Page 28 of Unsettled
I shake my head at Marcus’s excitement. To be fair, he’s been rather annoyed after going from living separate from everyone, to being inundated with way too many people. It doesn’t help that people keep trying to steal Cole, even when we’re home. I thought he’d lose his mind when he tracked Cole down in Roman’s room.
“Just try not to bloody him. The smell lately…” Ely’s cringe has me raising my eyebrows.
Smiling, Marcus bounds to her and wraps her in a hug. “Are you telling me there’s going to be a little Ely soon?”
Daniel growls beside me. Fuck. Desperately, I manage to get out, “You know he doesn’t mean anything by it.”
I watch Ely push Marcus away with a laugh. “I expect a hell of a congratulations gift.”
“Fuck, I know.” Daniel sighs, even as he carefully watches Marcus back away.
“Congrats, man. Kids are amazing.” His content smile says it all, and I clasp his shoulder before stepping forward to intervene further. “Come on, Marcus, we don’t have much time. Let’s get this over with.”
“Of course. And don’t worry Ely—we don’t need to bloody him. There are so many other options.”
Turning to the man tied to the chair, I rake my eyes over him, smiling at the way he’s already sweating. His hair is plastered to his skull from it, and he’s shaking desperately as he stares at Marcus in horror. Taking a glance around at the warehouse, I note there’s some solid equipment around, including some scaffolding that’s at the perfect height for what I’d like to do.
“Do you have some rope I can borrow?” I turn and ask Daniel. “If we’re avoiding blood, I think hanging would be an excellent option.”
From Marcus’s demented chuckle, he must agree with me. Daniel doesn’t say anything as we go through the process of making the noose and hanging it perfectly. It isn’t stationary. I’ll be able to lift him up by pulling on the rope. I have a feeling we’ll be enjoying his choking quite a few times before we get to the main event—his death as payment.
Marcus cuts the rope off from where the man’s sitting, and tosses him toward me. I quickly put the noose around his throat, tightening it so he can’t escape. Marcus swaggers in front of him, and his smile is all teeth. The man shakes in front of me, butI push him forward when he tries to back away, pulling on the noose to remind him it’s there. He quickly stops his movement, as his chest heaves from anxiety and anticipation.
“Now. Michael, isn’t it? I’m very curious. All of a sudden, a bunch of police were showing up at a house I told you would be the site of an important weapons sale. The issue here is that’s not one of our known properties, so it wouldn’t have been on the police’s radar, and you were the only one to hear about that. It makes me curious. And it’s in your best interest to make sure I have answers…”
Marcus gestures to me, and I immediately lift Michael up, listening to the way he chokes and kicks his feet, his hands digging into the rope like he could escape.
“Now, what you might not know is hanging…well, it wasn’t the quick and easy way people imagined it to be, back when it was used. Unless you break your neck when being hung, it’s a painful way to go. I want you to have a nice taste of it before we chat.”
I let Michael drop, and he’s barely able to stand. If just that small taste is affecting him so much, it’s not going to take long to break him. Marcus darts forward and rips off the tape covering his mouth. Kind of hard to talk with it on, but I did appreciate not having to listen to him scream the first time I pulled him up.
“Fuck! Please!” I frown when I notice his voice is already hoarse. I hope he talks quickly. The last thing I want is to have to figure out what the fuck he’s saying. “They told me I had to pass on any information!”
Oh, thank fuck. He is going to be the talkative type—even if it means whining. Marcus tsks and calmly replies, “And who is ‘they’? I want the exact information.”
“Fuck. It was some woman. I never saw her face!” he says quickly, and I immediately pull him up, not needing to wait for Marcus’s signal.
I count to thirty before dropping him down, enjoying his increased panic. It’ll make everything worse, but it does bring joy to my heart. He gulps in air as he shakes from the adrenaline.
Marcus gestures for him to continue and Michael spits out, “I really didn’t! But, I know she lives somewhere other than around here. She was some big shot with the FBI, supposedly. Some of her goons picked me up, threw me in a car, and had her on speaker. She said if I do what they say, I wouldn’t go to jail. That they’d protect me from it, and they’d get my little brother out of prison. He’s fucking innocent! I know they must have set him up. What else could I do?”
Sighing, Marcus pinches the bridge of his nose. “Come to us? That would have been smarter. We could have worked on things. Instead, now you’re going to pay with your life. I hope your mama is ready to lose both of her sons.”
At Marcus’s signal, I get to enjoy yet another workout. Michael may be on the slimmer side, and at least I have a leverage point, but dammit does get tiring. Counting to forty this time, when I let him down, he stumbles and falls forward. Unfortunately, that puts more pressure on his neck, because he can’t go anywhere else. I watch him scramble back to standing, his legs shaking so much that I’m not sure how long we can keep this up. I give Marcus a look, and he responds with a very small nod. Good. He sees it as well.
“You need to give me something more to work with. If you want your brother safe, I need more. And you must have used your limited intelligence somehow.”
“Fuck. Look. I couldn’t find anything out about her. I did follow one of the goons though. He disappeared into an apartment complex over by the river, on the south side though. I was surprised by it being such a crappy location, especially after he showed me his FBI badge, but maybe he’s some sort offlunkie, or he was just visiting. I don’t know. I couldn’t get closer than the apartment building.”
“I want exact details about the apartment name, and what the guy looked like.”
With a sigh, Michael starts rattling off the data, and Marcus’s fingers twitch, wanting to write it down before either of us forget.
When Michael finally stops, Marcus shrugs at me, and that tells me we’re done here. I can’t think of anything else to ask. I tighten the rope, and before I pull it, Marcus leans forward and says to Michael. “Oh, and I’ll make sure your brother is safe from the feds. He can meet you in hell instead.”
Michael starts screaming, and I quickly string him up. Daniel is kind enough to tie the rope off to one of the heavy machines, so I don’t have to bother waiting around—not that it’ll take long, but still, the man was getting fucking heavy.
“Ely, as always, you were a goddess among mortals.” Marcus bows to her. “And make sure we get an invite to the baby shower. I’ll make sure you receive a gift for the bundle of joy—as well as a soon to be mama gift.”
