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“Now,” I said, picking up a cloth laying on a hay bale and cleaning my blade. “You understand I mean business. Yes?”
“What do you want! Why are you doing this! ¡No hice nada!”
“Oh, but you did do something, Maria. You sold out my woman. Your roommate. I want to know who picked Dorothy up at that rave. And I want to know who your contacts are.”
“I don’t know anything!” When I stabbed her other shoulder, she screamed again. This time, hysterically, thrashing and trying to kick out even though her ankles were still zip-tied.
“Oh, I think you do. His name is Enrique. Right?” Maria’s eyes got wide, and she nodded before she could stop herself. “See? That wasn’t so hard. Was it?”
“He’ll kill me,” she sobbed. “I can’t tell you anything!”
“Oh, honey,” I said with mock sympathy. “Didn’t you realize? You’re dead already. There’s no getting past this.” She whimpered as tears flowed freely down her face. Sweat trickled from her forehead to mingle with her tears. The coppery stench of her blood permeated the basement and overrode the musty, damp smell I normally associated with this place.
“Look,” she pleaded. “It was a one-time thing. He needed a virgin, and he overheard Dorothy talking about how she wanted to pop her cherry while she was in school. He came to us.”
“Ah, see? That’s gonna cost you.”
“What? No! No!”
I picked up an axe leaning against the wall and rested it on my shoulder. “I’ll give you this one chance to change your statement. After this, you get no free passes. Now. Did Enrique really contact you?”
“Yes! I swear!”
I tsked and shook my head. “I’m sorry I have to do this, Maria.” I tried to sound like I truly regretted what I was about to do. The reality was, I could never regret hurting this woman. She was evil to the core. All three of them were, but especially this Maria.
I swung the axe down, severing most of her toes. Maria cried and screamed. She did it some more when Stitches heated a flat blade with a propane torch and cauterized the wounds on her feet and her shoulders. This was when she passed out the first time. Nothing a bucket full of water to the face wouldn’t fix.
“You still with me, Maria?” I snapped my fingers in front of her face while she screamed. Gone were her threats and lies. All she could do was scream.
After that, the other two were more forthcoming. When we were all satisfied I’d gotten all I could out of those two, Roman shot them in the back of the head. That’s when Maria finally gave up her other contacts. Some of them Wylde had already tracked down through her own contacts. Not all, but enough to keep her honest.
I kept at her until Wylde said she’d told us about every single contact he’d linked with her. It wasn’t enough to shut this ring down, or even fully evaluate it, but it was enough for a start.
“What a fuckin’ mess,” I grumbled.
“Gettin’ squeamish in your old age?” Wylde clapped me on the back as he grinned at Maria. “Almost done. Just gotta finish that one off.” The woman whimpered, but, honestly, she wasn’t in much shape to know what was happening.
“Nope. I just prefer the clean, quick kills. Though I like knowing I got a little vengeance for Dorothy.”
Stitches approached us. He’d been making sure Maria wasn’t in danger of dying before we were ready. Now he scrubbed his hands on a damp cloth. “Morgue’s got himself a fine woman, Wylde.”
“I’ve seen her with the other women you guys rescued. She’s patient and kind. Not to mention the old ladies love her.”
“That reminds me. Where’s Walker?” I looked around the big room for the hunter. “I need a favor.”
As if he’d been waiting for me to mention his name, the man in question tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and gave him an annoyed look.
“You could have said something.”
He shrugged. “Whacha need?”
“A dog.”
Walker nodded. “Blossom said Sparkle’s been a big help to Dorothy. You wantin’ one of her own?”
“Yeah.”
Walker got a big grin on his face. “I’ve got just the dog.”
