Page 73 of Depraved Truths

“Tick tock. This would be a good time to come clean. How many children have you hurt, just like you hurt me?” I pull out my phone and open the pictures of the evidence we found at Dalton’s. Maybe he needs a reminder of what brought him here. I hold the phone in front of his face and scroll through each photo, watching his color drain away.

“How did you get those documents?” he forces out between ragged breaths.

“I have my ways. Did you think your minions wouldn’t protect themselves?” I raise an eyebrow. “I guess you should have paid them more.”

“Fuck!” he shouts.

“It’s quite interesting, this trafficking scheme you seem to be involved in. At first, we thought it was just two girls a year taken from Lake Lucia. But based on the information we’ve collected, it goes much further than that. It turns out there are two girls in multiple areas of the south that go missing every year, never to be heard from again. Nearly 200 girls in the southeast of the United States, spanning from Miami to Richmond.”

“Blondes, brunettes, redheads... I guess everyone has a preference for their own depraved desires,” Eli cuts in, his voice sharp and cold, a hint of bitterness lacing his tone.

“Unsurprisingly, it seems to be the blondes that you seek out. What happens to these girls once you’re finished playing with them?” I ask, with disgust dripping from every syllable.

Hunt stays silent, just staring at me. The drill churns to life as Eli screws the pinky finger of William’s right hand to the cross, and another round of screams fill the air.

“You really should stop fucking around, William.”

“You don’t want to get involved in this, Tessa,” he pants, and I nod at Eli to give him a short reprieve. “There are many important people in play—people far more dangerous than I am. You should quit and walk away now. If you let me go, I can protect you, and it will be like this never happened.”

“Walk away?” I snort. “Do you think I can walk away now?”

“You need to. If you mess with the top of this organization, they’ll take you and everyone you love down.” He nods at Eli.

“Let me worry about that. Now, spill it.”

“No, they’ll kill my family.”

“Iwill kill your family. Or have you forgotten what you came here for? The antidote. So quit dicking around if you want to be sure they live a long life.” I press a knife to his throat. He gulps.

“We sell them to the highest bidder when we’re finished with them,” he spits out, his voice cracking with desperation. “To men and women all over the country—billionaires, cartel leaders, and whoever has the money. They fund my campaign.”

I pull the knife away, keeping my fingers firmly gripped the handle.

“Who all is involved?”

He levels me with a stare. “Maybe the question you should ask is who’s not involved?” “I’m getting a little tired of all this back and forth, aren’t you, Eli?”

“Yeah, it seems we’re getting nowhere.”

A look of surprise flashes across Hunt’s face. “Wait. Paisley...Elijah... you’re a Huntington?”

Eli tilts his head slightly, his expression hardening. “Yes.”

William laughs maniacally.

“What the fuck is so funny?” Eli hisses, venomin his tone.

“You’re interrogating the wrong person. You should look closer to home, young man.”

Eli narrows his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I have said all I’m saying.” He spits on the ground. “Let’s get on with this.”

“Well, okay then.” It’s time to take this to the next level. Shrugging, I reach into my duffel and pull out another syringe, one with the largest gauge needle I have. Slipping on a pair of gloves, I prepare for what comes next. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this little gadget I have here. It’s quite interesting.”

Hunt’s eyes go wide as he takes in the contraption positioned around his penis. He struggles to escape, but he knows there’s nowhere to go. He’s visibly shaking as I walk toward him.

Wasting no time, I reach for his microscopic penis, and I insert the needle directly into the shaft.

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