Captive to the Dark (21 page)

A laugh fell from my mouth. I couldn’t help it. “You act like you’re irreplaceable. He’ll find someone else to wipe his ass by tomorrow, if he hasn’t already. Brace, let’s get this started. My patience is running thin.” I turned to Mary. “Is there anything you want to do or say before we start the polygraph?”

“Why?” She stared down at him, anger clearly on her face. “Why did you do it? What did I ever do to cause you to hurt me like you did? I trusted you. You were supposed to protect me.”

The knife eased away from his neck as she waited. As
I
waited. The answer might have been one that she needed, but so did I. It would determine what route I planned to take with his torture.

Thomas’s eyebrows drew in, but he remained quiet.

“Answer her. Why?” My voice boomed through the room. This bastard was not going to leave Mary dissatisfied.

“I don’t answer to any of you. Fuck…off.”

My hand jerked the knife from her grip and I walked around her, grasping Thomas’s finger. “Every time you refuse to answer a question, I’m going to start chopping off your digits. When I run out of fingers, I’ll move to toes. Don’t believe me, go ahead and keep quiet. Your choice. Why?”

Fear etched into the lines of his face while he looked from me to Mary. “Fine,” he bit out. “Mary.” Thomas turned to face her. “I watched you grow. Bloom. You were beautiful. Still are beautiful. You’ve never looked your age. You know that.”

“That’s my answer?” Mary shook her head. “I was beautiful and looked older so you thought you’d rip my bathing suit bottoms down, spit on your cock, and shove it into my ass? God, you fucking make me sick. I was
thirteen
!” The quiet tone had turned loud toward the end. She reached out, placing her hand along his chin and squeezing the side of his mouth. “You ruined my life. Do you know that? Fucking ruined.” Blood oozed under and above her nails. Thomas tried shaking his head away, but she held on tight.

“You fucking wanted it, bitch. Get off me!”

I didn’t hesitate. Couldn’t think beyond hearing him. The knife connected hard with the leather beneath his finger. A loud yell echoed through the room, and I reached forward, stuffing the ball gag back into his mouth. Blood poured onto the plastic below and I waved Marcio over. “Cauterize the wound. Mary.” I grabbed her, pulling her away from Thomas. The green color of her eyes was dark as I stared down at her. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m good.” The separation of her lips and the shaking had me not so sure.

“Are there any more questions before I start the polygraph? It’s going to get pretty bloody. You might want to leave.”

The smell of burnt flesh and more yells filled the room. Mary nodded. “I want to hear you ask one question before I go.”

“What is that?” My hand rubbed her cheek, trying my best to somehow ease what she’d just seen. Was she really okay? She appeared on the pale side. Maybe it was being around her attacker, but I wasn’t sure. I’d wanted to wait until she was gone before I physically harmed him.

Mary looked over at Thomas’s pale, sweaty body. Deep breaths made his chest rise and fall.

“I want to know if he’s done this to any other girls. I have to know. If my father was truly keeping him impotent, he wouldn’t have been able to. At least…” her head snapped to me, “I want to know if he’s penetrated any young girls with anything. Himself, objects, toys. It had to have been rape. Will you be able to get that out of him from a polygraph even if he doesn’t answer?”

I turned to Brace, who stood at the machine a few feet away. He nodded and I put my attention back to her. “Brace is the best at this. We’ll know.”

“I’ll stay until then.”

Marcio stepped away and I glanced down at the burnt nub. The disgust poured from me as I walked back up to him and removed the ball gag.

“You’re fucking crazy. I’m going to kill you when I get out of here.”

The side of my mouth rose into a half smile. “We’ll see about that. Now, Thomas, I’m going to ask you a series of questions. For every answer I don’t like, I’m going to cut off another one of your fingers. Your best bet is to be honest and tell me the truth, or it’s going to be a very long night for you.”

Silence. I looked to Brace. He was ready, and so was I. “All right. Let’s start off with some simple questions. Is the woman standing next to me named Mary?”

Thomas looked over. “Yes.”

“Truth,” Brace’s voice was quiet, almost inaudible.

I continued to set up a baseline. This wasn’t my first experiment with polys. “Are we in San Francisco?”

