Page 81 of A Deceitful Pact

“No!” she screams. “You can’t kill him. He’ll know where the other girls are, he works for the Gendrys.”

“You work for them?” I look down at him, and he grins proudly through his blood-stained teeth.

“You're gonna tell me where we can find those girls.” I grip him by the throat and force him to his feet, and when he shakes his head, I hold the gun against his temple.

“Sawyer,” Riley calls out to me, with a tremble in her voice.

“Relax, I'm not gonna kill him. Not until he’s talked.”

I look around for something to detain him with and when I see the holdall on the bed, my anger fuckin’ multiplies.

“What the fuck is that?” I eyeball him.

“Me and her were gonna have a little fun for old times' sake.” The cunt sniggers at me, and I show our difference in strength when I lift the scrawny-assed bastard off his feet one-handed.

“I’m not feelin’ your sense of humor,” I warn, pressing the gun tighter into the side of his head.

“Okay,” he chokes, and I rest him back on his feet, relaxing my grip so he can talk. “I was sent here to find out where the girl is. I know Riley, and I know she wouldn’t have given up that information without a little force.” His confession makes me shudder. I know the kinda items that’ll be in that holdall, I know because I got one just like it at home.

“Riley, I need ya to close your eyes. You're not gonna open ‘em till I say, okay?” I keep staring at this man who came here to hurt her in the eyes. I want him to know what he’s got coming to him.

“What are you gonna do?” She shakes her head like I’m the one she’s scared of.

“We need to know where those girls are.” I look at the holdall, then back to her. “I can make him talk, but I don’t want you to see how.”

“What you gonna do, Anderson, stick one of your toothpicks under my fingernails?” Jack tries to be smart, and I laugh right in his face before I drag him over to the bed.

“Let’s see what this mother fucker brought to the party.” I press him face down into the mattress, holding him down by the back of the neck while I place the gun in my back pocket and rifle through his things.

“Bolt cutters. Were you gonna take one of my pretty girl's fingers?” I lean over him and whisper. Having no idea how I’m keeping my cool when my girl is tied up behind me, and this fucker was gonna use these tools to hurt her. “Knife, cable ties, blowtorch, all these things are pretty basic, Jack. I’d expect a little more imagination from an ex-agent.” I feel him struggle under my hand when his breath starts to run out.

“Where are the Gendrys keeping the girls?” I ask him, taking the knife in my hand and waiting for an answer.

“Can’t say,” he muffles, then his body goes rigid when I jab the knife deep into his shoulder.

“Close your eyes, Riley,” I call out, twisting the knife just enough to get another scream out of him.

“You wanna tell me where they are, now?” I ask, taking the gun from my back pocket and pressing it into the back of his kneecap.

“Sawyer,” Riley says my name.

“Not now, sweetheart, just keep your eyes closed, it’s gonna get much worse.” I press my other hand deeper into the back of Jack's neck. “Give me a location. Or I’m shooting out your fuckin’ knee.

“Sawyer,” Riley says my name again.

“Baby, I know what I’m doing.” I turn my head to assure her and see her face all scrunched up like she’s in pain.

“Are you shitting me?” I ask when I figure out what's happening.

“No, that was definitely a contraction.” She looks up at me terrified and I pull the trigger, blowing the fucker’s knee out. His head shoots back, and he wails in agony.

“Okay, just breathe!” I yell out to her over his cries of pain. “Is that the first one you’ve had?”

“Don’t stop till he talks,” she tells me, sounding out of breath. “I’m over it now, I’ll let you know if I get another.”

“Riley, we have to get you to the hospital.”

“Then hurry up and make him fucking talk.” She laughs back at me like Mary fuckin’ Sunshine. But she doesn’t fool me, I can see how scared she is.

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