Page 5 of Patching Over

The inflection in his voice is something I hope never to hear again. Guys my size like to feel immune to the threats that other people pose; while we’re close in height, Wolfman is lean where I’m bulky, but that doesn't stop a chill from dancing down my spine.

“Jayne might know this. You see, it’s in reference to King Louis XVI’s beheading and later, his Queen, Marie Antoinette’s death,” he continues before turning to Percy and there’s no missing the terror in that man’s eyes. “Not to worry, you’ll be relieved when I get to the beheading part. Just like your brother was.”

There’s a flash of rage in Percy’s eyes at the mention of his brother. Just then, a low buzz sounds from the pile of their belongings, but it stops soon enough.

I flick the button on the taser I’m holding, causing both him and his wife to flinch. They felt its sting earlier and, understandably, don’t want to feel that again.

Barking out a laugh, I shake my head when I see I have everyone’s attention. They’ll soon realize the jolt of electricity running through their bodies was the easy part of our time together.

“We get it,” Wolfman says, sounding agreeable. “We’re too small to ever impact the operation you’re a part of. You have money, connections, and resources we never will.”

Percy and Jayne are tied and strung up, facing one another with their driver tied to a chair across the room from us. Wolfman approaches Percy, making several light cuts across his back and chest, before motioning me forward.

I bring him the container, hoping the shudder I feel isn’t noticeable. Jayne starts screaming into her gag as Wolfman places leeches over the small cuts he made. When he turns to smile at her, we hear the buzzing again.

“They must have a burner with them,” I say, knowing we left a bag with their devices at the resort.

Digging through Jayne’s purse, I find a flip phone and check the call log. The same number has been trying to reach them a few times today.

“Are we keeping you from something?” I ask the beautiful and terrified woman in front of me.

I can’t make out her words, so I remove the gag.

“Please, let me go! I’ll tell you who is calling. He helped set up Parker. It’s worth my life! I won’t tell anyone,” she rambles out until I shove the ball back into her mouth and secure it. Motioning to Wolfman, he and I go to the far corner of the cabin.

“Why do I have a sneaking suspicion of who has been calling them?”

“Same reason I do,” I reply, getting angrier by the second.

“Give me the phone, I’ll have their driver return the call and then you go pick him up,” Wolfman says after a moment. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if it’s safe to leave him here, outnumbered.

Then I realize it would take a lot more than these three to outnumber him.

It occurs to me I still don’t know the driver’s name, but he convincingly manipulates the man who used to be one of us to meet him, not knowing that the Brookhaven’s Navigator has a new driver.

“Should I bring Tonic back here, or just finish him?” I ask Wolfman.

“We’ll keep him alive long enough to know we don’t need anything from him,” he answers with a shrug.

It’s when I’m driving to the meet I realize something I thought earlier was entirely wrong.

Wolfman wasn’t wearing a mask when he was toying with Percy and Jayne. He wears a mask every day of his life, the perfect imitation of anormalperson.

Later that day, I consider things like: How exhausting hiding his true nature must be. What if he ever snaps? How can a man go so dark and still care about anyone?

Little questions, when compared to my initial concern.

If that’s who Wolfman truly is, and I know damn well how devoted he and Rose are to each other, then what is Rose actually like?

Wolfman

This is why I work alone.I think as Timber heads out to intercept Tonic.

While he kept his face completely passive when I started toying with Percy, I could feel his attention shift from encompassing the room to narrowing down on me. Understandable, but unfortunate, nonetheless.

Now that I have some privacy, I make the most of it. Pulling on a pair of surgical gloves, I lower Percy’s boxers and angling myself so the driver and Jayne can openly see what I’m doing …

“Wait,” I say, in the same tone I recited the rhyme in. “You don’t close your eyes when you’re violating others, why are your eyes closed now?”

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