The furniture store was two buildings away and only took a couple minutes to reach it, even at my strolling pace. A driveway crossed in back of all the stores, wide enough to allow delivery vehicles and trucks through to do their business. There was a thin scattering of streetlights that semi-illuminated the backs of the businesses, but with the ski mask, dark sweater and pants I had on it was a minimal risk.
Once at the back door I rummaged in my fanny pack until I found the right sensor, and plugged it in the keyhole. No red lights and sirens, so the alarm system really was off. “System off,” I whispered. Have to keep Nate in the loop, so he didn’t get antsy. “Entering now.”
Since there were two locks to pick, it took a little over three minutes before I opened the door. A thirty second pause-no noise-and I slithered through the now-opened door. A hissing sound accompanied by moisture around my mouth and eyes had me gasping for breath, and–blankness flooded through my mind.
* * *
“He’s coming out of it now,” a disembodied voice said.
I struggled to raise eyelids that weighed a ton each. A moist cloth to my face helped the process of finally opening them. A bright light startled me the rest of the way awake, making me blink rapidly. “What…”
The light winked out and was replaced by a face just inches from mine, making me flinch away. “Yes, I think he’ll be all right. His pupils seem to be responding normally now.” He stood up. “Almost lost you, man.” A jovial voice. Too jovial, like he was forcing it. “You shouldn’t have inhaled that sleepy-time spray so deeply.”
A deeper voice filled the room. “He gonna be alert enough for what’s coming?”
“Yeah, I think so. The stuff we squirted him with doesn’t dull the senses any.”
“You can beat it now, Doc. Just make sure you got more of that wake-up juice ready, okay?” A large figure stepped into my line of sight. I tried to stand, and suddenly realized I was bound to a chair. Felt like tape. My legs were solidly attached to the legs of the chair, and arms fastened behind me. I gave an experimental jerk. Pretty solid chair, too. The fact I was naked belatedly dawned on me. Served me right for not paying closer attention when I broke in.
A hand lifted my chin. “You hear me, Baker?”
I shook his hand away, and managed a mumbled “Yeah. What’s…”
The big guy looked to the side. “Okay, boss. He’s ready for you.”
A slim man in his late forties moved into my line of vision, a scowl on his face. His slicked down brown hair glistened in the overhead light. That face–seen it somewhere before. “Nice to finally meet you, Mister Baker.” He glanced at the other one. “Okay, Lance, you can beat it.”
My head drooped. Damn. It’d been a trap from the beginning. And I’d fallen for it, like a rookie. I coughed, clearing my throat. “You must be Willie.”
He gave a hint of a smile and rolled up his sleeves. “Right the first time. Sorry to hear about Marianne’s untimely death.” He strapped on an apron. “She and I were the best in the business, back when I first started working for her. Learned quite a lot about how to torture people from the bitch.” He laid several tools on a small table in front of me. “If she hadn’t been in such a lather to kill me for screwing up like I did, I’d still be one of her crew. Wanted to thank you for helping catch her. Probably saved my life.”
He picked up each implement, giving a close examination to each. A one pound sledge, a couple knives with three-inch blades, and a pair of long handled pliers. “Now, though, I need some information. You give it to me, and I promise to end it quickly.”
I stared in his eyes and shook my head, feeling the hate build.
He nodded. “Good. I was hoping you’d provide me some entertainment.” Picking up the pliers, he tapped my chest. “Y’know what’s the most sensitive place on a man’s torso?” The pliers gripped my left nipple and squeezed, causing me to hunch forward, gasping with pain.
Willie lifted my chin with the pliers. “Oh, my. That smarted, didn’t it?” A bigger smile spread across his face. “I’ve got to admit, I do enjoy making people hurt.” His scowl returned. “Especially you. One last time before I really start. Where’s the money?”
I looked up, feigning surprise. “Money? Is that what this is about?”
His scowl returned. “That just earned you a toe.” He picked up the small sledge hammer, holding it in front of my face. “Notice how one side has been rounded into a cone shape, with about a square inch surface on the striking face? Really nice for doing things like this.” He brought the hammer down on the top of my foot. I grunted in anguish, feet twitching as they tried to pull free.
A second rise and fall of the hammer—I screamed in agony when it impacted the smallest toe on my right foot. I slumped forward, world spinning around me.
He chuckled. “That hurt, huh? How about a repeat?”
The sudden shot of agony from my already damaged toe sent me shrieking into unconsciousness.
A waterfall of freezing cold water brought me coughing and sputtering back to the world. Needed to come up with some kind of plan…A slap across the face scattered my thoughts.
Willie’s scowling face hovered over me. “You about ready to talk, or you want some more?”
When he straightened, an afterimage of his face remained—wait, that wasn’t his face. I blinked, and the image of an expressionless face surrounded with dark hair disappeared. I looked at Willie, questions forming on my tongue.
Another slap brought me the rest of the way awake. “How about a thumb this time? Maybe that’ll loosen your tongue.” He disappeared, and the thumb on my right
