Ghost shook his head with disgust.“When you’re done crying like a little bitch, we’ll talk before I take your other kneecap.”
Zain smirked and August chuckled.Rami had just gone to the front door to let in Brick.
“Whoa.”Brick whistled as he walked in.“Looks like you guys are just getting started.I take it he’s got intel for us?”
Denis huffed angrily behind the tape.
“Says he doesn’t,” August explained.
“Ah.Like I thought, just getting started.”Brick’s brown eyes flashed with mock understanding.He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned forward a few inches to get Denis’s attention.“Take my advice, bro.Tell us where she is.This’ll get ugly real quick.”
Denis mumbled something.
Rami nudged Ghost’s arm.“Just got a text from Taschen,” he whispered.“He got a good look at the plate and started tracing.”
Ghost gave a firm nod but didn’t feel any hope.Without a definite location, he was fucking lost.Fury tinted the edges of his vision.He was done playing.
“Oh, shit,” August murmured, seemingly reading Ghost’s face.
Denis’s withering stopped.His eyes widened as Ghost knelt in front of him.
He gripped the edge of the duct tape and ripped off the adhesive.
Despite the free waxing, Denis didn’t flinch.His eyes grew small.The room fell silent.
Ghost placed the mouth of the silencer against Denis’s femur.“I ask questions.If you hesitate or don’t answer, I shoot.You scream and I slit your throat.Understand?”
Denis nodded.Droplets of sweat dotted his upper lip.
“Easy peasy,” August said.
Zain snorted.“I doubt he makes it through the first round.”
“What does Irinia want with Mila?”He needed to start with simple questions and get Denis talking.What he really needed to know was if Irinia planned to kill Mila or if she wanted her alive.
Denis didn’t blink.“She’s pissed Mila didn’t complete the job.That makes us look bad—and Irinia never looks bad.”
“They’re keeping Mila alive?”
He wet his lips.“Irinia gave orders not to harm her.”
That was a start.
“What’s she want with her?”he repeated.
Irinia either wanted Mila to return to work or to pay for trying to leave.He was going to bet the latter.
A flicker of hesitation crossed Denis’s face.Ghost waited, his finger on the trigger.“What?”he pressed.
Denis didn’t take his eyes off Ghost.“Mila was given too much freedom.Irinia made the mistake of thinking she’d fully converted her.She was wrong.”
Confusion curled Ghost’s lip.“The fuck are you talking about?”
Denis swallowed.“There’s a process for people like Mila, who break free from the brainwashing.It’s a matter of reprogramming.And it ain’t pretty.”
Distaste seized Ghost’s windpipe.The way Denis spoke about Mila, as if she were some kind of robot or animal needing to be trained—Fuck, he couldn’t take it.
He ground the silencer deep into Denis’s thigh.“Where are they keeping her?”