Page 68 of The Devil's Ransom

I pulled up a chair opposite them, close enough for our knees to touch, and Knuckles circled behind their backs, causing them to track him. All designed to make them feel afraid and compliant. I leaned forward and tapped Terrace Guy on the forehead with the barrel of my pistol, saying, “Don’t worry about him. Look at me. I’m the one asking the questions. You’ll know what he’s doing when you answer wrong. You were shot in Zagreb. Now, that wasn’t by our hand, but we were there.”

His face went slack in shock, but he tried anyway: “I don’t know anything about that!”

Knuckles smacked the back of his head, not hard, but enough to show him that he no longer held his own freedom.

I said, “That is a lie. You know it, and I know it. You lie again, there will be no love tap. Now, let’s start with names.”

The other man blurted out, “I’m Rodavan. I don’t do anything but maintain the computers and survey for targets. He’s the skill. He’s who you want.”

I smiled and said, “That’s a good start.” I turned to Terrace Guy and said, “You?”

He took a breath and let it out, then said, “Pushka. Are you from Russia?”

I said, “No, but we’ll get into that in due time. First, there was a man in that bar with you. Where is he?”

Pushka’s face grew cagy, and Knuckles smacked Rodavan in the back of the head. Rodavan blurted out, “Branko’s in a safehouse about thirty minutes north of here, in the mountains.”

“Good. Rodavan, you now know how this is going to go. Pushka lies, and you get smacked.”

Rodavan looked at Pushka in fear, saying, “Just tell them what they want to know.”

Pushka thought a minute, then slowly nodded, saying, “Who are you? What do you want?”

“First, I want you to give us the key for the ransomware you injected in our systems. You do that, and then we can talk about what happens to you after.”

Pushka gave a stunned appearance, as if it was the last thing he expected. Knuckles rabbit-punched Rodavan in the kidney, causing him to fall out of his chair. He stood over his body with a pistol raised and Rodavan screamed.

I held up my hand, ostensibly telling him not to pull the trigger, but it was just an act. This whole thing was an act, and it worked.

Rodavan sat up and said, “It’s Pushka’s fault. We’re Dark Star. We did it. Please don’t kill me. Hurt him. He’s the liar. All I do is investigate the corporations for attack.”

I waved to Knuckles and he pulled him back into his seat. I said, “How did you find Blaisdell Consulting? Where did that come from?”

He rolled his eyes, looking for Knuckles, and I slammed my hand on a table, causing both of them to jump. I snarled, “Where?”

He blurted out, “Just research, man. Just research. I find the fish and Pushka is the one who hooks them.”

I looked at Veep and said, “The computer?”

“It appears to be working.”

“Still hooked to the Wi-Fi?”

“Yep.”

I turned to Pushka and said, “I want that ransomware key, andI want it right now. You are going to send it over the channel you asked us to use for the ransom. I have a friend on the other end who can make it happen.”

He said, “I’m not authorized to do that. I’m not the payment guy. You’ll have to wait on Branko to do this.”

I leaned into him and pulled out a knife, flicking the blade open. “You fucking think I’m going to pay for this?” I turned to Knuckles and said, “Hold him in place.” To Brett and Jennifer I said, “Hold his legs and remove his shoes.”

He struggled, but in short order his nasty feet were open to the air. I said, “I’m assuming you’ll have to use all five fingers to type, so I’ll be taking off a toe for every second you wait.”

I saw the sweat break out on his brow, and I placed the edge of the blade next to his big toe, saying, “No sense starting with the little one.”

“Okay! Okay! Give me the computer.”

I waved at Knuckles and Brett. They jerked his chair behind the computer while I called Creed. He answered, I put him on the line with Pushka, and they began typing together.

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