Page 26 of Atonement

11

Wednesday

11:25 p.m.

“Fuck man,I swear on all things holy I have no clue what you're talking about!” Timmy screams as I pull the knife from my waist and take a step closer in the darkness. I glance to my right and take in my wife’s pleading eyes as she struggles to break free from her restraints.

“Declan, please...”

Slap!

Her head rolls back to the left as my fist collides with her cheek. The chair she’s sitting on rocks backward and Timmy’s screams only escalate to a piercing high as I take a step forward and grab Magnolia’s chin in my hand. Her eyes lock with my own, pissed, scared, and confused. Unfortunately for both of them, I can see we have a long way to go in this interrogation before any of us gets anywhere near the truth.

“Shit, man, you just hit your wife,” Timmy screeches. “What kind of a fucked-up monster does that?” He attempts to scoot back in the chair I tied him to an hour ago and only manages to almost tumble to the side in the process. I rub my thumb down the side of my wife’s now red face before staring in her eyes and trying to tell her without words exactly how I feel.

Pain is temporary. What we need to uncover here promises to bring more suffering before their time is inevitably up. I dragged Magnolia’s ass out of bed and wrestled her into her restraints after my call with Kira. Tying her partially naked form up with the intent to finally understand what they’re both hiding, I groan as I look down and see her tits pressed tight against the rope, straining out of her lacy nightgown.

None of us will be going anywhere until I am sure each and every truth that’s hiding is out in the open.

“There’s no pleasure without a little pain, Timmy,” I hiss, looking down my wife’s frame and knowing she’s not wearing any panties under the lacy fabric that’s riding up her thighs. “No enjoyment without a few agonizing moments of suffering. All before it finally becomes brutally clear.”

My hand falls from her cheek and I caress down her neck, enjoying the fresh fire brewing in her eyes as I tighten my grip around her throat. Her breathing comes in sharp spurts as I fan the flames, my fingers pulling down slowly on the top of her lace nightgown.

Interesting.

“I told you, I didn’t call anyone,” Timmy yells. “I didn’t tell anyone...anything! I swear. I don’t even have my phone. You’ve had me locked up in that room for almost two days now, who could I have called...”

“You were alone for almost an hour when you retrieved the satellite feeds,” I insist with fresh vengeance for the truth as my wife’s eyes stay cold and detached. My head turns as my gaze locks with his terrified one. “You took your sweet time, Timmy,” I insist, as I rise back up from Magnolia’s side and take a step in his direction. “Slowly downloading what we needed to disc. You signaled three times for help, and then, miraculously, acquired what you needed only moments before we could get to you.”

“I...I... didn’t. I...”

“For fuck sakes, Tim,” I groan in annoyance as I take another step in his pathetic direction. “I’m getting really damn tired of that stutter.”

In one quick flick of my wrist, I pull him towards me and angle my knife at his throat. The kid bounces around in his seat, like a damn animated grasshopper, and I almost lose all control and have to force myself not to cut him before I get answers.

His eyes meet Magnolia’s behind me, and just the thought of them in cahoots sends a painful burn rushing straight to my damned heart. I look behind me quickly to see the way her eyes look in their exchange, but she gives nothing away. Only stares back at me blankly. Ready to meet any fate necessary.

With my eyes trained on Magnolias’, I push the blade into little Timmy’s neck and watch to see if she cares. To see if she’s playing me. Hell, maybe even playing him. But she sits frozen. Unaffected. So, I push my blade into his skin a little bit more, listen as he screams out and a small amount of blood trickles onto my wrist.

“Ok, ok!” he finally yells, making both Magnolia and my eyes flash to his. “What if, I could find out who for you?”

My mind struggles to keep up with his quick change of heart as my brow furrows and I wait for him to continue.

“What if, I could find out what happened?”

“I don’t care about what happened, Timmy,” I seethe, as I lean in closer and pull the blade slowly across the base of his neck, just enough to barely break through his skin. He tries to disguise his cries as his bottom lip quivers, but they eventually blubber over, spurting out of his mouth like a pitiful fountain. “I care who did it! I want to know where they live. When they sleep. When they’re taking a shit!”

His eyes close, and thicker, aggravating, whimpers escape his lips. His chair starts rocking again, this time quicker than before. Rising quickly, I stomp my boot in between his legs, barely missing his dick, in order to stop the bouncing. His shrill yell assaults my ears as he looks down, scared for a manhood he doesn’t fucking possess, and it only pisses me off more.

We’re far from getting answers here and I only have so much patience. Especially when there’s a high price on the line and time is running out before I lose everything I’ve been working towards for the last seven years.

“I don’t remember a name,” Timmy shakes his head, but then closes his eyes and attempts to concentrate.

Try harder, Tim. Your life depends on it.

“But,” he shrieks, as his eyes open and he once again starts to stutter. “I...I remember... I remember them talking about Russia.”

Instinctively I look back at Magnolia as her eyes widen, a small break in the otherwise always stone exterior. A trick of her trade that’s never failed her on the job, until now. But hearing you might be close to the vengeance you seek after all these years will do that to you. I hold Magnolia’s eyes for a moment and watch as her breathing increases. A sweat breaks out across her flawless skin and she grows pale. Tears prick the backs of her eyes and I grind my teeth in bitterness because I can tell both of us are thinking the same damn thing.

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