Page 98 of Exposed

Suddenly Bennie felt a vicious kick to her stomach. She cried out instinctively, curling into a ball to protect herself. It was no use. Her hands were still behind her back. Ernie kicked her another time, on her hip. On her back. On her upper arm. She could hear him grunting with effort, then he stopped.

Bennie lay panting in agony. Her entire body ached. Adrenaline poured into her system, leaving her shaking. Dirt dug into her cheek. Her eyes watered reflexively from the pain. She hurt too much to regroup. She had to think of something. She had to work on him. She told herself he kicked her because she must have gotten to him.

“Now you gonna tell me your password? Or do I have to beat it out of you?”

Bennie mustered her strength to speak. “If you keep this up, I’m not going to help you anymore.”

“Ha!” Ernie laughed abruptly, then kicked her again.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Mary regained consciousness only slowly, then forced herself to wake up. Something inside was telling her she had to stay awake. She couldn’t give in yet. She couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t give in to hopelessness. If she gave up she would die. She had heard what they said. She was somewhere, and the two men would kill her. She started to wake up more and heard them talking in the other room. There were still two men, Ray and not-Ray.

“Why didn’t you get the password?” one man asked. It was Ray.

“She wouldn’t give it to me.”

“You couldn’t get her to give it to you?”

“She wouldn’t.”

“So smack her around.”

“I did. She wouldn’t give it up.”

“But she told you the cops know everything? She said she sent the email to the cops?”

“Yes and she said they told Simon. Simon knows too.”

“You’re so stupid.”

“Why am I stupid?”

“She told you she sent the email. So why wouldn’t she give you the password then?”

“I don’t understand.”

“The reason she wouldn’t give you the password is because you would find out that she didn’t send the email.”

Mary tried to make sense of what they were saying, but she couldn’t. They were talking about an email of some sort. Whether it was sent to the police. She had no idea what they meant. She didn’t know who theshewas they were talking about. It must’ve been the bigger one. The woman she was with. She couldn’t remember who that was. It was strange. If she was with another woman, they must have been friends. Why couldn’t she remember? What was wrong with her brain? What have they done to her? She tried to keep listening to the men. They sounded angrier than before.

“Maybe she just didn’t want to give me the password.”

“No. That bitch lied to you. She didn’t send the email. The cops don’t know anything. They arrested Simon. It was already on the news.”

“Simon knows. She told Simon.”

Mary’s head turned at the nameSimon, as if her body knew something that her brain didn’t. Simon was a name she should know. Simon was somebody she knew. She tried to think who. But she knew it was somebody. It came to her then, a little boy’s face. Then a man’s. It was Simon. She had known him when he was little. Simon was an old friend of hers.

“And so what?”

“Simon’s going to tell the cops.”

“And what are they going to do about it?”

“They’re going to investigate it. They have to, don’t they?”

“Of course they don’t. They’re not going to believe him. He won’t have any proof. They know he’s under arrest and he’ll say anything. And anyway, he doesn’t even have his lawyeranymore. Even if he gets a new lawyer, the lawyer’s going to tell him not to talk to the cops. So he’s not going to tell the cops anything.”

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