Page 27 of Knuckles

“Oh, there’sa lotto unpack in that statement.” Hannah shook her head, chuckling lightly. “What can I offer you? That’s easy. I can offer you a quick death. Now. Ask me about your choices.”

“What are you talking about?” Beth looked from Hannah to me. “I’m calling the cops.”

“Touch your phone and you lose option one.”

“You can’t bully me.”

“Nope. But I can beat your ass into submission. You’re already close to losing option one, and you haven’t heard what those options are.” Hannah clicked her tongue in sympathy.

“Knuckles?” Beth gave me the look a woman gets when she expects a man to defend her honor. Usually for something that was entirely her fault.

“What?”

“Say something!”

I shrugged. “Not really sure what you want me to say.”

“She’s threatening to kill me, Knuckles.” She sounded so outraged it was almost comical.

“She’s giving you a choice, Beth.” I straightened, taking a slow step toward her. “It’s more than I’d give you. But Hannah and I are new.” I grinned. “I’m still in the spoiling-her stage.”

“You’re out of your minds!” Beth’s gaze darted from mine to Hannah’s. “Crazy! You’re both crazy!”

“Have a seat, Beth.” Hannah had moved close to the other woman. Now, she grabbed a handful of Beth’s hair and dragged her to the breakfast table in the big kitchen. Hannah pulled out a chair and shoved Beth into it before snagging her own and flipping it around so she could straddle it. Hannah sighed, giving Beth a kind smile. “I’m really sorry it’s come to this.”

“Come to what?” Beth’s eyes were wide now. She knew she was in trouble, but still thought she could talk her way out.

“To you having to die today.”

Beth’s face drained of color, her hands clutching the edge of the kitchen table. “You can’t be serious.” The look on her face said she knew we were serious.

“Afraid so.” Hannah leaned forward, resting her arms on the back of the chair. “See, you made a critical mistake when you sold your daughter to human traffickers. That’s not something a mother does. Ever.”

Beth was silent for a long time before she closed her eyes, finally realizing she was beaten. She shook her head once before pinning me with her furious gaze. “What do you want? Me to back off on pushing my product through your territory?” She threw up her hands. “Fine. Done. I won’t move shit through your precious territory.”

“This isn’t about you not respecting territory. This is about Pippa.”

“I told you I’d stay out of your territory, OK? I won’t go after your product either. You’ll never hear from me again.” Her breath was coming in pants now, sweat beading her forehead and upper lip.

“Oh, I know we won’t hear from you again. Now.” I nodded to Hannah. “You don’t have long before she makes the decision for you, so you better listen up.”

Fear and dawning horror flooded Beth’s expression. “I’m not going to sit by passively while you kill me.”

“No, you’re not,” Hannah said brightly. “So why don’t you shut up and listen.” When Beth said nothing, Hannah pulled out a plastic baggie with a medicine vial and a skinny syringe. Being a nurse, Beth would know exactly what it was and what it was for. “Insulin. Taken from the clinic at the prison.”

“You’ve lost your Goddamned minds! Both of you!”

“Your other alternative,” Hannah continued, “is that you get taken. Same as Pippa did. They will do to you what they did to Pippa, then they will do to you what they would have done to Pippa had my brother not found her.”

Beth’s eyes were wide. “You can’t --”

“Save it, sweetie,” Hannah waved her off, interrupting what was going to be some royally indignant bullshit no one wanted to waste their time listening to. It wasn’t going to make a difference anyway. “This is happening. I’m being considerate in giving you a choice.”

“You’re bluffing.”

Hannah shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She opened the bag and dumped out the vial and syringe onto the table before standing and putting the chair back under the table. “In case you change your mind. You won’t have long, but I’m not forcing you to take the easy way out.”

I saw the exact moment Beth realized she was in trouble. Her gaze flitted from Hanna to me. “Fuck you,” she whispered.

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