Page 12 of Atonement

She has no fucking idea.

With my room strategically located next to her suite, I stride the few steps down the corridor filled with a rage I haven’t felt in years and try to calm my breathing. Obsessed, and entirely way too possessed with the need to be in control of this situation, and her sleazy peep show, I try to restrain myself before I barge through the door and do something I know I’ll never actually regret, but may have to answer for later.

Incoherent mumbles are all I can make out as I pull my Sig from its holster, my right leg instinctively raises, and without thinking, I kick in the damn door between us. Their forms are hard to make out in the darkness as my eyes take some time to adjust after coming from the light, but thanks to our little buddy Timmy, I catch his fearful jump as he catapults Magnolia off his lap and hurries to a corner in the far left of the room. Taking aim, I momentarily catch Mag’s disapproval in the sway of her body as she puts her hands on her hips and no doubt rolls her eyes with displeasure.

Entering the space in two strides, I kick the door behind me closed, and tell myself to fucking breathe. The only guy getting his dick rubbed tonight is me, and it’s time both Timmy and Magnolia understand that.

“What are you going to do now, Ace?” she huffs as she squares her shoulders and turns around to lock eyes with our target. “If you shoot him, he won’t give us what we need.”

“Looks like he got more than he needed while you were practically riding his dick, Sweetheart.” I cock the Sig and watch as the front of Timmy’s slacks grow wet. Fucking great! But I guess I can’t expect a guy named Timmy to not piss himself when he’s facing a loaded gun, can I?

Magnolia never takes her eyes off our man and slowly lets out a few tisks of disproval as I take a couple of steps closer to her side. “What are we going to do with him now,” she sighs, as her gaze falls, and she takes in his pathetic disgrace.

I can’t deny it, I kind of feel bad for the kid. Shaking uncontrollably, eyes bugging out of his head, twitching around like a meth addict, he’s giving himself whiplash from glancing back and forth between us in fear, and I can’t blame him. If I were a weaker man, I’d probably piss myself too. Good thing I’ve never been anything close to weak, a fact I make known as I raise the gun and aim it straight at the center of his skull. The way he starts convulsing with panic thrills me, and I swear he’s one second away from a heart attack, that, let’s face it, he’d be better off facing than the two unforgiving souls in front of him.

“Well,” I hiss, keeping my aim straight at the fucker’s head. “I’d say his limp dick needs no resuscitation from you, Sweetheart.”

“For fuck’s sake, Ace...”

Bang!

Both little Timmy and Mags jolt as I pull the trigger and a small piece of plaster falls from the ceiling into the middle of the room.

“What the hell was that about?” she asks as I look back at Timmy. His eyes dart from side to side in an obvious attempt to plan a break away now that he fully understands just how much his life is in our fucked-up hands.

I cock my Sig again and take a step towards our man. I’ll play fair for a moment, a nice attempt to let him know he’s an idiot if his tiny little brain, which no doubt matches the size of his dick, thinks he has a chance at surviving any kind of escape.

“You have a nasty habit of repeating facts you shouldn’t in front of company, Sweetheart,” I remind Magnolia, addressing the way she let my name just slip from her lips. “I’ve warned you before. Don’t push me again.”

“Push you,” she exclaims, making me sigh loudly in annoyance. “Push you, Dec...”

Bang!

“What the fuck!” Timmy screams as a bullet pierces his left leg. His yells echo off the wall seconds later and show no signs of stopping as Magnolia rolls her eyes in annoyance.

“Care to explain now?” she hisses as I push past her and grab little Timmy by his hair.

“Don’t hurt me! Please, I’ll tell you anything you want. I swear it,” he cries, as spit flies from his mouth and if it’s possible, I swear the NASA dweeb pisses himself a little more in his pants. Flinging him up against the back wall, my palm closes tightly around his neck as I squeeze his throat and finally succeed in stopping his whimpers.

“We don’t want to hurt you, Tim,” I seethe.

I release his throat slightly so he can take a breath and wait for him to respond. I can feel the heat of Magnolia at my back and her close presence steals my train of thought momentarily as I fight with myself to focus, to not get lost in her. Not here. Not now. Not when we need this little prick to agree to help us if we’re going to accomplish this job.

“Then, wh...wha...what do you want?” he stammers.

“We need you to do us a favor,” Magnolia answers for me in a hushed tone.

His eyes grow wide. “A favor,” he cries as if he’s already made his decision, and it’s undoubtedly no. I tighten my grip on his throat and push the tip of my gun against his wounded leg, grinding and pushing in with only a little force. It does the trick as fresh tears form in Timmy’s eyes and I swear he believes he’s about to take his last breath.

“Yes, Timothy,” Magnolia purrs in her sex-kitten voice that always seems to do the trick. “A favor.”

“We need you to locate some information stored on SCIFs isolated networks,” I explain. “We’d do it ourselves, but as I’m sure you know, these networks are air-gapped. Impenetrable. Only accessible from the inside.”

I release my grip on his neck slightly so he can respond, only to have my annoyance grow as he gasps for air and leaves us hanging several aggravating seconds too long.

“I...I...can’t,” he insists. “I’m not authorized at SCIF.”

A tight squeeze of my fist cuts off his air supply once again before he can say another word. I intend to end him, he’s useless to us now, but Magnolia stops me as she places a hand on my shoulder and I find myself temporarily powerless under her touch. Releasing my hold, I allow him air but keep him held hostage against the wall so Magnolia can attempt to show me just why he’s not disposable to us now.

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