Page 43 of Factory Thief

I need to find a way out of this so we can be together. I’ve never been more sure of anything I wanted to do in my life.

Unfortunately, desire does not breed the strength needed to break free of military-grade restraints. Nor does it lend creativity enough to escape the chair when it’s been bolted to the floor.

I’m still struggling furiously, even as my wrists begin to bleed, when the door swings open and Livingston walks in. I glare into his freckled, rat-nosed face. He’s not a very large guy, but his three-hundred-dollar hair cut and expertly manicured facial hair suggest he thinks he’s God’s gift to the opposite sex.

Young, too. A lot younger than I’d expected, though I think he might be dyeing the gray out of his jet black hair.

“Oh, were you trying to escape?” A gleeful smile stretches across his smarmy face. He points at the door. “I can come back later, if you want, give you more time? No? You sure you don’t want to carve a shiv out of your own ear wax or something? I know how you cons think.”

“Fuck you, Livingston.”

“Oh, don’t be that way,” Livingston says, his face creased with disappointment. “You know, I expected a lot more out of you, Jack. I thought you were smarter than this. I told you not to come after me, gave you a chance just to run away and disappear, but you just couldn’t do the smart thing, could you?”

I glare at him in sullen silence, and he laughs.

“It’s all good, Jack. It’s all good. I mean, I’m pissed off and you’re a breathing dead man, but it’s all good. You’re not going anywhere.”

“I know all of your dirty little secrets, Livingston,” I growl. Two burly men come in and grab my arms, holding me firmly in place. Livingston moves forward, a naked scalpel in his hand.

“Oh, Jack, dear, dear, Jack…how are you going to squeal on me when you don’t have a tongue?”

One of the steroid-fueled apes grabs my jawbone and squeezes. I cry out in agony and then find, to my alarm, I can’t close my mouth. Livingston moves forward, a look of sadistic glee glowing in his eyes.

“It’s going to take you a long time to die, Jack. I’m going to bleed you out, a papercut at a time. You’re going to look like a jigsaw puzzle with a few pieces missing by the time I’m done with you.”

What can I do? My mind grasps at something, anything I can do to get myself out of this mess.

I squirm like mad, managing to free my head from the jawbone-crushing grip. “If you kill me, you’re going down!”

Livingston rolls his eyes. “You must think I’m really stupid to fall for that old trick. I found your backup drive, Jack. It’s over, you’re history. Try to have the decency to die with some fucking dignity, huh?”

“I told a reporter everything. I emailed her data from a throwaway phone I trashed on my way out. If I don’t make my meeting with her, she’ll publish a piece on Friday’s front page.”

Livingston stops. His eyes gleam with malice, he wants so badly to hurt me. Finally he drops the scalpel to his side and sighs.

“I guess I really can’t take the chance you’re not lying to me right now. Where are you supposed to meet Lois fucking Lane?”

“The Golden Gate Bridge.”

Livingston looks at his friends and laughs. “Did you hear that? The Golden Gate Bridge…”

He grabs my throat and squeezes. “Tmesis.”

“What?” I croak.

“When I said Lois-fucking-Lane, the insertion of one word in the middle of others is called tmesis. You think I’m stupid, Jack? Just because I don’t have a fancy computing degree? Nobody would meet on the bridge, there’s too many people around.”

“Exactly. Xtera won’t make a move on us in a public place.”

Livingston laughs. “All right, fine. I’ll play along. When does this meeting take place?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“This gets better and better. All right, Jack old boy. You’re going to meet your little reporter friend, right on schedule…and then you’re both taking a long drop and a sudden stop.”

He pats my cheek and leaves. I have no idea how I’m going to get off the bridge tomorrow night, but I’ve bought myself twenty-four hours to think about it.

I can’t stop thinking about Victoria, though.

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