Page 120 of Bad Seed
It was him. He kidnapped Sadie. Snuck into her house, blindfolded her, hurt her.
I snap his hand back.
“Mr. Bell.” The boss’ voice strikes the air like a match.
Red freezes, but—worst of all—so do I.
At last, he turns around to face me. “That’s quite enough,” Mr. Ato says. “Talong is here as a guest.”
Red sneers but wrenches his arm back. I let him go after he pulls back a few more times to remind him just how pitiful he is. Like all weak men, once he reaches the back wall, he pulls out his gun and rests it against his chest.
“You’ve proven quite the thorn in my strawberry basket, my son.” Mr. Ato pops open one of the bottles of whiskey and starts to pour. “Months of sniffing you out, losing track no matter how wide a net I cast. Yet…”
He shoves the cork back in, then takes a sniff of his glass. “Here you are on my doorstep.”
“You kidnapped Sadie.”
After taking his drink, Mr. Ato stares at me. “Who? Oh, right, the girl.” He snaps his fingers and Red rushes toward him with a folder.
Without a care, Mr. Ato pretends to open it and read what’s inside. I know for a fact there’s nothing on that sheet of paper. He’s already got everyone’s weak points memorized. “Miss Sadvhi Nair. Employed at the Bass Pro shop in Loomis, California. Studied photography and business at Fullerton ah…and she’s allergic to eggplants. That must put quite the wilt in the old stem there. Five foot eleven, some two hundred and fif—”
“This isn’t about her!” I shout, my heart racing.
“No? You came here for her, did you not? Left… Cancun on a redeye the second you knew we had her.”
That son of a…
“I’m not surprised. She looks quite…compliant. The big girls always are.”
I lunge to my feet so fast the chair flings backward. Before I can lift my fists, two guns cock and point at my kidneys.
Mr. Ato raises his hand, telling Green and Red to not shoot. But they don’t exactly lower their weapons either. “She’s why you’re in Vegas, no doubt to get your aubergine dunked in that peach one last time. But why are you here now?”
“Because I caught him,” Red calls out.
A sneer warps Mr. Ato’s face from disappointed father to demon. He grabs his bottle of a thousand dollar whiskey and hurls it at Red. It smashes into his head, raining liquor down his body. He falls back, hitting the wall and moaning.
“No one told you to speak, you imbecile!”
“Sorry, boss,” Red mumbles even as he digs glass out of his skull.
Everyone’s on edge, holding their breath so they don’t squeak wrong while Mr. Ato calmly pulls another bottle from his desk drawer and peels off the foil. “As I was saying, why are you here Talong? Is it to return to the fold?”
“As if you’d take me back,” I mutter.
Mr. Ato nearly drops the bottle as he stares down at me. His rotund face crinkles into one of shock and even a touch of regret. “Of course we would, son. You’re…family.”
The bulletproof panels fall over the windows. Darkness, save the cut of light from the lamps, smothers the room.
“It broke my heart when you ran.” Mr. Ato focuses on filling two glasses while the Bell twins inch closer. “After everything I’ve done for you.” He takes a sip then swirls his whiskey. “You would have burned without me. The whole island was baying to turn you to ash, just like your grandfather. Hold him down.”
Two hands grab my right arm. I reach over to shove Green away, when Red takes my left.
“Sorry,” Green mumbles as he pulls my arm back.
A giddy Red damn near slobbers in my ear as blood drips into his mouth. “Ha ha, fucker.” He wrenches my left arm until my shoulder screams. I bite my tongue and stare dead ahead.
Mr. Ato picks up his cane. “You were like a son to me. More than a son to me. I cared for you, Talong. I gave you everything you could ever need.”
