If the smell could grow more offensive, I swore, it had. A groan echoed from inside the room. Three days. If he’d been sparring with his water, he’d have made it last. Food, however, well—I grabbed a couple of protein bars from a shelf and carried them with me to the door.
A glance inside showed the good doctor lying on the cot. He let out a muttered curse.
“Still alive, Doctor,” I commented as I unlocked the door and swung it open. Then I tossed the protein bars inside before I turned to pull a chair over. Setting it in place, I took a seat.
The shuffling from within betrayed his movements.
“Please,” he rasped. “Just kill me.”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” I reminded him. “As long as you want to keep your silence, then this is where you will stay.”
The emaciated man stared at me as he shuffled forward, squinting even at the dim light. “You know I can’t.”
“You won’t,” I told him. “‘Can’t suggests something is stopping you. Since I’m the one who controls whether you live or die—there is no one else who can stop you.”
“You’re already going to kill me.” He slumped against the doorframe, his gaze on the food on the ground rather than on me.
“Yes,” I agreed. “I am.”
There was no need to lie about that.
“However, I’m going to be busy for a few days, so if you don’t tell me now, it may be a week or two. You can last that long, can’t you?”
Disbelief filled his expression as he gaped at me. “Why?"
“You know why.” They always did. Daddy had been very specific about this. The monsters always knewwhy,no matter how much they tried to deny it.
“He never came,” he rasped out and I raised my eyebrows. “The man you asked me about—he had an appointment. He was supposed to bring me a girl—he never came.”
I frowned as though I considered the information. Yet at the same time, what girl? Or was that only Daddy’s lure?
“That’s what this is about, isn’t it? The girls?”
“Continue,” I instructed. “I want all of it.”
Shoulders dropping, the man dipped his chin. Defeat.
There it was.
Fight or flight eventually left even the toughest ones. Daddy always reserved breaking for those who deserved it most. Doctor Salinas had been his monster hunt. His target.
He was supposed to be the clue that led me to Daddy’s killer, but everything he revealed in halting, dry, whispering tones said he hadn’t seen Daddy that day. He wasn’t lying.
I rather doubted he was even capable of it now.
But what this doctor did to those girls, tagging them like animals...
20
Rick
Ihad just finished wiping off the counters when Vienna strode into the room. She’d changed into a pair of loose trainers that were barely hanging onto her hips and a ribbed tank top. They were doing absolutely zero to cover her shape up.
This type of outfit was also what she typically wore while home. Normally, I fucking loved to see her graceful figure glide through the house in these types of clothes, but not today.
Not when Fletcher would be here any minute.
“He here?” I folded the dirty cloth, ready to carry it to the laundry room and throw it in the washer. Vienna loved a clean house, and keeping all the wash done helped her out. As much as I despised folding clothes, it was all worth it to see her surprised smile once she realized I’d done something else for her.