Page 263 of G.O.D.S Omnibus

I shake my head. “Don’t even bother taking her to the holding cells—take her to the morgue. Saves messing up two rooms. Strap her down and let her recoup for a bit.” Wetness catches my attention mid tirade. “Fuck, I just leaked through my damn shirt. I will deal with her after I eat. You can’t carve up a body unless you have a full stomach... right?” I say, looking around and making eye contact with Creed.

“That’s right, Tenshi,” he says with a half-smile, one that doesn’t indicate happiness—it’s forced at best.

Turning my back on her, I hurry back up the stairs and into the closet, my breathing erratic. Leaning against the wall, I try to slow my racing breaths. It doesn’t work, and I clutch at my chest as I slide down the wall.

A knock has me glancing over at the door. Davis stands in the doorway, but at the sight of me his eyes go wide, and he moves into the closet, kneeling in front of me.

“Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth,” he says, taking my hands in his. “That’s it. Try to slow it down a little.”

He copies the actions along with me until I feel like I have control of it again. “Thank you,” I whisper.

“I wanted to check and see if you would be okay to question Elizabeth with me. A woman like that will not be easily swayed.”

I nod. “I have to try. She won’t talk to any of you guys because you have nothing to offer her. I will try, for a split second she responded when I called them her grandchildren, but if I can’t get through to her, maybe we get Mr Myers to try. He has money and status, and she responds well to that.”

Davis nods and stands, holding out his hand to pull me up from the ground. “Let’s feed you and deal with her. Marlow and Jimmie had a hit in the police database on one of the sketches, so they are following up that lead.”

“What about Paul, the other security guard? Has anyone heard from him?”

“Not yet. We don’t know if he has gone rogue, but I doubt it since we have his family. To be safe, we have sent an underground team to extract and move them. Maybe also to do a little role-play and get some convincing photos,” he says with a smirk.

We go back downstairs to the kitchen, where Petra has snacks set up. Laughn is already sitting at the table and pulls me down onto his lap as I pass him.

“Where is Chester?” I ask him.

“Creed has taken him to work out some of his aggression before he is around people. He isn’t in the right frame of mind at the moment.”

Petra gives me a small smile as she places a smoothie down in front of me. “This is good for your supply, an old trick my grandmother taught me. Drink that, then you can go get some answers from that dreadful woman.”

I can only nod at her. I’m scared of the ire that might come out of my mouth, and even more so that I might direct it at the wrong person. My hands shake as I pick up the mason jar and take a sip. I have no idea what’s in it, possibly berries with the purple colour. That, or they just disguise all the other things she has dumped in here. Either way, I will need my strength for what I’m about to do.

Davis pulls a stool into the corner of the room, out of Elizabeth’s line of sight. She is strapped down to the table, a new strip of tape covering her mouth, and I get mild satisfaction from ripping it clean off her face. She looks old now that her makeup has faded, and she isn’t so put together.

“Are you ready to tell me where my babies are?”

She tries to thrash around, but she realises it’s no use. “Fuck you! You gold digger!”

I have my back to her, and I laugh. “It takes one to know one, right?” I throw over my shoulder, but she doesn’t realise howwrong she is. How could I be a gold digger when I was literally created to run this company?

I pull out a shiny scalpel and turn back around to face her, watching with sick satisfaction as panic washes over her face. “I won’t tell you anything,” she sneers.

“That’s what I can’t figure out. We could pay you double what he has, and you know that, so it’s not money. He has something on you, something you would risk your relationship with your sons and your grandchildren for. So, I propose a deal. You tell me something I want to know, and in exchange, I won’t use this. I can bet you’re well acquainted with plastic surgery, but by the time I’m done with you, I’m not sure even that could fix you.”

Turning the scalpel upside down, I run it down the side of her face. “Hmmm, I wonder where I will start. What will you be without your beauty?”

“Don’t you dare, you savage bitch! I’ll ruin you,” she seethes.

“The issue with that is, I have nothing left to lose. Tell me what you know!” I yell.

Losing my cool, I stab the little blade into her leg. I didn’t nick anything major, and she can always have it fixed. Her scream radiates through the air, the screech of her voice bouncing off the walls of the morgue.

Once she gathers herself, she laughs. “You really think he would have told me anything?”

I run the scalpel lightly up her leg; it’s not enough to cut her deep, but it’s so sharp it scrapes the skin enough to leave a mark that has blood rising to the surface.

“I know he took you with him when he left Sunset Haven. So, he had to take you somewhere, or surely you overheard some of his plans.”

“I know nothing,” she snaps, shaking her head. “He dumped me back at my car.”

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