland felt different, too. She was less polished, more abrupt and almost gruff when she grabbed me by the cuffs and collar and pinned me to the wall.

I grunted a weak protest.

Her presence at my back became oppressive. It seemed to grow larger and taller than even her high heels accounted for. And, when her face crowded in beside mine, it wasn’t her face at all.

“I hear you’ve been looking for me,” Grimm rumbled.

Time must have stopped because my heart went still in my chest, and I couldn’t breathe.

He used his grip on the ring around my neck and my bound wrists to pull me back then shove me forward again, hard enough that my cheekbone cracked against the cement. His fingers tightened at the back of my neck, drawing the collar tighter until it choked me.

“What did you so desperately need to say to me, Fitch?” Grimm’s voice and proximity made me shudder. “Is it about Donovan? I’ll have you know he would have been safe with me. You’re the one who put his fate in the Capitol’s hands.”

Pressure built behind my eyes, and I tried to buck back,but he didn’t yield.

“You could have come to me like a man, but it’s always the same, isn’t it? Taking things in your own hands, spreading your shit all over town and dragging everyone into it. This time, you signed your name on a goddamn corpse?” He barked a laugh. “Why must you always be so dramatic?”

I couldn’t speak with my brain full of blood and empty of air. I fought for a short, stuttering breath.

“You killed one of my best men,” Grimm seethed, hot and harsh against my ear. “And Isha was like a mother to you.”

“She used me,” I wheezed. “You all did.”

He snorted. “Of course. A weapon as fine as you shouldn’t be left to rust. It must be kept sharp and should be employed as often as possible.”

I felt like I was hanging by the shock collar, slowly strangling. My hands fisted uselessly at my back, and I couldn’t feel my feet. I wasn’t even sure they were still on the ground.

Finally, Grimm released me, and I fell back with a gasp. I hit the floor on my ass as tingling feeling surged back into my limbs. Whatever he said next was drowned out by the sudden influx of blood and oxygen.

My eyelids fluttered, and I tried to work my way to standing. I didn’t like him towering over me, full of rage and scorn, but my efforts were too clumsy to be effective. When I made it onto my knees, Grimm caught me by the chin and tipped my face up to meet his glare.

“But you’ve lost your edge and have become disposable. It’s a pity, really. You’re so young.” He clucked his tongue. “I thought we’d have at least another decade together.”

His calloused fingers dug into my jawbone and made it hard to respond as I said, “I didn’t wanna say shit to you, you self-important bastard. I was looking for you so I could kill you.”

Grimm’s laugh in response was a warning about the action that followed. He kicked out, sinking the toe of his boot into my gut.

All the air I’d managed to recover whooshed out as I doubled over. If I’d had any food on my belly, it would have made a speedy exit, too. Instead, I coughed and dry heaved while lying curled on the floor.

Overhead, Grimm poised to kick me again. “Bold words for someone in your condition,” he remarked. “You look held together with spite and stitches. One I can respect; the other makes you look weak.”

I wondered how he’d gotten in here uninvited and undetected. His stint masquerading as Maximus Lyle no doubt made him privy to all manner of Capitol secrets and weaknesses he was able to exploit.

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