Lansing hadn’t approved what she was watching. What kind of men were these guys? How could they brutally torture another human being with such casual indifference? Was it worth her job, a lifetime’s worth of achievement, to put a stop to this? How could she live with herself knowing she could’ve ended this and didn’t? She looked down in shock and disgust as they started again on the next knuckle up.
“How does it feel, you piece of shit?” Nathan hissed. “Did you enjoy cutting James Ortega’s fingers off as much as I’m enjoying this? Well, did you?”
In truth, he wasn’t angry and in truth, he didn’t enjoy it, but he wanted Ernie to think he did. He actually found it repulsive, but he needed Ernie to believe otherwise. He hadn’t asked Ernie any questions, nor did he intend to. It was all part of the mind game he was playing.
Nathan pushed the knife.
Bridgestone shrieked in agony. Blood flew from his mouth where he’d bitten his tongue. The tortured man whipped his head back and forth, tearing his cheeks on the log.
Nathan removed the knife after going halfway through the second knuckle and started on the final knuckle. Within two minutes, Bridgestone had been reduced to a sobbing wretch. He was crying like a child and begging for Nathan to stop. He promised to tell Nathan anything he wanted if he’d stop cutting his fingers.
Nathan looked up at Harv. “What do you think?”
“I think he’s full of shit. We’ve got twenty-five knuckles to go. Let’s see how he feels in say…. twenty minutes or so.”
Nathan reached down and grabbed Ernie’s hand again.
“Stop!” Ernie screamed. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, man.”
“What makes you think we want information?” Nathan asked. “This isn’t about information, it’s about payback for James Ortega.”
“The Ortegas fucked me in Pensacola,” Bridgestone wailed. “It wasn’t my fault. I did my time. I was willing to let it go but they fucked me again. Ortega set us up. His grandson sold us the Semtex.”
“Is that why you burned him alive?”
“It was an accident, we didn’t mean to, I swear.”
“Save it for someone who gives a rat’s ass.”
“I’ll tell you where Leonard is, just don’t cut my fingers anymore. He took off for Montana around six o’clock tonight. I’m supposed to meet him up there tomorrow night.”
“We already know where he is, he’s being arrested right now. Do you think we’re stupid?” Nathan looked up at Grangeland, “He thinks we’re stupid.” Nathan grabbed his hand and forced it against the driftwood.
“Wait! There’s money. Over three million in cash.”
“I’m worth twenty times that. I don’t need your blood money.”
“It’s cash, man! Buried in ammo cans near the Canadian border.”
Nathan looked at Harv again. “What do you think, do you believe him?”
“Hell no.”
“I don’t either.” Nathan jammed the knife into the first knuckle of finger number two. Ernie screamed again, rawer this time. His voice was failing.
Grangeland turned away and threw up. Falling to her knees, she heaved in violent spasms.
Nathan grabbed Ernie’s hair and yanked his head back. “Where’s the rest of the Semtex?”
“My truck. Leonard has the rest.”
“How much is
“Ten bricks. That’s it, man. I swear.”
“Does he have blasting caps?”
“Yes.”
Nathan looked up. “Grangeland, let your SWAT team know Leonard’s got ten bricks of Semtex before they take him down.”
She didn’t respond.
“Grangeland!”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.” She pulled her cell phone.
This is it, Nathan thought. She’s either with the program or she’s going to blow it. He couldn’t risk it. “Give me the phone.”
“What?”
“Give me the phone.”
She wiped her mouth and stepped forward. When she was close enough to see his face clearly, he winked at her.
She nodded an understanding. “They’re under my command, I’ll make the call.”
Nathan knew she’d make a fake call and hoped it would sound convincing.
“It’s Grangeland.” She paused. “Yeah, we got him and he’s talking. He said Leonard’s got ten bricks of Semtex and blasting caps.” She paused again. “Where? Okay, don’t approach him until SWAT arrives. Understood? I say again, do not approach him…. All right, good work, I’ll call you in ten minutes.”
Perfect. Nathan couldn’t have played it better himself. Ernie had soaked up every word. Now that he believed his brother was being captured, he’d have no reason to hold back.
Nathan pulled Ernie’s head back again. “Where’s the money?”
“It’s buried near an abandoned ranch in Montana near the Canadian border.”
“Montana’s a big state, that doesn’t tell me squat.” He reached for Ernie’s hand.
“Wait! I got GPS coordinates.”
“Well?” Nathan asked.
Ernie rattled off the numbers. Grangeland pulled a penlight, secured it in her mouth, and wrote the coordinates down on a small pad of paper.
“If you’re lying, we’ll upgrade to a butter knife and use a plumber’s torch to cauterize the stumps. I’ve got fifty-seven more minutes with you, and trust me, I’ll savor every last second.”
“I’m not lying, I swear.”
Nathan got off of Ernie’s legs and stood up. “Harv, keep him company for a minute.”
“No problem.”
“Grangeland, let’s take another walk.” He led her across the sand, working his way through the islands of underbrush. After a hundred feet he stopped and kept his voice low. “We don’t have much time, we need to get going. Like I told Lansing, we have to keep Ernie’s capture under wraps. It’s vital it doesn’t leak. If Leonard believes Ernie escaped, he’ll head for the cash, I’m sure of it. Maybe even wait for him there, for a time.”
She pointed to the orange glow from Pete’s Truck Palace. “There’s no way to keep that under wraps. It’s probably on the news already.”
“Here’s what we’ll do. We leak to the press that all we got from the scene was Ernie’s cell phone and his sniper rifle, that Ernie’s still at large, and that your people are analyzing the call logs.”
“Leonard will think Ernie’s phone has been compromised, so he’ll ditch his. They’ll have no way to communicate.”
“That’s right.”
“What’s next?”
“I’m going to take custody of Ernie until we have his brother.”
“What? That wasn’t part of the deal with Lansing. I-”
“Think about it, Grangeland. You, me, Harv, and Director Lansing are the only people on the planet who know Ernie’s in custody. He’s number one on your most-wanted list. How long could something like that stay under wraps? People talk, the walls have ears. We can’t risk it. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get the credit for the collar.”
“I’m not worried about getting credit, I’m worried about going to prison.”
“Director Lansing put you under my command so I’m giving you a direct order. Ernie stays with us until we’ve got Leonard.”
She nodded tightly.
“We need to get up to those coordinates. Just the four of us. We’ll take my helicopter.”
