Page 10 of Capture
“I won’t, Gunner,” I replied honestly. “I won’t touch her, I swear, but I might need to ask her a few things now that we know she betrayed Mikky.”
“Yeah, I get it,” he replied in anguish, wrestling with his love for the girl versus Mikky. And it was apparent: he had loved her since they were kids, and he had always loved her.
“Go,” I pointed to the door, and he dragged his feet, looked back one more time at the girl on the bed, and closed the door behind him.
I find my phone in my pocket, swipe Mikky’s number as those blue eyes watch me closely, dropping away when my gaze meets hers.
“Yup,” Mikky answered cheerfully as the sounds of the club echoed in the background.
“She’s confessed,” I told him. “Thanks to Gunner.”
“Confessed? Confessed to what?” he asked as it occurred to me that there could be a thousand different things that she could confess to, but only one that mattered.
“She’s the girl we’ve been looking for. Annika, the adopted daughter of your uncle. It’s her. She's here.” I narrowed my eyes as I stood over her, as her fingers trembled in fear. “Riley Laws confessed that she is Annika.” My gaze met hers again, and this time, she allowed her stare to remain bravely fixed on my face, where her fate was laid before her. “What do you want me to do with her?”
“You’re kidding?” he chuckled, sounding chilled out by expensive alcohol. “Gunner was right all along?”
“He was,” I hit as she hugged her knees tighter as if to shield her from her impending punishment. “Gunner was right.”
“What do you want me to do with her?” I asked again, then added to scare her, “I can start torturing her to siphon information. To see how far I can go before she breaks.”
The traitor’s mouth parted in fear as those bright, blue eyes flicked about the room as if searching for an escape. I had no intention of torturing her, not yet anyway, but if Mikky asked me to hasten the process, I’d do it. That’s me, Ronan Byrne, Mikael Kaiser’s number one man, butcher, whatever he wanted, I’d do it on command.
“Make my life easy for me and ask her some questions to warm her up,” he directed. “If she doesn’t squeal, then put some pressure on.”
“Done,” I replied, swiping off as my eyes rake over her soft, pale cheeks that I had the urge to sink my teeth into.
Of all the girls I discovered in the forest that day, it’s a pity it happened to be the girl who had a target on her back with Mikky’s name on it.
5
What do I have to do to live?” I asked him as soon as he swiped off the phone, walked to the door, checked that it was locked, and leaned against it. Ronan's likable, laidback demeanor had vanished, replaced with a stranger. Someone I had not met before, nor would I want to meet, was locked in this room with me.
“Wrong question,” he replied swiftly. “How much is your life worth?”
“Nothing,” I sighed, feeling numb, hunting for a spark of fire within me to fight against him. Now that I had removed my mask, freeing Annika, she refused to stand up and be seen. “Idon’t care anymore. You have me. I’m your prisoner. Do what you want to me for your pleasure. I don’t care anymore.”
I held up my wrists, “Handcuff me,” I added as the fight in me seeped away into the abyss. “Bound me. Kill me. I do not care.”
He rolled his eyes as if he thought I was trying to tug on his heartstrings. “Drop your hands,” he snapped gruffly, then folded his arms across his broad chest as his arm muscles bulged under his white shirt. “I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer them honestly. Got it?”
“I have nothing left to lose,” I answered nonchalantly.
“Spare me the fake emotion,” he snarled, then exhaled out his frustration, although I was unsure if it was me feeding his frustration or something else. “Question one. Are you Annika Kaiser?”
I was taken aback by Ronan's use of the surname Kaiser. I suspected it was a deliberate attempt to rub salt into the wound. “Yes.”
“What was Annika’s mother’s name?” he proposed, obviously needing proof.
“Luanne,” I replied, swallowing over a lump in my throat. “Are you sure my brother will be okay?”
“Yes. He was always fine. The family who adopted him is in regular contact and receives supplements from the Kaiser trust until your brother is eighteen,” he explained. “If you were honest with us from the beginning, we could’ve helped you.”
“They threatened to kill me,” I argued. “They said what happened to Mr. Kaiser will happen to me, too.”
“Who?” he asked.
“The Larsson police,” I replied as all the secrets I’d been holding on to emptied into this room. “Specifically, Judith-”
