Page 91 of Pervade London
He read some of it and then looked up at me.
Fuck.
I’d laid it all out on the piece of paper he was holding. Named names and written down the timeline of meeting James and all that had transpired since. James was reading those parts with a brow arched in curiosity.
“Let’s get her to open up a little more,” he said.
Xavier reached out and pressed his hand against my lower spine, pushing me across the room towards the rack. “Don’t fight it.”
He lifted me off my feet and laid me on the contraption. Looming above me, they both strapped my arms above my head with rope and did the same to my ankles at the base.
I knew struggling would be futile, but I did anyway—until my body gave up when the binds tightened.
My wrists stung from the the rope holding me in place.
James leaned over, cupping my face in his hands. “We removed the money when we retrieved the note, Emily. You were warned.”
Somewhere in the far reaches of my mind I knew this torture device was designed to stretch a body to a painful extreme and then snap a spine. Who cared about losing half a million pounds in the scheme of things? I never wanted it anyway.
James tipped up my chin. “Last chance to confess, Em, and then you get to see how much of a bastard I can be.”
“Let me go,” I pleaded, staring at him wide-eyed.
“The truth.”
Swallowing hard, I tried to assess if their threat was real. “The inspector didn’t believe me.”
James gave the lever a nudge and my arms were pulled taut and my legs stretched uncomfortably.
“Did you call her back?” asked James.
“No.”
“Sure?” he pushed the lever farther.
“No doubt you’ve monitored my phone records,” I said. “You already know I didn’t.” My body was wrung out with the pressure of being pulled too taut.
“Have a think about what you remember.” James rose up and grabbed his jacket. “Xavier, after you.”
“She’s telling the truth,” snapped Xavier.
“Don’t leave me,” I begged.
Xavier flinched. “I’m not leaving her.”
James shook his head. “We need to talk.”
“We’ll talk later,” said Xavier
James’ jaw twitched. “They shot the Puma out of the sky.”
“You were meant to be on that flight.” Xavier looked horrified.
“So were you.”
“Was Samuel on that helicopter?”
Ballad’s nod came with a flash of sadness across his face.
