Page 72 of Till Death Do Us Part
My gaze met Rei’s.
“Five hours is the longest it’s taken us to get information,” Rei offered.
Nicolas shook his head. “Not this one. He’ll die before talking.”
“Oh, he’ll do that too,” I replied, “but not in that order. Where are the other three bodies?”
“Em has them at the hideout. I can’t have dead bodies on the premises. It’s bad for business.”
“You’ll have one, but not for long.Mi padrewants these men delivered in pieces to the bratva’s doorstep.”
Nicolas’s jaw clenched. “Carajo.Patr?n is making this war worse. He’s just asking for more attacks.”
I took a step toward Nicolas, meeting him chest to chest. “Don’t question Patr?n’s decisions. He’s sending a message. Fuck with us and get fucked.” I looked at Rei. “Come on, let’s go talk to our new friend.”
“What’s that?” Nicolas asked, tilting his chin toward the duffel bag in Felipe’s grasp.
“Tools,” I replied.
“We already have?—”
I lifted my hand. “You’re welcome to watch.”
When we entered the small room at the far end of the basement, our guest was nude, tied to a metal chair, with swelling and bruising already forming on his face and body. His left eye was swollen, his blond hair was matted with blood, and his left leg was bent at an angle that suggested it was fractured.
As I went to work with the regular incentives like cutting off fingers and toes, Rei did what he does. Rei’s technique was more psychological. All he needed was the help of a computer and hacking skills, getting him into databases that the US government assumed were secure.
My techniques were doing very little to make our friend find his voice. When he did, he only cursed in Russian. I might not understand the language, but I could easily decipher the tone.
“Inglés,” I said, doubtful he could speak Spanish.
“What the hell is Rei doing?” Nicolas asked.
I glanced at my brother as his fingers flew over the keyboard. “You’ll see.”
My hand ached as I delivered another kidney punch. “Talk, motherfucker.”
About two hours into our interrogation, Rei spoke up. “I have it.”
I staggered back away from the man about to sing. There was no doubt. This was what got them all singing like songbirds. They could take the physical pain. Like most of us, they’d endured it most of their lives. It was that every man who hadn’t lost all his humanity had a soft spot whether he admitted it or not.
My thoughts went to Mia.
She was now mine.
That was why she needed to be protected.
Rei stood and carried his laptop toward our naked prisoner. “Danill Petrov, thirty-eight years old and illegally in the States. Labeled as a member of the Kozlov bratva, a recognized terrorist organization by US Department of Homeland Security.”
Danill’s blue eyes opened wide in horror.
My lips curled into a grin. “Danill, nice to meet you.”
“Not me.” He repeated the sentence multiple times.
“How?” Nicolas asked.
“Face recognition. It’s why I took his picture when we arrived.” My brother looked down at his information. “Wife, Kira Ivanov, last known address Simi Valley.”