“Yes.”

Brace shifted his feet as he looked down. “Truth.” He gave me a thumbs up, the indication that we were ready.

“All right, Thomas. Besides Mary, have you ever raped another minor with force from yourself or an object of any kind?”

He closed his eyes. “No.” The monotone response had me turning to Brace. The way his eyes narrowed as he looked down at the machine had me clenching my jaw.

“Lie.” The malice in Brace’s tone held no self-doubt.

Mary stepped forward, but I lifted my arm, holding her back. “Thomas, have you raped more than five minors during your life?”

“No.”

A few seconds went by and Brace’s voice filled the room. “Lie.”

Mary’s hand gripped to my forearm, tightly. I continued, reining in the need to let my monster free. Fuck I was going to enjoy filleting this motherfucker alive. “Have you raped more than ten minors in your life?”

“No,” Thomas growled.

“Fucking liar.” Brace’s voice deepened and he took a step away from the machine. At the shake of my head, he returned, but I could see the darkness in his stare. We were all alike when it came to innocence of others. That’s what had brought us all together and made us the team we were. We wanted justice and we weren’t afraid to get bloody to make it happen.

My grip tightened on the knife. “This isn’t really a question, but enlighten me, Thomas. How many women
have
you raped?”

A laugh came from his mouth. “You people are so clueless.” He turned his head toward me and Mary. “Get this shit over with. Kill me if that’s your intent. I don’t give a shit anymore.”

“No? Wow. I think I’ll take off two fingers for that answer.”

He lifted his head in a panic. “Don’t. Wait.”

I paused. 

“We deal with sex slaves for fucking crying out loud. I can’t give you a number because I don’t know. We rape them all. It’s a welcome to the damn life, initiation. We’ve been doing this for years.”

Pure artic ice froze my insides. “You rape all of them.” It wasn’t a question, and I knew the moment he realized his mistake.

“No. Wait.” He shook his head back and forth frantically. “I didn’t rape your sister.”

“Lie,” Brace gritted out.

I reached out, squeezing his cock with one hand and slamming the ball gag in his mouth with the other. Mary reached out, holding it in with all her weight. The muffled sounds coming from him disappeared as all sound drained from my ears. No swift satisfaction. I took my time, sawing the weapon off of him with slow movements.

The smell of vomit perfumed the room and I wasn’t sure if it was Thomas or Mary, but I couldn’t stop until I was done. This pedophile raped Mary, my sister, Lily—there was no telling how many others. He didn’t deserve to live, none of them did.

“Marcio.” I turned to see him already ready to cauterize the wound. Blood coated my hands as I stepped back and held up his dick for him to see. “You’re going to die tonight, Thomas. Very slowly. And very, very painfully.” Tears streamed down his face and he’d clearly been sick. The gag was lying next to him and it’d only just dawned on me that he was sobbing. I tossed his cock in the trashcan at the bottom of the crate, right where it belonged. Movement to the side made my heart pulse harder. I risked a look at Mary, afraid of what emotion I was going to find staring back at me.

There was no judgment. No revulsion. She took a step toward me and kneeled at my feet, right in her rapist’s blood. Finger’s clutched to my thigh, and she rested her forehead just above my knee. “Thank you,” she whispered.

The two words, so quiet, was the only thing Mary said before she stood and left the room. Her absence caused Thomas to thrash on the bed, wildly. Maybe he thought with her being there he’d live. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but one thing was clear. As our eyes met, he knew the words I spoke earlier were true. The fear poured from him and I fed with everything I had. Thomas would die tonight, but not until I was good and satisfied that he’d paid for his crimes.

Chapter 16

Mary

“You’re engaged?” Christopher, Slade’s friend, stared at the two of us for what felt like forever. His mouth closed and he shook his head. “I’d heard on the news this morning, but I just couldn’t believe it. Not even when I watched you declare your engagement right there for everyone to see. I figured it was a joke, aimed at the media for hounding you. For crying out loud, you said you were bringing your date. Not your fiancée.”

One of Slade’s eyebrows rose. “She wasn’t my fiancée then. Thanks for the congratulations, by the way.”

“You know I’m happy for you. Just shocked, is all.”

