Page 95 of Consequences

The doors open, and his arm lifts just enough to see Bill. He knows he’ll be knocked back down the moment he sits up, so he stays laying down.

Beside Bill stands the warden. Scott something or other.

“I hear you’ve pissed off a very good friend of mine,” Scott says.

The man reeks of self-imposed entitlement, and Beckett knows he wants people to be impressed with his expensive suit and fancy shoes. Things he likely can’t afford on his salary alone, so he’s likely getting kickbacks from somewhere.

“Is that right?”

“Sit up and show some respect, you fucking degenerate.”

Sitting up, Beckett keeps his expression indifferent as he takes in the man’s stance.Fuck, he’s a lot shorter than I expected. Only… what? Five-eight? No wonder he has to put on these big shows. I would, too, if I had little man syndrome.

Every one of these assholes wants an emotional reaction. Anger or fear. Luckily, he’s been extensively trained to stay neutral. It’s just an added bonus that it seems to really, really piss them off.

“You have a choice, Cohen,” an unfamiliar voice says from just outside the view of his cell.

The sound of heels hitting the cement floor tells Beckett this man is dressed more like Scott than Bill. They’re dress shoes not boots. The sounds also echo differently, and by the sounds of it, they’re even more expensive than the warden’s.

Overseas, he happened to get captured by a very wealthy tyrant, and he learned all about fancy shoes. The way they look,smell, and on occasion, even taste. The last one he’d rather not relive.

“What would that be?” Beckett asks.

The man they identified as Donald Ramsey appears in front of him, and it takes everything in Beckett to remain impassive and not lunge at him. He’d love nothing more than to tackle and beat him until his blood coats Beckett’s hands like a cleansing bath.

“You can tell me where Shannon ran off to, or you can rot away in here. Maybe you’ll get lucky and become someone’s bitch.”

At least this tells me he doesn’t have her. If he did, the conversation would be gloating, not trying to get information.

“How the fuck would I know where she is when you’ve had me locked away with no access to anyone? Including my lawyer.” His tone remains monotoned even though he wants to shout for glee. Ramsey doesn’t have her.

“You had her.”

“I did. And then you locked me up and threw away the key. I just found out not long ago she ran away from the safe place I had her.”

Ramsey slaps him across the face. “Where would she go?”

Fucking bitch. Slapping instead of punching. He can’t take a stronger man.

“I. Don’t. Know.”

“You must’ve talked about it at some point. Look,” he says and crouches down in front of him, “if you tell me where Shannon would go, I’ll get your buddy out of here with no charges. He can be there for his family. His wife’s pregnant, you know. If you don’t give me something, he’s stuck in here, never seeing his children grow up. Is that what you want?”

“I hadn’t seen Shannon for years before she randomly showed up in my clubhouse on a fluke. She disappeared the next morning, and I just found her after you beat the shit out of her and threatened to kill her if she didn’t stay with you.”

His eyes narrow as he stares hard at Beckett. “And you never talked about where she should go should anything bad ever happen to you?”

“Just to stay the hell away from you.”

Nodding, Ramsey scratches his chin where he has an odd patch of gray stubble as though he missed a spot shaving. “I believe you.”

“Does that mean Brock gets to go? I chose to tell you the truth rather than lie and send you on a wild-goose chase.”

He laughs. “Oh, you naïve man. I was never going to let him go. I fucking hate his father-in-law. That asshole implemented a new process a few weeks ago to make sure there’s checks and balances in place for the money. Like it’ll stop me from siphoning funds.”

“Well, do you like to embezzle money from companies.”

“Yes, I fucking do. Guess you did your homework on me. He’s making it incredibly difficult for me to drain his company dry, but not impossible. It does give me more motive to fuck his daughter’s husband, though.”

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