The Rules of Survival (Mercer #1)

RoS Chapter Twenty Four

"It's not going to be pretty," he confirmed, that eerie calm having fallen over him. It was almost like he was a whole other person. "If you don't want to be here then you're free to wait outside. What's it going to be?"

It was a matter of picking the lesser of two evils. Option one, stay in a room that was about to become an interrogation chamber. Option two, go outside and sit in the car by myself.

"I'm fine staying here," I croaked, the worst lie I'd ever told.

There was a slight pause where he stared at me, then gave a brisk nod. "Sal."

I should have gone to the car, I thought as Sal stepped up to Mr. Beanie, the overhead lights casting harsh shadows against his face.

"Name," Sal said to the guy, and while he waited for an answer he shed his coat and sweater, leaving him in a navy t-shirt.

"Fuck you!" Mr. Beanie spat around a mouthful of blood. His broken nose had stopped gushing, and the red stuff covering the bottom of his face was starting to dry.

The smack of flesh on flesh was sickening. Mr. Beanie's head snapped back and rolled along his shoulders before he recovered with a groan.

"Name," Sal repeated in the same emotionless tone.

"Kiss my ass, cabron," was the offered response, fresh blood dribbling down his chin.

It took Sal three more warm up hits to get the ball rolling. Mr. Beanie's name was Elias Ricardo. The guy duct taped to the chair next to him was Bruno Abano. He actually offered that tidbit up as a freebie when Sal looked like he might hit him again.

I watched with wide eyes and chattering teeth as Justice stepped forward. "Now that the introductions are over, we can get down to the hard questions."

"I don't know shit," Elias said through a fat lip.

"I haven't asked you anything yet," Justice said, removing his shin length coat. He pushed the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. "But for every unsatisfying answer you give me, I'm going to break one of your bones. The first question is, how do you know that girl's name, and why are you so interested in her?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin when Justice pointed at me. Gin's hand tightened around my elbow, as if trying to reassure me. It didn'tt help.

"Like I said, I don't know shit!" When Justice smirked like he enjoyed hearing Elias's answer, the bound man's eyes grew wide with the first signs of fear. Justice flicked his hand in Henry's direction, and Henry came forward with a third chair, placing it in front of Elias.

Beside Elias, Bruno was shaking his head fiercely, moaning for all he was worth. I got the feeling he would have had a lot to offer if his mouth hadn't been taped shut. Justice ignored him, hooking one of his hands under Elias's left leg and placing his foot on the seat of the chair.

Elias figured out what was happening before I did. He screamed in denial, thrashing for all he was worth when Sal lent a hand by holding his foot in place. Without so much as a word of warning, Justice slammed his booted foot down right on top of Elias's knee. The crack was so deafening it echoed, and managed to penetrate the shield of my hands covering my ears.

Unable to take it anymore, I turned sideways and threw up on the floor. When I finally stopped retching, I could see the way Elias's leg bent unnaturally. He was screaming hysterically and was far too incoherent to understand if he'd decided cooperation was in his best interests. Justice came to the same conclusion. Not bothering to try and get any information out of him, he turned on Bruno. The duct tape came off and despite Bruno having been so animated two minutes ago, he was now dead silent.