Page 105 of Nanny and the Beast

“That little shithead,” I growl. “I’m going to finish what I started.”

Alaric steps in my way before I can storm back inside.

“Look, he’s obviously afraid of someone,” Alaric says. “You could torture him all you want, but he’s not going to give you anything tangible.”

“That only means that I should rough him up a little more,” I say. “Every man breaks eventually.”

“You could cut off his balls and make him eat it, but he’s not going to give us names. That’s why our only option is to keep tabs on him and hope that he leads us to the big fish.”

“You better be right,” I mutter.

“I’m always right about these things,” Alaric says. “And here, place this on him before you let him go.”

He hands me a little sticker. It’s transparent, but it has a built-in GPS that will let me track the kid for as long as he’s wearing it.

When I step back into the warehouse, Kevin looks up at me. One of his eyes is swollen shut, and there are bruises all over his skin. A steady stream of blood drips down his nose.

It’s not enough.

He deserves a much worse fate than this.

But if Alaric’s right, this guy’s still keeping his cards close. He’s not about to spill his secrets just because I’m putting him through hell.

I glance at Alaric. He gives me a discreet nod.

If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have listened to their council. But Alaric is a wizard at reading people. There’s a reason he’s excellent at poker and business negotiations. He knows how to read his opponent.

I pick up my knife and walk toward Kevin.

“Please just get it over with,” he says, squeezing his eyes shut when he feels the cold metal against his skin.

I cut the zip ties binding his wrists together. At the same time, I place the skin patch tracker at the base of his neck. It’s made of a highly adhesive material, and he shouldn’t be able to spot it.

“We’re done here. Leave.”

“What?” He brings his wrists close to his chest and looks up at me with suspicion. “You’re not going to kill me?”

“Get lost before I change my mind.”

He stands on unsteady feet. His eyes are wild as they swing between Alaric and me. I compose my features to look nonchalant even though I feel anything but. The kid makes a run for it, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

He needs medical attention, but he’ll be fine.

“Now what?” I ask.

“Now, we wait,” Alaric says. “I know some people in the city. We could go out for drinks in the evening?—”

“You know how I feel about social gatherings, Alaric,” I say.

“I know, I know. You’re allergic to anything that’s even remotely fun,” he grumbles.

“Shouldn’t we be looking into the Lazlo guy?” I ask.

“I already informed the intelligence team,” Alaric says. “They’ll take care of it.”

“When did you talk to them?”

“While you were in Viking mode,” he says. “We should hear back from the team soon, but until then, they asked us to stay in the city.”

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