The Law of Motion (Law Series) (50 page)

I nodded in acknowledgment, turning my attention to Liam, who addressed my guard. "Name, son," he commanded.

"B-Bobby," he sputtered, his eyes following Adrian and Victor as they proceeded to set up a makeshift tilted table. "Bobby Curtis..."

Myles scoffed, glaring at Bobby, but everyone's attention was drawn to the struggle at the end of the room. Victor and Adrian secured their prisoner to the table with his head at the lower angle of the table, his feet well above his head. My fists clenched when two heavy straps were wrapped around his upper chest, including his arms, and his hips to hold them there.

"Water boarding," Ross muttered to Doc before she could ask.

"Name," Adrian commanded softly, holding a piece of cellophane over the man's face. "
Now
."

The idiot shook his head profusely, refusing to say anything, so Adrian's hands quickly slapped the plastic wrap down over his face, as Victor poured an entire bucket of water over him, causing the man to buck and scream. The man gasped when Adrian pulled his hands back, gagging over the side of the table.

"Name," he repeated, holding the cellophane over his face again.

Mr. Anonymous continued to refuse, so down came the plastic again. Adrian’s whole body was flexed with the strength he was using in order to fight the guy when another entire bucket of water came splashing down. I knew the guy wasn't getting any actual water into his mouth or nose, but he was fighting it like he was. The severe psychological effect on him was bound to make him talk.

"Sh-Shit," the guy sputtered, after wrenching off the side of the table again. "Earl," he panted. "Earl Crawford."

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Adrian asked snidely, patting the guy's chest, before turning to Liam.

"Go get the last one's name, and we can
really
get started," Liam ordered, pointing toward the well.

Depending on how weak a person was, dipping was the most terrifying form of torture. I was actually surprised that the man in the well was able to figure out the trick of staying still, not that it stopped his calls for help. Adrian asked the man his name, even going so far as to tell him that he was the only one that
 
hadn't
 given up a name. When the man didn't answer, Vic let the rope slacken, and the guy sank into the water under the weight of the chair he was still strapped to. I didn't go watch up close, but I could hear the splashes, the struggle, and the sputtering and coughing when Victor pulled him back up.

They dunked him three times like a giant teabag, before he finally gave up, "Roy Newton," on a coughing groan.

"Excellent," Liam stated, beaming with false excitement. "Now we all know each other. Right, Myles?"

"Fuck you," Myles spat.

I shook my head at Myles’s false bravado, because I could see the sweat beading on his forehead and upper lip, and it wasn't that warm in the barn.

Liam snickered humorlessly and walked to Myles. He brought his hand back, smacking him hard across the face, knocking Myles and his chair completely over. Dario immediately righted him.

"This could go really smoothly, or could last for days. Mind your manners, Myles, and it'll all be over soon,” Hunter chided, shaking his head as Liam walked back to the opposite end of the table to hover over Bobby. "What was the bomb for, Bobby?"

Bobby didn't answer immediately, because Adrian’s presence was making him almost sick with nerves. My boyfriend grabbed another piece of rope as Victor forced Bobby's arms up onto the table. Securing a loop around Bobby's wrists, Adrian pulled the man's arms out straight, Bobby's chest hitting the edge of the table. Liam rummaged through the toolbox, pulling out a pair of pliers.

"Bomb, Bobby," Liam ordered again, picking up the boy's pinky finger and starting to tug at the boy's fingernail. I could tell he wasn't actually removing it—yet—but the illusion, the threat worked beautifully, because Bobby panicked.

"No, no, no!" Bobby practically cried, and Liam pulled the pliers away. "A building in downtown D.C, okay? They didn't tell me which one! Look, you don't have to do this shit to me! I'll tell you what you want, what I know... just ...
don't
!"

"He's just a kid," Ross whispered, shaking her head. "What the hell was he doing here to begin with?" she asked, like she was thinking out loud.

