Page 7 of Murder & Mayhem
I could feel Jamie’s eyes on me as I grabbed the cords. “Shit, I forgot scissors. Can you grab them for me? They’re in the front pocket of the bag.”
“Oh, um, sure.” Jamie shook his head like he was coming out of a trance and then hurried to my bag.
“Make the kid your accomplice. Smart. So he can’t rat on you,”Gideon unnecessarily added.
“Fucking Christ, do you ever shut up?”Ari grumbled, causing me to smile.
“No,”Both Gid and I said in unison.
Jamie handed me the scissors. “Thanks,” I muttered, already focused on Joey.
“This might get a little messy. If you want to wait in another room, you can.”
“This is such a bad idea, Nicky,”Ari reminded me.
“Pretty sure you said that already,” I muttered.
“Well, I want it to be on record when this all smacks you in the face that I told you so.”I rolled my eyes and focused on Jamie.
I knew I was being reckless, but I also knew that if either of my brothers were here, they’d be reacting the same way. I couldn’t explain it, but Jamie wasn’t a threat to me. He wasn’t going to turn me into the authorities or anywhere else. Therewas something in his eyes, in the way that he’d kept that gun trained on Joey’s chest even as he’d shaken with fear. Finding his brother was the only thing he cared about, and he was willing to do whatever it took.
Jamie shook his head, his messy hair falling into his face. “No. I want to watch.” There was strength to his words even as he wrapped his arms around himself and slumped even further into his oversized hoodie. His green eyes never left mine.
“Good boy.”
The words slipped out unbidden. They had a few times during his panic attack too, but I didn’t think he’d noticed then. He did now, his eyes widening and his pupils expanding at the praise. Jamie’s lips parted, and I swore to fuck I heard the quietest of whimpers before he got it together.
For a moment, I couldn’t move, completely fixated on those chapped lips as they quivered slightly. His bottom lip was poutier than the top and I wanted to take it between my teeth, leave my marks on his skin . . .
Which was all kinds of fucked up.Get it together, Nick. Focus on torturing the pedophile, not on defiling the sweet boy.
It took effort, but I managed to turn away from Jamie. Mainly because my annoying ass brothers were needling me.
“You’re being ballsy behind the protection of distance,” I told them. “But I have a long memory.”
Gideon only laughed. The little fucking shit.
Ari only grumbled,“Can you get this over with already?”
“Yeah, yeah. Spoilsport.”
I glanced at Jamie, who was watching me with fascination. “Last chance to leave.”
He shook his head.
“Alright.”
I cut off Joey’s stained T-shirt and then shoved it in hismouth. He would need to be able to talk later, but things might get loud. Then I hooked the clamps of one of the wires to his nipple before letting one dangle into the water.
I jumped back just in time and watched with unbridled glee as the electrical current traveled from the water and through the clamp around Byrne’s nipple.
“Ahhhhh!” Joey’s whole body convulsed under the electrical currents as he thrashed in the ropes he had no chance of escaping. There was a fine line between a little jolt to wake his ass, unbearable pain, and death. For now, I wanted somewhere between the first two. Enough to scare the shit outta Joey, but he’d still be able to talk without his brain being fried. Still, it was so fun to watch him thrash like that, I waited a little longer than I should.
“Eww, what’s that smell?” Jamie gagged. Ahh, that was my sign. I stopped the current.
“He pissed himself,” I told Jamie, wrinkling my nose.
I didn’t know how he’d react to that, but the last thing I expected was for him to practically fall over in laughter.
