Page 67 of The Quiet Witness

“Is this a good time to call?”

“I was kind of in the middle of something.” Lucien glanced at Liam, whose pitiful whines only grew louder. As if he had a ticket out of here. Pathetic. The only way out of this place was in… smaller pieces. Considerably smaller. He smirked. “But I can make time for you, sweetheart.” He could practically hear her eyes roll around.

“Shocking.” Kate sighed. It only made his smirk grow wider. Getting on her nerves was… an art form. “Any idea when you’ll um… be back?”

“Miss me so soon?”

“Oh, Gods, no.”

“Thank you.” Oh, if only he had a fully functioning heart. Her words would have hurt.

“Yeah, yeah. I just need something from a shop.”

“Help!” The shrill call came from none other than Liam. Who had successfully spat out his gag.

Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. Lucien strode over, picked up the gag and shoved it back in. Sweet, near silence.

“What was that?” Kate’s voice piped up. Static rattling through the connection.

“Nothing much, a beggar on the street. Just dropped him a coin.” He wiped his hand on his black sweatpants with a wince. Saliva. He shivered. His favorite pants for his favorite kills, ruined. Time for it to meet the fireplace. Just terrific.

“You’re such a saint Lucien.” The sarcasm nearly dripped through the phone.

He checked his watch. “Tell me something new.” Another eye roll no doubt followed. “I can be home in a couple of hours. What do you need?”

“That’s the thing, well…”

Liam sent off another flurry of pleases. Lucien lifted a gloved finger to his mouth in a shushing motion, pointing to the phone. While mouthing ‘I’m calling.’ My goodness. No respect at all.

“I need hygiene products.” Fuck, he should have thought of that.

“Got it, any preferences? Pads, tampons or?”

“Pads.” He could hear the relief in her tone. Still such a taboo. Unbelievable, really. “Pads are fine.”

“Pads are healthier anyway.” He mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing. Consider it done. Anything else, like… I dunno, chocolate?”

“Well, if you’re offering. Reese’s please.”

“Added to the list. I’ll be wrapping up soon. See you at home.” The line clicked.

Yes. Trust was most definitely growing. He shook off the stupid smile.

Time to get back to business.

“Now, my friend.” He snapped his gloves, checking for any holes. The harsh slap reverberated across the near-empty room of the abandoned warehouse, making Liam jump up in his seat and wince as the duct tape dug deeper in his wrists.

“Better safe than sorry,” Lucien shrugged, clasping his fingers around the knife. “You see… If you do evil things, you have to be prepared for the fact that someone may do the same to you.”

“pleesseee, pleese.”

He leaned in, a hand cupped around his ear. “I don’t understand.”

Lucien knew he himself would fight to the death. Like Kate did. He shook off that unwelcome thought. But if there was truly no out, to die with a shred of honor intact would be the plan.