Almost as if Bobby had heard her, he blurted out, "I just wanted out of the city, and to make a quick buck... Terry and David didn't tell me about this shit. I didn't know what he was planning, I swear."

"Let him go," Hunter told Adrian and Victor, who relaxed their grip on him. "Where would Terry and Zoe go, Bob?" he asked him, using a calm, even tone of voice.

"I don't know," he answered immediately, shaking his head. "I only stayed here at the camp. Hell, I've never even been inside the house," he gushed. "I know that they needed money," he continued, and his eyes looked up at me.

"Don't look at her!" Adrian snapped, bring his fist down onto the table, where it gave an eerie crack. His shoulders and arms seemed to expand with his hatred, his protection of me as he loomed over Bobby.

Liam smiled, and it was sinister but controlled. "Okay, Bobby, then who amongst you 
would
 know?"

"Myles," the kid answered, jerking his chin toward the other end of the table.

"You stupid bastard!" Myles snapped, trying to lunge for him, but was caught in Dario’s strong grip. "I'll fucking kill you!" he threatened, fighting against handcuffs and rough hands.

"Oh no, you don't," Dario crooned, forcing Myles back down. "Move again, and I'll hang you from that hook...
right there
." Dario pointed to a large bent metal hook that was high on the closest wooden post.

"He's been with David since the beginning," Bobby continued, giving a sideways glance to Myles before continuing. "He and David brought in Zoe. I'm not sure why. I heard David’s dead, though..."

"He is," Hunter admitted to him. "What was the money for?"

"Us...everyone," he replied, shrugging. "We're broke. Most of us lost everything when C&K got shut down. They'd lost homes and shit. We could hunt and grow food, but not much else. There was a rumor that we were about to lose this place."

"So what did Terry have to do with C&K?" Liam asked. "He wasn’t a worker."

"Terry got brought in by Myles and David’s boss to make sure that they did their job. Whatever that was. I heard Myles and David talking about how they didn’t need babysitters one day..."

"So let me guess," Doc muttered ever so softly in my ear. "Everyone in this has an agenda of their own. Terry just recruits any angry person with a quandary. Angry C&K workers, whatever, and he’s promising to fix it. The guy has a God complex and this shit has gone to his head. This means whoever brought him into the mix has to be more fucked up than he is, and has an issue with Neil Industries on top of it because they wouldn’t be ‘making you pay’ if someone didn’t point them in your direction."

Liam heard her and studied her face for a moment, waving her off when she mouthed, "Sorry."

He huffed once, but nodded. "You might be right. And he combined the two problems in order to obtain money. "

"Interesting," Hunter mused, rubbing his stubbly chin. "Bobby, you've been an
 
outstanding
 help," he praised, and then turned to Victor. "Take him inside the house, get him something to eat, and have one of my men stand guard over him until transport gets here."

Vic removed the restraints from Bobby's legs, allowing him to stand up slowly. With a large hand on the back of his neck, he guided him out of the barn and toward the house.

"I'm gonna fucking 
kill
 him!" Myles growled, shifting in his seat.

"What did I tell you?" Dario asked smoothly, not yelling, but using the low, rumbling tone that was fucking scary. He pulled out a large, sharp knife and cut Myles's leg restraints, yanking him up from the chair. "Arms up, asshole," he commanded, holding the knife to his throat. Dario lifted him effortlessly, catching Myles's cuffs on the hook on the post. His feet dangled about six inches from the ground. "Now. Don't fucking move, or I'll gut you like a pig. Got me?"

Adrian's impassive face flickered with just a touch of evil amusement, but he said nothing as he waited for Liam's next step, which was the man strapped to the table. I instantly understood the method that they were using; they were saving Myles for last.

             
It took several buckets of water on Earl to find out that he was fairly new, but he had been responsible for security at C&K as well. When they were absolutely sure that he had no idea what building that bomb was going to be used on, they ceased their torture on him, moving on to Roy outside in the well. Roy knew even less, but he did give up the name of the bomb destination. Neil Industries. The only problem with that was, there were six buildings owned by Neil Industries in D.C alone.

