Raiden (The Kent Brothers #2) - A.M. Hargrove Page 0,73
made contact.”
The coffee cup in my hand almost crashed to the floor. “Say what?”
“Yeah. He’s threatened to bomb your headquarters. We’ve notified the local law enforcement, the FBI, and Homeland Security.”
There was a brick lodged in my throat and all the air in my lungs had whooshed out. I couldn’t speak.
“They’re combing the building now and have stopped anyone from entering. Deliveries are canceled, and if any came in, they’re inspecting them. They’re scanning the area around the building as well.”
When speech returned, the only two words I said were, “My people.”
“Are being evacuated.”
“We need to release that video today.”
“Raiden, they’re working on it.”
“What about your place?”
“We’re evacuating too. I was on the phone with Huff, making sure he backed up all the data.”
Shaking my head, I said, “This has to end. What if this doesn’t work?”
“Then we negotiate?”
“How? With what?”
“I don’t know. I’m at a loss too.”
Those were words that made my skin chill. I never thought I’d hear Drex Wolfe run out of options.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Scottie
The young girl, who cursed like a sailor, was afraid. I wanted to be kinder to her, but she made it damn difficult. She spit, swore, and kicked us all the way to the third floor. We’d blindfolded and gagged her, but once up there, when we took the gag off, all hell broke loose. She was a demon unleashed.
Gemini bound her hands, and she bruised my shins until I had her tied to the chair.
“Listen to us, little fool, this will go much easier on you if you shut your mouth,” Gem said. We both wore ski masks and used deeper voices, hoping to make her believe we were men. She was very sharp, so we were sure she figured us out.
“My granda will kill you.”
“Not before we kill you and your mother. Unless you behave, and do as we say, that’s exactly what will happen. Will you obey us?”
“Yeah.”
Gem and I shared a look. She was lying.
The blindfold was still in place. Her hair was too tidy, so I would tease it to make it look matted. As I reached for it, she turned her head and bit my hand. She sunk her little teeth into my flesh and wouldn’t let go. Gemini belted her across the cheek, and it surprised her enough she released her grip on me.
“That little fucker,” I swore.
“Touch me again, and you’ll get another one.” She spit blood out of her mouth. My blood.
Gem grabbed the roll of duct tape we had and ripped off a strip. Then she covered her mouth. “We’ll touch you any damn time we want, you little demon.”
My hand dripped blood, so I smeared it all over her face. Gem teased her hair, and I put dark purple shadows beneath her eyes. Then I created old wounds on the side of her forehead, cheek, and next to her eyebrow.
“We need to take the tape off to stuff some of these cotton rolls into her mouth,” I said. “They’ll make her cheek, where I’d smeared the blood, appear swollen.”
“Good luck with that.”
“If I show you how to keep her mouth open, do you think you can do it?”
“Sure.”
There was a point under the lower jaw that was painful if enough pressure was applied. It would make the person keep their mouth open. They did it to me in training, and that’s how I’d learned of it. I showed Gemini where it was, and she pressed down. When the girl opened her mouth, I crammed the cotton rolls in, much like a dentist does when doing restorations. Then I re-taped her mouth shut.
After we finished, we checked her out on the video, which we would film in black and white. She looked rough. We tied both hands and feet to the chair and her face looked authentic. We staged the room the day before and it was dark and dreary, with no outside light coming through. The dinginess of the room made her appear filthy.
We began the video.
“Aiden O’Brien, you’ve had your opportunity. Your threats against Kent Enterprises weren’t taken lightly. Try to destroy it with your bombs, and your granddaughter and daughter die. See her now, Aiden? She’s still alive, but any other threats against us, and she won’t be.” We brought the camera in closer to get a better look at her, but not too close. She struggled and screamed beneath the tape. From my angle, she showed up looking abused. Then we cut.