Page 161 of The Reluctant Hero

“You don’t want me to find it and empty it, do you?” I ask in a taunt. “That’s why I’m still useful. Do they know?”

He’s too busy babbling pleas to pay attention. I prop his chin up with the baton to get his eyes on me instead of the pulp he used to consider a leg.

“What would happen to all your power and women if you fucked this up, Blake?”

His mouth moves without sound. The enormity of telling me all of this is hitting him as hard as the baton. His face is covered with tears, snot, and spit. He’s gaunt with pain. Sweating.

“Amanda. Don’t be stupid,” he pants with terrified eyes.

“I’m getting called that a lot lately. I’m not a fan,” I tell him casually.

I pace to his side, and he starts sobbing again. It doesn’t make a dent in my anger. I don’t hesitate to swing the stick like I’m holding an ax to chop wood. He lifts his arm instinctively to block the blow aimed at his stomach. I end up breaking his forearm instead. I wait for him to regather himself from screaming to keep going.

“The account, where is it?”

I swing the baton like a pendulum over his pale, shaking form.

“You looked inside. They’re going to kill you,” he snaps, his voice getting weak. “There’s cameraseverywhere. They work even after the shutdown. I can help you.”

“They had to move sites, didn’t they? Because someone found your bunker. The wind uncovered the door for me, but he popped right in.”

“You’re dead without me.”

The gritted words make me smile.

“I’m already dead. But don’t worry,sweetheart. I’m taking you with me. And any other motherfucker that I find had a tiny pinky toe in this. Speaking of toes.”

He starts screaming before I can even get in position. I line up my shot and swing at his foot like the stick is now a golf club. It seems fitting. I miss a few times, but when I finally get it, he passes out.

I glance at his slack expression, seething inside. I want to keep going. It doesn’t feel like enough. I should break this fucker into tiny pieces and feed him to sharks.

I snap out of it and gasp in a sharp breath.

I can’t do that. He’s going to blab as soon as he’s conscious. If someone else knows I’ve been questioning him, they’ll come for him themselves. I need to know who gets sent and follow that back. I can’t keep going, no matter how bad I want to.

I didn’t get enough information from him but that doom feeling is still buzzing around inside me. I need to get out of here, not wait for him to wake up.

I fish his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and head for the door.

South is still waiting outside with a blank expression. She straightens from the wall without a word and starts walking. I close the door and follow her quickly.

It blows my mind that not a single person pays attention to us. There aren’t any hysterics or cops called. We walk out as easily as we walked in. Did no one hear him? Is her invisible crap covering sound too? My brain is melting.

“Hey,” I hiss to South, hurrying to catch up.

She slows to look over her shoulder.

“This is Blake’s. Can you get it to Shade? Just in case. He also said that the money was getting moved through an account with my name on it. I need a lookout on Blake to see who visits him in the hospital.”

I pull my phone as she takes the other one. I stop the recording and send it in a text to Shade, adding in the requestfor a lookout and the fact that South has Blake’s phone. I’m not leaving anything to chance.

My thumbs hover as I glance at his name. I back out to my contacts and look at the list. Mom, Dad, South, Shade.

“What?” South asks, looking over my shoulder.

“I should memorize and erase your numbers. Just in case. Delete everything.”

I swallow hard and delete Mom and Dad. I already know those two by heart. I don’t know if I’ll ever hear their voices again. The knowledge hits me, forcing a few tears into my eyes.

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