Slade took a drink of his Scotch and reached over, lacing his fingers through mine, right there on the table. Butterflies accompanied with nausea swirled in my stomach and I wasn’t sure if it was the huge rock on my finger or how Slade’s public display of affection had no bounds. He’d kissed me a million times since we’d left the penthouse and I couldn’t get over how completely different he seemed. He was happy. Almost normal. Which was odd given what I’d seen last night. Apparently, there were no demons lingering from what he’d done, which didn’t bother me. Thomas had gotten what he deserved. Not that I’d stayed around to see the whole thing. I’d laid in bed until almost four in the morning, waiting for Slade. When he didn’t show, I finally drifted off.

At nine, I awoke to kissing down my neck. If he’d been soaked in Thomas blood shortly before that, I didn’t know. When I opened my eyes, he was showered, his hair still slightly damp, and he was dressed in a dark blue suit. The clean shaven face had given me pause. He’d let the growth linger since I’d met him, shaving it just enough to leave stubble. But now, looking at this man before me, smiling, holding my hand, I knew why the girls were crazy over him. He was beautiful, yet manly enough to get your juices flowing. Fuck, I wanted him. Again. As if he hadn’t finger-fucked me good enough this morning.

“Well, I can’t say I’m not happy for you. It’s about damn time. Just wish you would have told me before the damn world.”

“It was short notice. I’d only just proposed. You can say I got excited and the media picked the perfect time to show up at my place.”

I let them go on, talking about their thing. The engagement led to the future, which apparently held a house, if I’d heard Slade correctly. Then that led to business. I completely lost myself in thought at that point. My eyes drifted to my lap, taking in the black slacks. The cream colored silk shirt I wore had a high neckline with slits down the long sleeves, exposing my arms to just a little above my elbows. It was very stylish and something I wouldn’t have dreamed of buying for myself, but I couldn’t deny that I loved the way it looked. Slade said I was a new person as he clasped the diamond necklace around my neck. Looking at myself in the mirror with my hair pulled back and curls resting on the top, I almost believed him.

“All right.” The tapping from Slade’s finger on the glass pulled me out of my thoughts. His eyes were narrowed while he stared down, and I could tell he was deep in thought. “Drop Chrastin, let’s test out Nelson Corporation before we decide to go for it.”

“Wise move. I’m going to have to agree. Chrastin’s not working. Nelson’s has potential though. I can see that move playing out.”

I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Anything having to do with Slade’s life or business didn’t involve me. I wouldn’t be here much longer, although being with him was starting to grow on me. Well, more than grow. The realization that my once comforting routine would go back to the boring norm after this was crushing. Even my erotic haven I once cherished didn’t hold any appeal.

Movement had my eyes lifting and I scanned the busy restaurant. The place was fancy, but definitely catered more to the business class. No lovey-dovey couples here. Just rich suits and fancy corporate apparel lined the oak chairs.

“It will work.” Slade pushed back in his chair. “If that’s all, Mary and I have errands to run.”

“Errands?” Christopher laughed. “You have people for that. What could you possibly need that someone isn’t already doing for you?”

Slade held out his hand and I took it. We both stood. What I thought would be annoyance coming from Slade, was anything but. He smiled and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close.

“Mary and I have a wedding to plan. This is the only one I’ll ever have so things will get taken care of my way.”

Christopher burst out laughing. “Shouldn’t Mary be saying that? You’re growing soft, Slade.”

“Fuck you. Underestimating me would be a mistake. Call me when you get everything set up.”

I was whisked from the table so fast, I was having a hard time keeping up. The moment we broke through the doors, I pulled back, trying to slow him. “Where are we going?”

Slade brought me back to his side. “Afraid I was telling the truth? I saw your face, slave. You were scared out of your mind at the thought that we were really going wedding shopping. Actually, I had something different in mind.” We began walking and I relaxed against him. What could I say? He was telling the truth. Anything having to do with marriage was the last thing I wanted. It was a stark reminder of my father’s wishes.

“I thought maybe we’d go down to the pier and watch the seals. We could grab some candy and just sit back and relax. What do you say?”

My steps faltered causing us to come to a stop. I couldn’t stop the big smile that appeared. “Really?”