Page 93 of We Three Kings
Panic bursts on his face, cracking me up. Comical that he thinks my response means I might actually accept his offer.
His head bobs as much as possible with him strapped to the cross Melchior placed strategically for Craig’s viewing pleasure.
“Yeah. Yeah, I meant us. Letusgo and you can have it.”
Melchior pauses to laugh. He always appreciates delivering an unexpected twist too. I drop to my haunches in front of our lowly visitor. “While I appreciate your willingness to negotiate, I have a little surprise for you. I had the shack you called a house burned to the ground and then sold the land.”
I pat his damp cheek. “You didn’t have much and now you have nothing. But since you’re never getting out of here, it really doesn’t matter.”
Poor baby bursts into tears over the realization of his future. With his fate sealed by hurting Seraphina, all that’s left is ensuring he suffers until his last breath.
Humming her favorite Christmas song, I rise, motion for M to continue, and make my way to the next cell. I’ve taken a bit of a different tact with the detective. He’s in a comfortable room with the only suggestion of his imprisonment being handcuffed to a chair just like my girl.
Unfortunately for him, he won’t be leaving as quickly and easily as Seraphina left his captivity. Instead, his incarceration will be long and torturous, ending with his departure in a body bag.
As soon as I open the door, he’s belligerent, yanking on the metal ring attaching his wrists to the armrests and attempting to stand. Dumbass.
“Do you know what the penalty is for kidnapping a police officer?”
“No, Gary, I don’t. And, to be perfectly honest, I really don’t care either.” I grab the other chair and plop down so we can have a conversation, man to moron. “Since at the end of all this, the crime will be murder of a police officer.”
His entire body jolts. Look at me shocking everyone this evening.
He recovers quickly, shaking his head and attempting to look tough with a furrowed brow. “You’ll never get away with it. Every member of the department is searching for me as we speak. They’ll find me and you’ll pay—”
“Nope.” I flip up my palm. “They know I’ve got you, and they aren’t going to do jack shit. It was either you or the Chief. Not a big surprise he gave you up.”
All his bravado sinks away like the coward he is, preying on fragile, innocent women. I lean closer, letting him in on the other secret. “Actually, it was always going to be you regardless of what he said. He would’ve just been extra practice for my brother.”
Panic sets in, and he yanks against the cuffs again. “You can’t do this.”
Lame. Next he’ll try to bribe me, then he’ll start begging. Same old, same old.
Welp, now I’m bored. I push out of my seat and leave him with one last bit of information for him to mull over why he waits. “I’ll give you some credit. You were on the right path but wrong person. Seraphina didn’t kidnap Jacobs or the Oxfords.”
He stills and meets my gaze. “It was you.”
“Yep. They hurt her, so we hurt them.” I point in the direction of their rooms. “They’re your neighbors.”
“But I didn’t hurt her. All I did was ask her some questions.”
Fury ignites inside of me, and I shove my chair out of the way, storming over to him. “You scared her. You touched her. You used her to make yourself look good. But all that time you knew she was innocent, didn’t you?”
His lips remain pinched together, defying me. I will make him answer.
I grab him by the throat and yank him up ensuring his skin is sliced by the metal circling his arms. “You tried to pin this on Seraphina.”
I squeeze his neck, relishing his eyes bulging and skin firing red. Watching someone suffocate from your own hand really is fascinating. Once spittle dribbles out, I drop him.
As entertaining as that was, now it’s annoying to have to wait for his response while he sucks in oxygen and coughs all over the place. Gross.
Finally, his chest stops heaving and his breathing returns to normal. He clears his throat and shakes his head.
“I knew it wasn’t her. I just thought she would lead me to the real perp.”
The raspy tone of his voice must mean I damaged his vocal cords. That’s too bad. I enjoy hearing the screaming when M works with them. Oh well. “I guess it worked because here I am. Good job, Gary.”
The irony is not lost on him.