Page 49 of Justified
“Cobra.”I said my name, wondering if it meant anything to her.Sure, my antics weren’t front page news… yet, but maybe she might have heard something about the new vigilante in town.By the frown of confusion on her face, I guessed it was just wishful thinking on my part.No matter.After tonight, she was going to know my name.
“Look, I’ve told you what you wanted,” she said.“Please let me go.”
I shook my head.
“You promised you’d let me live,” she reminded me.
“You haven’t given me anything revealing.You did give me a number, but so far, it’s useless to me unless I can meet the owner of said phone.So, are you willing to call him and set up a meeting?”
“You have to untie me before I do that,” she demanded.
I shook my head, then grabbed her by the chin.“Let’s get one thing straight, I’m not somebody you can negotiate with.I want what I want… I’m sure you can relate to that sentiment.I want answers to my questions and if I don’t get them, I’m going to start cutting off body parts.Have I made myself clear?”
She cringed at the mentioning of losing body parts and I saw more tears flow from her eyes, but I was undeterred.“P—please—”
I squeezed her jaw and she cried out.“Am.I.Clear?”
“Yes!Ow, please, yes,” she cried.
Well, I’ll be putting her cooperation to the test.
“Who owns the Killing Game website?”
“I don’t know.I don’t think anyone does.They’ve never shown their faces, okay?”
“How did you find out about the Killing Game?”
“I can’t tell you that—No, stop, please!”she screamed as I picked up a knife from the hood and grabbed her left hand.She was trying to ball it up into a fist, but I easily pried her hand open, exposing her fingers.“Please don’t do this!”
I decided to cut off her pinky so she’d know I wasn’t fucking around.She screamed and thrashed on the hood of the car as I carved through her flesh and bone, severing her little digit.Blood squirted from the open wound and I didn’t bother to tie a tourniquet around it.Instead, I picked up her severed finger and held it up so she could see.Her chest heaved as she looked on in horror.I could see the pain in her eyes and knew she really didn’t want any more torture.
“That’s one finger, you have nine more, and let’s not forget about your perfectly pedicured toes,” I threatened.“Are you sure you want to keep pissing me off?”
“Please, if I tell you, he’ll kill me,” she whimpered.
“Well, you’re with me now… I think I’m the bigger threat you should be worried about, don’t you?”Why did these people always seem more afraid of the guy whose secret they were keeping than me?I was the person you needed to be afraid of.Did they think I was bluffing?Or was it the fact that they felt they had a chance of surviving whatever I was going to do to them and then would have to answer to the person they betrayed?Whatever the case, it annoyed the fuck out of me.
I leaned over her, tapping her nose with her dismembered pinky, and she flinched, her features morphing into a disgusted frown mixed with terror.More tears poured down the side of her face and she looked truly horrified by her predicament.Of course, I knew some of those tears were because she was in pain.Her hand had to be throbbing where I’d cut her.
“Are you ready to tell me?”I asked as I continued to taunt her with her finger.She stared at me as if she were weighing her options.I sighed and tossed her pinky aside, then grabbed her hand again to cut off another finger.
“No!I’ll tell you.Please, don’t hurt me anymore.I’ll tell you,” she blurted out when she saw what I was about to do.
“So talk, bitch,” I demanded with a sneer.
“His… his name is Richard Tate,” she said.
Well, that was the second time I’d heard his name mentioned.I wondered just how big of a player he was in all of this.Was he the owner of this murder syndicate or just a major piece of this puzzle I was trying to solve?One thing was certain, he was someone with more knowledge than Cecily and Walter, because he was the one who seemed to be bringing in the bored, rich, and influential.Looked like I was about to make Richard Tate next on my target list.
“How long have you been a member of this website?”
“Not long, only a few months,” she said.“Please, I will leave the site and never go back if you let me live.”
“Getting back to what you can do for me.We’re going to call Mr.Chance and set up an appointment,” I demanded.
“What… what do you want me to say?”she asked.
“Tell him whatever you think you need to in order for him to meet with Nancy or you,” I said.
