Chapter 32
Jed
Iwas floating up to the surface. I could feel it happening, and I wished I could just dive deliberately back down. If only I could stay unconscious. Or better yet, die right now. Just cut loose, at will. Die on command before the horror began.
Before Boer filmed it to hurt Freya. If I could just spare her that.
But something dragged me upward like a hook, pulling me out of the miserable darkness. Noise, activity, on the other side of my bruised, swollen eyelids. It prodded and yapped at me. Boer’s voice. It sounded almost jolly.
Bad sign. The guy was practically chortling. The hell bitch replied, but she just sounded bored and irritated. Something was up. Something new.
I dragged in air, which made my broken ribs flare, bright as a red-hot coal.
Stabbing pains, everywhere. Blood in my throat made me cough.
Another drubbing of agony. I wondered if I had perforated organs.
Internal bleeding from Boer’s kicking tantrum.
I wondered how long it might take for that to kill me.
Too long. That would be too easy.
It didn’t really matter. It would all be over, sooner rather than later. I just wished I could just cut the lights of my own accord. Take away all Boer’s power by leaving him with a useless corpse. I should’ve gotten myself an emergency poison pill. Not my style, but hey.
Not that it would have helped me now, strung up like a side of beef. I had the long, hard road ahead, discovering the outer limits of pain. Not territory I had ever wanted to explore. It scared me shitless. But eventually I’d die. It would be over.
I heard the woman’s voice again. Nicole, Boer had called her. She liked to kick too. And the toes of her boots were pointy.
She was talking to a couple of big, fleshy bearded guys.
New personnel. I had personally taken eight of Boer’s men off the board over the past week.
Quick turnover. These guys should get hazard pay.
It was a small satisfaction to cling to, before leaving this world.
Hurray, I’d created frustrating logistical staffing issues for my archenemy.
Fuck, whatever. I’d take any win, however slight.
Boer’s laughter had a shrill, manic sound. He’d always been kind of an annoying asshole, though very tough and competent. But the fault-lines had never showed up so clearly before.
I forced my eyes to open. A needle of artificial light slid in, stabbing into my brain, like a spike through my eyeball. I would have vomited, but I already had. Many times. Nothing left in there to heave.
I dared another spike through the brain as I opened my eyes, focused…
Oh, fuck. Oh, no. Fuck, no.
Freya. Boer was clutching her arms behind her and shoving Freya in front of himself. She was in boots and jeans and a black sweatshirt. Her hair was wild and messy, glowing pale like a candle flame in the cold fluorescent light. Smeared with blood on one side.
Her face was ashy pale, but her hazel eyes burned into mine, taking in all the damage. I tried to say it with my eyes. Oh, baby. I love you. I love you. I’m so sorry. I would’ve done anything to keep this from happening to you.
Boer was holding forth, in a loud, triumphant voice, but I was so deep in Freya’s eyes, I couldn’t be bothered to understand the guy. Not until Boer spun Freya around and gave her a vicious slap to the face.
“Pay attention, you dumb cunt!” Boer turned to me. “You, too, fuckface.”
Freya blinked, but she kept her cool. There was an angry mark on her cheek from his slap. I wanted to hurt him for that. But I was so fucking helpless.
That was the real torture. I wondered why the guy hated us so much.
“…understand me, you stupid fuck?”
I nodded, then endured the subsequent sick throb of pain that provoked.
“I understand,” I coughed out.
My voice was gravelly from yelling. Even though Boer knew I had never known the SmokeScreen codes, he liked to play with his prey just for the fun of it.
Boer had taken off his mask. The late Joe Grifo had been excellent at his job.
I would not have recognized the guy in a crowd.
Everything has been changed. Jaw implants, nose job, chin lift, cheek implants, eyelids, even his lips were different.
His eyebrows had been reshaped. Even his hairline has been changed.
But those beady, malevolent dark eyes, those were the same, even with contact lenses. All creased up with that gloating, self-satisfied smile.
I didn’t have the juice for a snappy response, so I stuck with my dull stare. Maybe I could bore him to death.
He slid his hand around, gripping Freya’s breast, and his grin widened as he saw me react. No, this guy was in no danger of suffering from boredom today.
“Maybe we should wait a while to open up the algorithm,” Boer said, rubbing his dick against Freya’s ass. “We could have a little fun. Let you watch. What do you say, Nicole? Do you want to play? Nicole likes girls, too,” he informed us.
Nicole looked over at us, her bruised face sullen and hostile. “I’m not in the mood,” she said, her voice colorless. “And she’s not my type. We get the algorithm running first. Fuck her all you want after that.
Boer frowned at her. “You’re no fun.”
“You want fun?” Nicole’s mouth twisted. “Playing with this toy, that’ll be fun. How shall we begin? Cut out the power grid in Dubai and see what happens? Hack into the nuclear missile silos in Russia and fuck around with them? Now that would be fun.”
Boer’s eyes gleamed. “You’re on, bitch. Open that algo for us, Freya.
If you damage it, or fail to deliver, I will cut chunks off your boyfriend’s body and cauterize each wound with a hot iron so he won’t bleed out.
I’ll make it last for long time. And when he finally dies of shock, I’ll do the same to you while your brother watches on a livestream.
I can cut off a piece just to demonstrate my commitment.
What should I start with? A foot, a hand? Something more…intimate?”
“No need.” Freya’s voice was cool and even. “I have absolute confidence in your commitment. Let’s get to work.”
“Amen,” Nicole said. “That’s the attitude I like. Work first, play later. Stop jerking off, Wex. Get her over to the fucking computer. Let’s do this thing.”
“You said you’d let us go if I opened the algo for you,” Freya said.
Boer snickered. “And you believed me. That’s on you, sweet cheeks. You disappoint me. I’d expect that out of Rachelle Grifo, but Shane said you were smart.”
“Shane?” Freya asked. “What happened to Shane? Is he dead? Do you know?”
The gloating smile vanished from Boer’s surgically molded lips. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Please. It costs you nothing, right? We’re going to die anyway. Just tell us what you know. There’s no risk to you.”
“Die unsatisfied, bitch,” Boer said. “That’s just the final fuck-you of fate. I have no clue where that asshole is. They attacked my team and took him away. Fuckers.”
“Who attacked your team?” Freya’s voice was sharper. “Took him where?”
“My client, who shall remain nameless, until I kill him myself. Now get to work, before I—”
“Just his name,” Freya pleaded. “Just tell me who he is.”
Smack. Boer knocked Freya off her feet. Then he grabbed her by the hair, dragging her over to the computer, where Nicole tapped her nails impatiently.
“The moment of truth!” Nicole said, her voice fake-sweet.
“I actually have some medical training, believe it or not. I was studying to be a neurosurgeon, so I understand pain. That’s my little superpower.
” She pulled out a knife and rested the point right under Freya’s ear. “Now get to work, bitch.”
“Having a knife to my throat really fucks my concentration,” Freya said.
“Oh, does it? Is it hard? Oh, no! I’m so sorry!” Her hand jerked, and Freya flinched away with cry, blood flowing from a cut on her cheek.
“Get to work,” Nicole said, her voice like ice. “The next cut is your eye.”