Page 40 of Walking the Bird

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“I'll ask you one more time, Ziere. Who gave you the fucking hoodie?” Slate tipped his head toward the ceiling, blowing out a frustrated breath. They’d been questioning Ziere for over two hours and the bastard refused to say anything.

“All right, motherfucker, you’ve had your chance. Gentleman, show him how we open a closed mouth.”

Matt slid off his seat, snatching a long-handled pair of pliers off a table as he made his way across the room. Reaching down, Matt clamped Ziere’s nose with his fingers, ready to grip onto one of his teeth when he opened his mouth to breathe.

“You have until you run out of breath to tell us what we want to know. After that, I’m plucking out every damn one of your fucking teeth and feeding them to the fish.” Matt pointed to the slip where the water came into the room. He was no stranger to this kind of interrogation but suspected the fishing guide was.

Ryan ignored the chaos going on in the corner, instead focusing on the security footage he’d hacked into. He couldn't shake the feeling he was missing something as he’d waded through hours of footage, failing to find this hoodie guy in any frame.

Matt held Ziere’s nose tighter as the man tried to twist his head. “Answer the question and you can suck in as much air as you want.” Raising the hand holding the pliers, Matt watched as Ziere’s eyes flashed wide a second before his mouth flew open and Matt locked the pliers around a front tooth.

“Last chance, who gave you the hoodie?”

Melinda glancedover her shoulder as Cade pulled her closer to the dilapidated boathouse, her anxiety reaching astronomical levels as they’d crossed over the boundary several yards back.

“Stay behind me, and whatever you do, don't scream.”

Opening her mouth to question why she would have an inkling to scream, Cade pulled the door open, tugging her hand as they slipped inside before the words could fall from her lips.

Unable to see around Cade’s massive body, Melinda heard muffled voices, which piqued her curiosity. Tipping her head to the side, “What in the hell are you doing?” The words leaving her mouth as she attempted to push passed Cade.

Ryan’s eyesjerked from his screen to his brother attempting to corral the angry blonde beside him.

“What the fuck, Cade?” Standing to his full height, Ryan ran around the table, attempting to shield Matt and Ziere from Melinda’s shocked face. “Why is she here?” He’d warned his brother not to say anything about what they’d found.

“What are you doing to him?” Fighting against Cade’s attempt to push her back, Melinda pointed at Ziere. “You can't hurt an innocent man.”

Uncrossing his arms,Zach pushed away from his position against the wall, holding his hand up to halt Matt from pulling any teeth. Raising his free hand to his mouth, Zach let out an ear numbing whistle, causing everyone to fall still and silent,

“What the fuck is going on, Cade?” Having allowed Ryan’s brother to see a portion of what his team had going on was out of courtesy for the information he’d passed on. Zach was still on the fence as to whether or not he could trust him.

Unimpressed with Zach’s testosterone display, Melinda skirted around Cade, moving to take the pliers from Matt.

“Now hold on, darlin’.” Matt cautioned, his tone displaying every ounce of severity the moment held. “You got a better method for getting this fuck to talk, I’m all ears. Otherwise, I need you to have a seat over there.” Nodding his head toward the side of the room with various wooden crates they’d used for make-shift chairs.

“Did you try asking him?”

“For two hours.”

Gasping, Melinda spun on her heels, wide eyes landing on Alex.

“Eleni,” slamming her eyes closed as she shook her head at the informal use of her guests first name. “Mrs. Nakos, I mean, was waiting for you.”

Alex glanced at the face of his watch, “Motherfucker!” Turning to his left Alex pulled his arm back punching his fist through the crumbling wall. He hadn’t meant to stay more than a few minutes while his team interrogated who, he assumed, was Diablo, but as usual, he’d allowed his need to see things through take over.

“She’s leaving.”

Alex ignored the pain in his hand, turning his attention back to Melinda.

“She mentioned something about being stupid in trusting you, how she would always be second. I’ve stopped any taxis from leaving the resort, but if she goes to Mr. Silvers…” Melinda trailed off, the grand idea she had moments ago now haunting her.

“Who the fuck is Mr. Silvers?” Alex demanded, his mind flashing to a million scenarios involving his wife and some faceless man.

“My boss and owner of the resort.” Melinda admitted, confusion coloring her face as Derek made it a point of introducing himself to every guest. “You met him during check-in.”

Ryan dropped into his seat, fingers flying over the keyboard. “This Silvers got a first name?” He’d admit to being preoccupied with his wife and thoughts of the bikini she had on under her clothing that day, but he would have recalled having met the owner of such a resort.

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