Page 8 of Murder & Mayhem
“For real? Fuck, that’s . . . that’s fucking karma.” Jamie was laughing so hard I couldn’t totally understand him, but I was captivated and completely ignored the whimpers and cries from Joey through the filthy gag.
“Fuck you!” Jamie laugh-screamed, pointing at Joey. “How does it feel? Huh? All those fucking times you and your buddies got a kick outta watching me piss myself, how it would take hours and hours before I finally caved. How you all laughed at me as I cried. Oh my god!” Jamie collapsed back into the worn couch, tears streaming down his face.
“That was . . . surprising,”Gideon commented mildly. I didn’t respond, but yeah, this guy was unexpected for sure.
Figuring Jamie needed a moment to himself, I turned back to Joey. His eyes were wide with terror as he desperately struggledin the bonds. He tried to get his legs out of the water, but I had it set up in a way that would make it impossible. He was completely at my mercy.
“Hello, Joey. Did you have yourself a good nap?”
He screamed something at me, probably a curse.
“What was that? Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.” I pulled out the makeshift gag.
“Fuck you, you fucking freak!”
I smiled. “Now that’s not very nice. And from someone like you, it’s downright insulting. You’ve been a very bad boy, Joey. I have a long list of sins that you need to pay for, but I think there are some things we have to take care of first. Tell the boy where his brother is.”
Joey had the nerve to laugh. “Fuck. You.”
I shrugged, put the gag back in his mouth, and started the circuit again.
As Byrne screamed in agony, Ari cut in with,“Ask Jamie when his brother went missing and where, please. I’m trying to see if I can track him.”
I turned toward Jamie. “My brother wants to know when and where Bailey went missing. He’s trying to see if he can track him.”
I turned off the current. Jamie’s eyes were filled with hope. “He can do that?”
“He can try,” I told him honestly. I didn’t want to give him false hope.
“Um, this morning. At our apartment. He was going to school. I got the security footage from my landlord. Do you want to see it?”
“Yes, please.”
Jamie fished out his phone. Joey screamed and begged and cursed from beyond his gag. Jamie tapped the screen a few times and then handed it to me. The angle sucked, but youcould clearly see a teenage boy with the same sandy-brown hair as Jamie and thick glasses get dragged into an old ass Buick.
“Can I send this to my brother? It would help a lot.”
Jamie hesitated but eventually nodded. “Thanks.” I quickly sent it to Ari so he could do his thing, then turned back to Byrne so I could do mine.
“Got it,”Ari confirmed. I tuned out his rapid-fire typing.
“Let’s try this again,” I told Joey. “Hopefully, this time you’ll cooperate.”
I pulled the gag out, and Joey immediately spit out a nasty glob of phlegm and blood dangerously close to my feet.
“Oh, gross. Is that how you always treat your guests?”
“You’re not my guest, fucking freak!” he tried to scream, but between the choking and electrocution, his voice was shot and he was slurring his words.
“Is that the only insult you know?” I sighed heavily, like I was deeply annoyed. “It’s really not original.”
“Who the fuck are you? Are you with the Berrettis?” The Berrettis were a well-known crime family in the area who, like many people, had beef with Joey Byrne.
“You wish,” I told him honestly. They were brutal, but not nearly as bad as my brothers and I could be. And I was feeling particularly sadistic today. I had to remember that I had an audience. “Who I am doesn’t matter because you’ll be dead before the day is over. The question now is how easy do you want to make it on yourself? The information is simple. Where is Bailey Sullivan? We know you took him. Jamie saw the footage. I saw the footage. So instead of pretending to be tough and subjecting yourself to unnecessary torture, just give us the information we need and I’ll end your life painlessly.” It was a lie, but the fucker didn’t need to know that.
“I ain’t telling you shit. That little slut had it coming.”
“How dare you!” Jamie screamed and stalked forward. I could have stopped him, but I didn’t as he pushed past me and punched Byrne in the face.