With a quick text to Tink to research a way to narrow it down, I turned my attention to Myles, who was hanging silently with his eyes locked onto the activity at the water well.

I turned to Doc and Ross. "Terry was using them all," I stated, just loudly enough so that I could block out the screams from out at the well, because I needed a break from it all, but also, I wanted to make sure that Myles could hear me. "I'd be willing to bet that these people wouldn't have ever seen a dime of money. I bet he would have ran off with the money, splitting it with this mystery boss."

Doc hummed in approval, her eyebrows shooting up. "You might be right. He may still run on them, leaving whoever he thinks is left to this fucking mess. Hunt's charging them with some sort of...terrorist shit. I'm not sure what. They'll lose their rights the second they gets them behind bars. They'll be sent to prison to live out the remainder of their lives. I heard Danny talking this morning..."

I glanced up at Danny, who was still guarding the doorway of the barn, and he was nodding slowly. "Huh," I breathed with a nod. "Guantanamo Bay?" I verified, and they both nodded.

"They're military prisoners now," Ross added with a shrug. "A terrorist would be considered a threat to the country...no matter how personal the reasons are..."

I glanced up at Myles, and noted that he was listening with rapt attention. "This won't be jail Myles—or in this case, America," I told him, tilting my head at him. "Is Terry and this
boss
worthy of your loyalty? You won't see any money, him, or
Zoe
. Ever. Funny she’s off with him instead of you." I mused with a hint of a smile.

Ross snickered softly, shaking her head when he didn't answer me. "Honestly?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "I don't think Myles will make it out of this barn. The others, yes. Him...no."

"You might be right," I sighed, leaning back against the haystack behind me.

             
"You didn't see us with David," she stated, grimacing a bit. “And he only held a gun to Cedrick’s head, this one held a gun to Juan’s and took you.”

I sneered, fighting my own temper.

"But it's not just that," Ross continued, locking eyes with Myles. "It's every word Juan said against him once Doc and I got him back. Apparently, Myles likes bullying little kids. He took their food away, made them stay quiet at all times, gave them cough medicine to knock them out when they bugged him. And Juan said that one time, Kris had to take him his inhaler when Myles refused to give it to him. Juan called him ‘The Mean Man.’"

"I really owe Kris a thank you," Doc sighed, keeping her voice only for us, and Ross nodded in agreement. "I hope he can...stay out of this trouble."

We both looked up when we saw that they had pulled Roy completely up out of the well. Liam even patted him on the back as Victor lead him away into the house, only to come right back out.

A surprisingly warm breeze blew through the barn. It was almost November, so it should have been freezing, especially on the mountain but it wasn’t. The smell of more impending rain heading our way, but from the looks of the clouds outside, it was hours before it would be on us. I shirked out of my hoodie as Doc tugged off her jacket. She stood up and stretched, only to sit again. Myles's eyes watched her every move, as she sat by me in a black tank and blue jeans.

"Come on, princess," Myles chuckled, trying to shift around as he hung there. "You gonna give me a show, too? It's not like I haven't
seen
you, or touched you, because that drug Terry gave you knocked you out cold."

             
Doc gasped the same time that I did, and my heart started racing. My temper flared to an all-time high, and I was up and across the barn before he could take another breath. Danny moved, calling for the men outside, but I had already swung a fist across his face. Another punch to his stomach, and I grabbed one of the knives off of the table. Before I could use it to make sure he’d never piss again and I found myself restrained by three sets strong arms and a velvet voice.

"Easy, Honeyface," Adrian crooned in my ear as he and Dario held me back.

Hunter’s face was angry and cold as he looked at Myles, trying to hide his amusement, he turned back at me with a halfhearted sarcastic lecture. "You don't want to use a fist. You want to use an open hand. There's less chance of internal damage that way. I got to turn these guys in when I’m done, Babes.”