Chapter 21
Johann and I held electrical prods, the kind used on cattle, except these had been souped up. To ensure we didn’t get a shock ourselves, we had on special protective gloves. I touched his wet abs first. Zhāng’s body jerked, and his teeth clenched as a hiss of pain escaped. Then, Johann did it.
We left it in contact for a few seconds at a time, and sometimes just one of us touched him, other times both. We kept it up for a good ten minutes before halting and asking the next question. The fucker remained silent. But I wasn’t discouraged. That tiny quiver from before told me he’d break.
We kept up the shock treatment for close to an hour before we changed gears. He was becoming immune to it. Over time, your body may become desensitized to the same pain stimuli.
We allowed him to remain there, shivering. The room was cool. But the cold water that he had been doused in more than once was making him cold. He wasn’t close to hypothermic level, but the colder someone got, the harder it was to concentrate. I checked to see how Danae was.
“Babe, you have to be tired,” I said.
Before she could answer, Anderson did.
“Danae, we have rooms here where one can sleep. Sometimes it’s necessary.
Let me escort you to one, and I’ll have someone placed outside the room.
They’ll be there in case you require anything, but also to make you feel secure, not that anyone here would harm you. But the place is full of strangers.”
She smiled. “I thank you for the offer, but I’m doing okay at the moment.
Though I may take you up on that offer later, if we’re still at this, which, with the way he’s remaining closed-mouthed, we will.
All I need is another stretch of my legs and a bathroom break.
Our daughter is lying on my bladder,” she directed at me.
“I’ll take you,” I replied.
“We’ll take care of her. You keep doing whatever you have in mind. He’s getting closer,” Sean said.
I hadn’t paid attention to him joining us.
Danae waved me away, but only after I kissed her.
She was escorted not only by Sean but also by Anderson.
I wondered how long he’d stick around. Most of the time, he was in and out in record time.
I returned to confer with Johann. However, my attention was drawn to Undertaker approaching Zhāng. I stopped to listen.
“Do you know who I am?” Undertaker asked gruffly.
He wore his death mask, the one that said he could kill you and dismember your body without a moment’s hesitation, then go home and sleep like a baby.
For those who didn’t know him, they would believe he was nothing but a cold-blooded killer who cared for no one.
It was the beauty in what he could do. Like many of us who did this for a living, Undertaker was able to disassociate himself from that.
It was the only way to do what we did without becoming insane or monsters.
Zhāng remained silent. Undertaker grabbed his lower jaw and squeezed hard, causing his captive to cry out in pain. Undertaker held him there and then eased his grip.
“I don’t like to repeat myself, but I’ll do it this time. Do you know who I am?”
“No, and I don’t care,” Zhāng snapped, though not as snidely as he had at the beginning.
“I heard of you and your gang years ago. It was when I was undercover with someone who was dirty and needed to be ended the way you do. They badly wanted to do business with you, but you never would. But I bet you remember the name Tres Locos MC.”
Shock registered on Zhāng’s face. “I don’t believe you.”
“Yes, you do. I gave up five years of my life, lived with and in filth to bring them down. It shook the criminal and outlaw MC world when Tres Locos were dismantled. And I figured out why you never went into partnership with them. You were terrified they’d take over everything.
That was how they operated. If they had been left to continue, you would’ve been consumed.
Now, does the name Undertaker mean anything to you? I was their main enforcer.”
It did. The sick expression on Zhāng’s face said it all.
He knew he was working with those who played the long game.
And if Undertaker gave up five years, how long would the rest of us go to ensure nothing remained of his gang?
Without another word, Undertaker walked away and came over to Johann and me.
“Push him hard. He’ll crack. That fucker knows that even if everyone else here gives up, I won’t.
I made sure my reputation spread wide and far.
The only thing was that back then, I never hurt an innocent person.
It was my rule that Tres Locos couldn’t force me to do.
