Page 30 of Wire
“Debs.” Tav looks slightly green at this confession, which is really something given the Tombs family all have really goodtans. Jules just looks pissed, which I’ve come to know is his usual setting.
“Shit Stain! I need you to wrap this belt over the cocksuckers forehead, yank his head back and fasten it to the crossbar of the chair. Got it? Or you want me to draw you a picture?”
Rhodie shakes his head at Pops, but does exactly as he is told. In no time at all, the thief’s head is tipped back, looking up at the ceiling. He’s stopped sniveling, mainly because it’s very hard to cry with your head on that angle.
“Please! I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! Please!” He begs, but he isn’t going to be let off just yet.
“Now, now Nigel, you should have thought about what we’d do to you before you tried to relieve us of our hard earned cash,” Chewy says in a faux soothing tone.
“I had no choice! He said he was going to sell my sister and niece if I didn’t pay off my debts! Please!”
That has us all stopping. There’s only one person in the area who would threaten that.
Marx steps right up to Nigel, leaning in close. “Tell us what we need to know and we may look at letting you go-”
A drop of something lands right between Nigel’s eyes, a splash of it hitting Marx’s cut burning a tiny hole into the worn leather.
Marx’s head whips around to look at Chewy and Pops, who look a little too pleased with themselves. “Chewy! What the fuck?” he yells over Nigel’s screams.
“Hydrofluoric Acid drip torture. Gives us results in a fraction of the time,” Chewy says in her best game show voice as Pops stands next to Nigel, waving his hands around like a magician’s assistant.
Marx sucks in a breath and then lets it out. “I really want to be pissed, but it’s a fucking good idea. Carry on.” Marx waves heron, stomps toward the couch and stares at the four men wedged in there until Nitro sighs and gets up.
Chewy gives Marx a dazzling smile, then fiddles with the drippy thing, making her torture device drip faster, each drop hitting it’s target. I’m not sure what Chewy and Pops are saying to him but their voices are kept quiet, almost nurturing as they question him. Nigel is answering as best he can while panting and screaming on and off.
Wire catches my eye and sends me a smile before looking around the room, like I had been doing. His eyes dart back to mine and he shakes his head back and forth with his lips pursed as if he wants to laugh. He winks my way, which makes my lower stomach clench and I have to look away. Luckily, I do because I manage to catch the moment Nigel’s eyelid slides right off his eyeball onto the floor.
“I did not expect that. Dayzy girl, write that down in our notebook,”
Chewy salutes Pops and gets busy making notes. I was so distracted by my thoughts that I have no idea what they’ve found out. Hopefully, they have all the information they were after because Nigel lets out a weird rattle and then slumps.
“Tav and Jules, you’re on clean up,”
Tav whistles while going to the cupboard in the corner I never even noticed and starts pulling out all manner of things.
Now that the show is over, the brothers all move toward the door, ignoring the Tombs family doing…whatever it is they do.
“Come on, Remy, let’s get back to our safe zone. Away from all these crazies.” Wire says, smirking back at the Tombs family standing around Nigel’s body, pointing at things.
“Hurry Rem, before he gets to his favorite part.” Wire roughly whispers in my ear, gently pushing me toward the door. Before I can ask him what he means, I hear Pops yell out, “Oh wait, I love this part!”
The door swings shut on Pops, warbling out the high notes of Sisco’s Thong Song.
Chapter Nine
St_Margarita: Have you ever wondered about whether or not we should ever meet up?
Beretta_Penn: Maybe. Why?
St_Margarita: Dunno. I guess I sometimes wonder what it would be like to know the real you.
Beretta_Penn: You know the real me. Just like I know the real you.
Wire
A bang down the hall jolts me awake, my neck pulling from the angle I must have dozed off on. Fuck! Blinking through the fog, I lean forward to see if my searches have thrown up anything useful. Nigel may have been a thief, but that doesn’t mean his sister and niece need to be put in Hammer’s cross hairs. Between him and the guy that’s been seen hanging around our tow yard, it seems all I’m doing is staring at screens waiting for an answer and not getting any. That’s not even factoring in that me, Chewyand Remy are all searching for Hammer and still haven’t pinned him down. I’ve never felt this useless ever.
I scrub my hands down my face before looking at my screen. Seeing nothing of any use causes a growl to rip through my throat. Fuck this. I can feel the frustration rising and the only person who can talk me down is Retta. For 15 years she’s been my other half. The person I turn to when I need an ear to listen, or a shoulder to cry on. Recently, though, someone else has been creeping her way into that space. Remy.