too smart. Smart enough to kill their chances of succeeding. Smart enough to not get caught in all of these years. Smart enough to land Winslow Chase’s daughter in marriage.”
I gave him an imaginary point for that one. He had been smart. Debonair. Sophisticated. Down to earth. Funny.
Too bad all of it had been a thin mask.
“Yup, got me on that one, Mr. Errington. Way to go. You conned a baker into being your wife and accomplice. Congratulations.” I gave him a slow clap.
I stopped. A small circular room held nothing but blank walls. There were no more turns available. No more options but the way I’d come in.
I gritted my teeth, headed back into the maze.
“How did you end up this way?”
He laughed. The sound too close for comfort.
I scurried around the next bend and tried to remember which way I’d come through the first time.
“I’ve always been this way. My experiments have kept me company since I was twelve years old. No one understood me. No one bothered to reach out. To try to befriend me. If someone had, I wouldn’t be like this. It’s societies fault for everything that I’ve done. It made me do it.” He choked on a sobbing breath.
I struggled not to feel sorry for the little boy he’d been. But even at twelve, he’d known right from wrong. He’d chosen wrong.
“Sure, of course. If only smart people were treated better.”
“We’re treated like we have the plague, you bitch. You wouldn’t know because you’re normal. You got to live in ignorance your entire life. Boxed in by mediocrity. Destined for mundanity. You have no idea what greatness requires. What excellence demands.”
He sent another stream of pain through my body.
I stopped, leaned against the wall. Sweat beaded my forehead as my legs shook. I awkwardly slid down to my ass. I didn’t know how many more of these shocks I could take.
As if he’d heard my mental crisis, he answered, “I placed the electrode next to your femoral artery. If I press the button long enough, it could cauterize that nerve branch. How would you like that, Willow? Would that be a good enough experiment?”
Another bolt of lightning danced along my insides.
Fuck.
Chapter 44 – Ryker
“You have arrived at your destination. Your destination is on the left,” the car announced.
“What the fuck are you playing at, Penn?” Turo demanded as we searched the empty field. There was nothing here. Not even a hint that there had been. The ground was yellowed and undisturbed.
Rafael slid up between the front seats. A glint of metal in his hand.
“Stop.” I slapped his hand away. “For fucks sake, you guys don’t really know how to do business do you? What the fuck is wrong with you?” I grabbed my phone and limped from the car.
I pulled up the feed from my geosynchronous orbiting satellite. I scrolled back through the seventy-two hours of footage. Prayed that asshole had come back here within that amount of time. If he hadn’t, if he’d somehow managed to clone her phone and lead us off on another goose chase?
I shook my head. Forced those thoughts out. No. I couldn’t think like that. I had to find her. Had to hold her in my arms. Tell her I was sorry.
The driver’s window lowered behind me. A dark head popped out and stopped next to mine. “I won’t apologize,” Rafael said softly.
“I don’t expect you to. But damn, you do business in weird ways.” I hit the 2X speed button. Watched the last few days slide by with zero movement on the screen.
“Welcome to mob life,” he said softly as he watched the small screen on my phone with me.
“No, thanks. I prefer business rooms and conventions. There!” I stabbed at the NORMAL speed button. On my screen, a car drove out into the middle of the field. Stopped. A tallish man exited the car.
Rafael growled low beside me. The sound was feral. “Errington.”
“That’s him?” I squinted. I couldn’t make out his features from the height of the satellite, but I would go with Rafe if he thought the man on the footage was the guy we were hunting.
“I’d know that swagger anywhere. That’s the fucker.”
“Where is he?” Domenico demanded from the passenger seat. “I want his blood on my hands.”
Get in fucking line, man. That bastard was going to feel my hands rip into his belly and crush his heart. “Give me a fucking minute.” I hit some buttons on the screen, pulled up split view.