Page 78 of Montana Rain

Chapter 31

Rayne

When I heard about torture—and I heard about it a fair amount in my line of work, assisting veterans and service members with PTSD—this wasn’t the kind of room I imagined.

It looked like an office from the ’80s. Stained walls, popcorn ceiling, musty smell. The carpet was covered with plastic sheeting, which didn’t help the fear coursing through my veins. They had me strapped to a dentist’s chair, or close enough, and had left me alone.

The tray of implements nearby left no questions about why I was here. But at least they hadn’t started right away.

Antonio strode in, rolling up the sleeves on his button-down shirt, the suit jacket long gone. “Where is it?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

He sighed, but it seemed more resigned than angry. “I figured as much. Should have killed you back at the meetup, but I think you do know where it is, and one body is easier to deal with than four.”

Pulling on blue plastic gloves, Antonio picked up a scalpel. “I could go straight to the really hard stuff, but I don’t think we’ll need it. You’re going to tell me where the real flash drive is, and every time I have to ask, this is going to get worse.”

“If I tell you, you’re just going to kill me anyway. What’s the point?”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be that way. If you’re giving us back something we need, it’s enough. Crossing us is a different matter, but we both know you were never supposed to have the drive, let alone see what was on it.”

Antonio put one hand on my shoulder, pressing it back into the chair, and fire slashed across my arm, the meat of the muscle. I screamed, unable to stop myself.

Hearing about torture was one thing. Living through it was another. Jude had survived this for months? How?

My body fought the restraints, trying to get away. A second line of fire spread beneath the first, and it went on forever.

“Where is it?”

I needed to hold on until Cole found me. Because he would. He and the FBI would come and find me. I had crossed them by doing this meet. “I don’t know.”

My voice wasn’t recognizable. Even to myself. I’d never sounded like this before.

“If you think this is the most painful it can get, Miss Westerfield, I’m sorry to say you’re mistaken.”

New pain struck the other side of my body. This time in my hand. In between my fingers. I was blind with it—I couldn’t even see what he was doing. All I knew was I needed to make it stop. Sobs and screams came out of me. I wasn’t a soldier. I didn’t know how to withstand pain like this.

Nor should you have to. It was Cole’s voice in my head. Just stay alive, princess.

“Where is the flash drive, Rayne?”

“It’s too late.” I forced the words out. “It’s already too late.”

Shame overcame me at how easily I was giving in to them. But I felt the blood running down my arms and in between my fingers. “You can’t get it back.”

Antonio grabbed my jaw and forced me to look at him. “What are you saying?”

“The FBI already has the drive.” I swallowed back another groan of pain. “It was with them before you even took my family. They already know everything, and there’s no way to undo it.”

Shattering pain cracked through my face so quickly, it took me a second to realize he’d hit me. He got right in my vision, his face now so calm it was more frightening than anything else. “See, that’s what you should have kept to yourself, Rayne. Because until this moment, you were a victim in all of this. An unfortunate case of collateral damage who probably could have come out of this all right. But now?”

He shook his head, going back to the tray of implements. “Now, you’ve crossed us. And as I said before, no one can do that and go unpunished.”

“Please.” I wasn’t above begging. “Your boss is already in jail. This won’t come back on you. I didn’t see anything on the drive that can help him. You’ll never hear from or see me again. I swear it.”

Metal rattled as he looked through the tools. “That doesn’t matter. Just because Peretti is in jail doesn’t mean the rules don’t apply. Even if he goes to jail forever, he’s still in charge, and we have a reputation and our own laws to uphold. And if I let you go, then everyone will think they can get away with shit like this.

“I can’t let that stand, even if you getting the flash drive was an accident. We need examples to keep people in line. You’ll join Susan White six feet below the ground. You helped her live a few hours longer, but she tried to be a hero too, and look where that got her.”

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