And they needed me for pieces of shit like this too much to make it an issue. ”
“Thanks, man. Feel free to jump in if the urge strikes. Even if this is primarily our show, it’s not exclusive,” I replied. He nodded and gave us fist bumps, then fell back to speak to Gabe and Griff. They were still with us.
After Danae, Anderson, and Sean returned, I approached our prisoner. His gaze tried to project defiance, but there was more worry edging in it. I smiled as I told him what we had in store for him. It had been Johann’s idea, and I thought it was fucking brilliant.
“You’re Chinese, so I hope you’ll appreciate that we took that into account for this next part. We didn’t want to ignore your ancestry. We think this will make you feel right at home.”
Apprehension bled into his expression. I held up a wicked knife, one I’d had and used for years. Johann had his as well, the one issued to him as a SEAL. Both had drawn more blood than we wanted to remember, but always to protect and serve justice.
“Johann, would you like to explain, since it was your ingenious idea?” I asked.
“I would, thank you. I thought it fitting to consider something you would be very familiar with. I believe Triads like using this method themselves.”
Johann held up his blade and studied the razor-sharp edge. Then, he met Zhāng’s gaze.
“We’re about to embark on the journey called ling chi, for those less familiar, you probably heard it called death by a thousand cuts,” Johann added.
Zhāng went white. I heard interested murmurs behind us. And Anderson expanded the definition to my woman.
“Ling chi is an ancient torture method from China. They tie the prisoner to a post, already done. And from there, they’ll gradually remove small pieces of skin, appendages, and limbs. The final cut is to remove either the heart or to decapitate.”
I heard her gasp.
“You don’t have to remain for any or all of it,” I reminded her.
“I know. Go ahead,” she calmly replied.
At this point, Dallia and Huston were slumped over in their chairs, not paying attention to what was happening around them. They knew it was only a matter of time until they would breathe their last. They were almost catatonic.
I let Wolf completely consume me. I went into the zone where nothing existed except making the garbage before me suffer as we extracted the information we needed.
Johann was with me every step of the way.
It got messy. Blood made the floor slick, so we had to watch so we didn't slip and fall. From time to time, Jago or one of the others would help by washing it away with buckets of water. There were strategically placed drains throughout the space for this very purpose. Time ceased to matter. It wasn’t only the two of us asking the questions.
The Patriot bosses and even Anderson asked them.
Zhāng was beaten. He gave in and kept talking, but to motivate him, we kept taking things away. What brought me out of it was Anderson’s voice.
“Wolf, Vulcan, he’s done. He has no more to give.”
Those words snapped me out of the world I was in.
I looked our prisoner over. He was covered in raw, bleeding patches front and back where we’d removed skin.
His ears, nose, and fingers were gone. His eyes were dull, and life was slowly draining away.
It was time to end him. I refused to look behind me until it was finished.
I heard footsteps. Undertaker and Gabe joined us, taking up stances behind Huston and Dallia. It was too much effort to remove the heart or head, so I settled on cutting Zhāng’s throat. The same was done to the other two.
As they gurgled and gagged on their own blood until they suffocated and their hearts stopped beating from lack of blood volume, I never looked away.
Only when there was silence did I dare. When I turned, Danae's chair was empty. My heart dropped. Fuck, she’d seen what Wolf was capable of, and she’d left the room. Had I lost her for good?
Undertaker brought my attention to him. “There are clothes in there to change into. Just medical scrubs, but they’ll do. Go shower, and then you can find her. She’s in one of the rooms. Anderson took her there to rest. Don’t assume anything, Heath. Talk to her.”
Numbly, I nodded and then made my way to the locker room, where I could clean myself. Johann was behind me. We never said a word as we showered and then got dressed. Once we were, he spoke.
“You speak to her first. She’s tough. And don’t forget, she saw what I can become, too.”
That was all he said before he left the locker room. When I exited, Anderson stood there.
“She’s in the first room on the left.”
He left anything else unsaid. My feet dragged as I made my way there to see if I’d destroyed our relationship this time. My chest hurt, and I found it hard to breathe.