Page 16 of Bred Mate
“Ten million dollars.”
I don’t know how much I actually need. I should have worked that out first. Ten million dollars sounds like a lot, but maybe it’s not really all that much these days.
“No,” I correct myself, just as he starts to speak. “A hundred million dollars.”
There’s a chuckle.
“What do you need the money for?”
“Buying a forest?”
“A hundred million dollars would get you a nice forest, but I don’t think we’re going to be paying a hundred million for Karl. I might pay you a few hundred thousand to keep him away from us.”
He’s talking to me with a kind of paternal smugness that I don’t really care for. He doesn’t sound concerned about Karl in the slightest. I realize I probably should have gotten someone who sounded scarier to do this, more male. He’s not taking me seriously because women don’t shake down men like this often enough.
“Can I get an address, please? Not a P.O. Box. Somewhere I can send packages.”
“Why do you need that?”
I keep my tone perfectly calm as I reply.
“I want to know where to start sending body parts.”
There’s another chuckle, but it’s less amused now. There’s a note of steel in my voice that I think the man of the other end of the phone might actually be starting to respect.
“I don’t know who you are, but I can promise you that taking my brother is going to be one of the biggest mistakes you’ve ever made in your life. I suggest you get as far away from him as you possibly can. Now. Because I can assure you, when he gets free—and he will get free—you will be seriously harmed.”
“He won’t hurt me,” I say.
“Oh, you sound far too confident. So that either means you don’t know him at all, or you know him far better than any womanshould ever know Karl. Wait…” He pauses for a moment. “Am I speaking to my brother’s mate?”
“You’re speaking to the woman who is going to send you bits of him one piece at a time until you can assemble him like a Lego set.”
There’s a laugh on the other end of the line. He sounds very amused now. I’ve made a good joke or two, apparently.
“You sound like you suit him,” he says.
“I’m serious. I want money. I need to buy a forest. You have money.”
“Well, sweetheart…”
“Don’t call me sweetheart,” I snap.
“Well, vicious torturer,” he corrects himself. “I’m not giving you money. I am going to give you advice. The same advice I gave you before. Get the hell out of there as fast as you can.”
“I’m not afraid of him.”
“You should be. It’s been nice talking to you. I’m guessing you and I are going to make each other’s acquaintance before long. I have to go now.”
“I’ll call your father next,” I tell him.
“Good luck with that.”
“Wait.”
“Hm?”
“Is it true? Did your father hit him in the face with an axe?”
