was going to pass the device off to Rave on the off chance the doctor had been in touch with his former lover. I had told Top I didn’t plan on putting anyone in the morgue, but if I had a list of people who should be there, Ashby Grant’s name would be at the top of it. The woman needed to be stopped, and I didn’t have much faith that traditional law enforcement tactics were going to work. She’d been on the run too long and gotten away with too many atrocities.
“The louder you are, the harder I’m going to make this.” I put a hand on the doctor’s chest and pushed, driving him backward and off balance. He tripped over his own feet and landed with a thump on his backside. “Answer my questions and we’re out. Play games, and we’ve got all night to make it as horrible as possible.”
He gulped and shook his head in disbelief. “My family will be home any minute. Whatever you think you’re doing, you aren’t going to get away with it.”
Top snickered and crouched down so he was eye level with the doctor. “Your wife took the kids and left you when she found out you were banging a psychopath behind her back. No one’s coming to save you, old man.” My VP reached out and pushed against the center of the other man’s forehead with his index finger, shoving his head back. “I’m the impatient sort. If you draw this out unnecessarily, I’m gonna get pissed. Trust me, you want to avoid making me angry.”
The doctor’s eyes slid to me so I crossed my arms over my chest and asked, “What really happened the day Samantha Baskin died?”
The older man’s eyes widened to comical proportions and all the color drained from his face. His breathing became rushed and he scrambled backward across the entryway floor. “Why would you ask me that? Ms. Baskin passed away from kidney failure. She was sick for many, many years. Did Presley Baskin send you? That girl has gone off the deep end.”
Top shot out a hand and grasped the man’s dress shirt. He pulled him back across the hardwood floor, tightening his hold on the fabric until the doctor was obviously struggling to breathe. “We’re asking the questions. All you have to do is answer. If you lie, I’ll make you regret the decision immediately. Are we clear?”
The doctor turned a shade close to purple as Top continued to twist the material of the collar in his hand, effectively blocking his airway. The older man scratched at my VP’s tattooed wrist to no avail.
“Again, what happened that day? Was Ashby Grant there? And if she was, why is there no record of her being at the hospital to see Presley’s mother?” I lifted my eyebrows. “If you don’t give me an answer I like, he’s going to break all of your fingers. One by one. On both hands. It might be hard to do your job in double casts, Doc.”
Top let the doctor go with a little shove and cracked his knuckles loudly for effect. The older man cleared his throat nervously and looked up at me with wide, frightened eyes.
“Do you really want the truth, or just what you want to hear? If you’re here because Presley sent you, you’ve already got an idea of what happened that day, regardless of the truth.” He huffed a little and wiped his dirty hands off on the thighs of his khaki pants. “I’m not going to change my story to fit Dr. Baskin’s paranoid theory.”
Sighing heavily, I nodded at Top who reached for the doctor’s hand. The older man yelled for help and tried to scramble away, but Top was faster. The pop of his pinky finger snapping was loud but drowned out as the man screamed in pain and watched us in horror.
“You’re monsters.” Tears were running down his face, and he’d gone extremely pale. “Get out of my house.”
I dropped my arms and leaned forward. “I told you, it’s up to you how easy or how hard this is. When you decide to cooperate, we’ll get out of your hair.”
He scowled and cradled his hand protectively against his wrinkled shirt. “I’ll see to it you’re locked away for an eternity.”
I chuckled. “Better men have tried.” I nodded at Top again, but this time when he went for the doctor’s hand, the older man shrieked at him to stop and scooted away. “The day