Roman #3
I step forward again, returning to the patch of exposed muscle at his collarbone.
The scalpel slides beneath the loosened skin and I peel another section away.
Blood runs over my fingers, hot and slick, and Ben’s scream tears out again, though the strength has started to drain from it.
His body is reaching its limit. His legs kick once before sagging again as shock creeps in.
Felix doesn’t slow down either. The pliers clamp down again with brutal certainty and another finger gives way beneath the pressure.
Bone snaps again and echoes off the stone walls.
Where my blade is slow and methodical, Felix is force and fracture.
“Who makes the calls, Ben?” Felix’s voice sharpens.
“Stop—stop—” Ben sobs, head thrashing.
“Names,” I say.
“I don’t know!” he screams, vomiting from the pain as me and Felix jump out of the way.
“This is why I work in the shadows. I prefer my trauma with fewer bodily fluids,” Riggs mutters as Ben continues to heave.
“F-Fisher,” he finally stutters and we freeze as we turn back to him.
“Ackworth,” he cries, and my chest goes cold as Felix stills beside me.
“Fuck,” mutters Atlas, and my head snaps toward him. “He’s been getting paid from a holding account linked to the Ackworth estate.”
“I… I have?” the man simpers and my blood pressure spikes as I take in Felix.
Every thread leads back to the same name, ignoring it now would be nothing more than cowardice.
Felix looks hollow beside me, but the hesitation burns away almost as quickly as it came.
His expression hardens and he surges forward, grabbing Ben by the throat with a violent grip that snaps the chains tight.
I take a step back, careful not to lose my footing on the slick mixture of blood and bile coating the floor.
“Say it again,” Felix barks. “The name. Who Fisher works with.”
“Ackworth,” Ben stutters.
“FUCK!” Felix roars, releasing Ben’s throat and stumbling.
His hands drag through his hair as he stares at the man like he’s trying to burn a hole straight through his skull.
The pliers slip from his grip and hit the floor with a dull metallic clatter.
Behind us, Ben collapses into hysterical sobbing, the sound is ragged and desperate as it echoes around the dungeon.
“I told you everything I know,” he gasps. “I promise. Please—please—I helped you. Let me go.”
Felix doesn’t look at him anymore. His gaze drops to the blood-slick floor as the reality settles in.
Ackworth is the boss.
I step forward.
“I swear I didn’t hurt anyone. I just did security. I never touched the girls—”
“I don’t care.”
He stops talking as I drive the blade into his ribs before he even understands what’s happening.
His breath leaves him in a shocked gasp as the scalpel slides upward between his ribs.
His body jerks once against the chains, then again, weaker.
I hold his gaze whilst the life drains out of him.
It doesn’t take long. When I pull the blade free, his head slumps forward and the chains take his weight.
Silence settles over the room again as Riggs drags a hand down his face. “Right. Well. That’s definitely the end of that conversation.”
Victor steps forward and unhooks the restraints without waiting for instructions. The body drops to the floor with a heavy thud and Riggs looks down at it, grimacing.
“Same disposal method as last time?”
“Yes,” I say but the words feel raw and he sighs.
“I miss the card game already.”
Victor doesn’t respond. He just drags the body away.
Ben’s boots leave a faint smear across the tile as he disappears down the back corridor.
Riggs follows with a bucket and a string of curses, already arguing with Victor about bleach ratios.
Atlas has his laptop open again before the body is even gone.
The tapping of keys fills the room as he starts pulling apart whatever trail Ben just handed us.
Felix doesn’t move as I step toward him. He doesn’t even seem to notice I’m coming. He’s staring at the floor with curled hands like they’re holding something that isn’t there.
“Felix,” I say quietly.
He looks up. The sight of his face steals the air from my lungs. I have never seen him look so broken.
“You heard him,” Felix chokes.
“I heard him.”
“We need to bring him in. Now.”
Behind us Riggs mutters something about needing stronger gloves whilst Victor drags the bucket across the floor. Felix steps closer to me, almost chest to chest.
“He sold them. My sister. Hazel, Emily, fuck, he probably has Robyn too.” He drags in a deep breath. “All of them, Roman. ALL OF THEM!”
“Felix.” I hold his gaze. “Let’s jus—”
“No.”
His head shakes once, sharp and furious.
“No more waiting. No more planning. We drag him in here and make him talk.”
“I need to speak to my dad first.”
“Are you fucking serious right now?”
“He’s the one who brought us this lead,” I say carefully. “Which means he needs to know what we just found.”
Felix looks like he might swing at me. Instead, he drags a hand through his hair and turns away, pacing two tight steps before stopping again.
“That’s my father,” he says in a shaky voice. “And what? You just want me to wait?”
“I’m just asking you to let me do this properly.”
Felix turns back toward me, with fury still burning bright in his eyes. Then he nods once and the knot in my chest tightens as I process what we have learnt.
I still don’t know where Fae is.
But for the first time since she disappeared…
I know who does.