Page 34 of Ryder
“You’re going to kill me either way. What’s the point in answering any questions?”
He smirked, one hand suddenly gripping her throat.
“We can use various methods of encouragement, if that’s what you want. See, we only have a couple of questions, but every time you don’t answer, we’re gonna have to do something about that.”
He nodded at Stitch, who slid a knife from his belt, and brushed his thumb over the blade casually.
Her eyes had followed the movement, just as they’d planned.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Not really.”
She made a choking sound, as Reacher’s hand tightened on her throat.
“Question number fucking one,” he barked, making her wince, and choke again, as his hand clenched. She nodded rapidly. She was starting to look red in the face, the need to breathe having a rapid effect on her.
“Were you working alone?” He asked, and she blinked for a moment, clearing her throat, and coughing, when he released her and backed up.
“N… No… but you knew that already.” He folded his arms, and Stitch moved closer, that knife still visible in his hand.
“Why him?” He jerked his head in my direction, and she followed the movement, her eyes fixing on mine. I flinched, wondering why the hell I didn’t get any sense of familiarity from her. This woman had used me for hours, probably.Shouldn’t I recognise her in some way?
“He hit on me,” she said finally, and I frowned, because not remembering the whole night had me wondering if that were even true. I glanced at Torch, and he shrugged.
“You like MILFs,” he muttered, turning his eyes back to her.
“So because he hit on you in a bar, where you were dressed like you were looking to hook up, you figured you’d… uh…”
“That’s what’s typical of men like you,” she snarled suddenly. “I was dressed like I wanted to hook up? Yeah? So that means that any asshole can come at me, and come onto me, and I’m just supposed to bend over and spread my fucking legs?”
Reacher blinked, caught unawares by her outburst.
“I mean… the point I was making was that a guy hitting on you, and I know him, he wasn’t aggressive, was no reason to assault him.”
She glared right back at him.
“He marched up to me, looked me up and down, and asked me if I wanted my pussy and ass fucked at the same time.That’s pretty aggressive.”
All eyes hit me for a moment, and I shrugged, feeling more than a little shame at hearing it out loud like that. It’s definitely the kind of thing I’d have said, because we often shared women.
“All she had to say was no.”
They knew I’d never push it, but it sounds like I was looking for someone for both of us, so I glanced at Torch, and he shrugged again. It wasn’t the first time we’d hit on a woman together, and it usually led to a really fucking hot night.
“All I did was buy him a drink,” she finally said, a stubborn note in her voice.
“You drugged him,” Reacher snarled, nodding at Stitch, who moved behind her. Honestly, the two of them were like a well-oiled machine. One talking, one taking action, like they’d practiced it many times, and I supposed, by now, they had, but still it was always seamless. Stitch grabbed a fistful of her blondehair, and pulled her head back, the knife resting against her throat.
“See, I’m getting tired of this pissy bitch routine. I want to know why you did it, and why him. See, we have enemies, and I need to know if this was something you were paid to do to him.”
She cursed, swallowing carefully.
“Yes, I was paid, but not… it’s not what you think.”
Stitch moved, and she gasped, as the knife caught her skin, causing a slow trickle of blood. He knew exactly where to cut to safely scare her, without catching an artery. I mean, if he did that, we’d all get covered in blood, and that’d ruin our cuts.
“Who. Paid. You?” Reacher demanded, leaning over her again.
She trembled as her head tipped back closer to Stitch, and his grip tightened on her.
