have hidden.
I wasn’t surprised there was nothing. Dobrow wouldn’t shell out for pricey tracking equipment since he didn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. Janson wasn’t smart enough to take any precautions—the dumb fucker had rented a car with his own license just to feel like a big shot.
Ash had bandaged Janson’s eyes, but it wasn’t out of care. It was so he didn’t die or pass out before we learned what we needed.
“You work fast,” I said.
Ash’s smirk was at odds with the rage on his face. “It’s not work when you love what you do.”
I looked at where Cole sat with his computer. “The rental?”
“Wiped and dumped.” He typed before speaking again. “William Janson. Thirty-five. Born in Carson City. Did time for possession of drugs and illegal weapons, and then again for petty theft and grand larceny.” He looked up from the screen at Janson. “You overachiever, you.”
“How do you know all that?” Janson asked, his words slurred from the pain and the adrenaline crash.
“I’m that good.” Cole paused before adding, “Also, public records are public, dumbass.”
I circled Janson again, purposefully making my steps louder. With each footfall that sounded around him, his body grew tenser as he braced.
Finally, he lifted his head. “Even if I had something to say, you’re going to kill me. So just get it over with.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” I shook off my suit jacket, hanging it on the back of a chair before rolling my sleeves.
Starting slow, I worked his torso.
Hook to the kidney.
Pause.
Two quick jabs to the chest, knocking the wind out of him.
A longer pause.
Another two hooks to the same kidney.
I made noise as I moved back, just for Ash to step in quietly with a surprise uppercut and a jab followed quickly by a right cross to the mouth.
Janson drooled blood down his chin. “I don’t even know anything.”
“Christ, I hate liars.”
I came back in with more body shots until he was groaning and swaying. Taking a break so he didn’t pass out, I grabbed a water bottle and leaned against the table. I glanced at Cole’s computer screen. “What’ve you got?”
“He’s been working as a bouncer at Ace in the Hole for the past three years.”
Ace in the Hole was one of Dobrow’s unsubtly named strip clubs.
“He was dating a dancer for a while, but… oof, tough break. Bunni is currently shacked up with the bartender.”
“She’s what?” Janson bellowed. His moment of outrage must’ve taken all his energy because he drooped. His weight pulled at his arms and shoulders, doing our work for us.
“Do you not follow her online?” Cole asked
“She blocked me.”
He gave a low whistle. “I can see why. Lotta X-rated pics of her and her new man.”
“That cunt.”
Cole laughed. “Funny ‘cause according to her Facebook post, she caught you in bed with one of the other dancers.”
“It’s different for men,” he scoffed.
“It’s not,” I said, not that it mattered for him anymore.
Since Janson was no longer on the verge of passing out, Ash and I resumed working him. We took turns, waiting and striking. Manipulating his mind as much as his body.
I took another break. Drank my water. Circled him.
Played with my target.
“I can keep going,” I told him. “Not for hours or days. I can keep you here and alive for weeks. Broken bones healing painfully wrong. Wounds becoming infected until your flesh festers and rots. I’ll keep patching you up just to tear you apart again.”
His body shook, his pulse visibly racing as his breaths came in sharp pants. Terror wafted from him.
Opening his mouth, saliva mixed with blood and vomit dripped down his chin. “Go for it,” he forced out. “While you do, Viktor will be using your whore for weeks. And then he’ll tear her apart. Mutilate her until a disfigured shell is all that’s left. You deserve it for what you did to my brother.”
My hand hovered over my gun, everything in me screaming to make him eat a bullet. But getting answers was more important, so I didn’t kill him.
I hurt him.
Putting my thumbs to his bandaged eyes, I pressed. His shrieks echoed around us until he was choking on them.
Easing the pressure, I asked, “What does Juliet have to do with this?”
He sobbed, bloody tears leaking through the bandages.
I glanced at Ash. “Serrated knife and needle-nose pliers.”
A lot of men could take a punch, especially if they were used to it. True pain was a different matter.
Janson gulped hard, his lips pressing together until the skin