Page 58 of Licence To Howl
Devereau splayed his hands out to show he was unarmed. ‘If you had silver bullets, you’d have already pulled the trigger.’ He gazed at the gun without a flicker of fear. ‘Do you haveanybullets in that thing?’
Vissier raised his voice. ‘Get away from me! Get the fuck away!’
Devereau crouched down until he was eye level with him. ‘Geraint,’ he said. ‘Or would you prefer Gee? You need to relax. You knew this was inevitable. You knew you wouldn’t get away.’
The Dutchman stared at him wide-eyed.
‘The house is almost completely surrounded. You won’t get away. There are werewolves from clan Lupo all around this place.’ He paused for a moment to allow the information to sink into Vissier’s thick skull. ‘But luckily, they’re not here to hurt you. Nobody is. All I need is for you to talk. Tell me everything you know and I’ll let you walk away from here.’
Vissier waved the gun at him. ‘I don’t know anything! All I know is that you murdered all my friends! You’re a madman. A fucking madman!’
That was rich coming from someone who was a terrorist. Wisely, Devereau didn’t say that. ‘First of all,’ he said, ‘I didn’t murder anyone. Even if I’d wanted to, I didn’t have time – a fact that you should be well aware of. Second of all,’ he continued, ‘I don’t believe those people were your friends. I was there yesterday, remember? I saw how Solentino treated you. Nobody stood up for you then and I saw what he did to Mike Lancaster afterwards. There might be honour amongst thieves but there was certainly no honour amongst your little group.’
From the way Vissier twitched, Devereau could tell that his words were striking a chord.
‘I thought you killed him and the others,’ Vissier said, almost spitting the words out. ‘So if you didn’t then I don’t know who did. I can’t help you.’
He’d already suspected as much. ‘You know you’d be dead too,’ Devereau told him, ‘if you’d not been following Scarlett and I.’
Vissier’s face spasmed into an ugly twist. ‘So you’re claiming that it’s because of you that I’m still alive?’
‘I’m here now,’ Devereau said quietly, ‘and you’re still breathing. Right?’
Vissier’s eyes shifted, darting from side to side.
‘Why were you following us?’
‘Alina wanted me to make sure we could trust you. She was sure you were too attached to the vampire to do what Solentino wanted and she made Solentino send me after you to be sure. So I waited until I knew you were out of the way and I could get into your hotel room to take a look around and plant a few bugs to listen in to what you were up to. Clearly, the bitch was right and there’s not a single trustworthy bone in your body.’
‘Or maybe,’ Devereau returned, ‘I’m not as keen to murder my own colleagues as your supposed friends are.’
A shadow crossed Vissier’s face. He didn’t drop the gun but his voice did alter slightly. ‘If I talk to you,’ he said, ‘if I tell you everything I know, you’ll let me go?’
‘Absolutely.’
The Dutchman drew in a shaky breath as he weighed up his options. Truthfully, from the moment Devereau had entered this building, he had none – and he knew it. ‘Fine,’ he snapped. ‘What is it you want to know?’
‘Whoever killed your boss and the others also hurt Alina. But her body wasn’t at the apartment. Either she was taken by the killers or she ran. Given the amount of her blood we found at the scene, it’s more likely the killers took her. Why would they have done that?’
Despite his precarious situation, Vissier still stared at Devereau with complete incredulity. ‘How would I know?’
‘What would Alina have known about your activities that the others didn’t?’
‘How to suck Solentino’s damned dick. She thinks she’s smart but she’s nothing more than an airhead with a pretty face. Eye candy. Who gives a fuck about Alina?’
Clearly not Geraint Vissier. Regardless, Devereau persisted. ‘Is there any reason at all why she wasn’t killed like the others?’
‘Not that I know of. She’s a woman,’ Vissier scoffed. ‘And a stupid woman at that even if she did have Solentino wrapped around her little finger.’
Devereau tilted his head. Curious. Even for a unstilting misogynist, Vissier was dismissing her far too quickly. ‘Was there something between you two?’
He didn’t answer.
‘Did you try it on with Alina Bonnet and she turned you down?’
Vissier recoiled. ‘No! She was mine! It was Solentino who took her from me. Before he came along, Alina and I had a good thing going. Then she decided he was the better option,’ he said bitterly. ‘Fucking bitch.’
Huh. Devereau scratched his chin. That was interesting. No wonder Vissier was so bitter about her. Switching tack for now, he dropped his voice. ‘You know,’ he said, ‘Solentino was tortured.’
