“Not homemade. This chair was used by the state of New York to execute thirty-seven men. I paid a lot of money to get a hold of it.” Levy paced back and forth in front of Derry as he spoke, looking not at him but at the chair, as if it were an exhibit at a museum. “The state planned to destroy it. Most of the men who sat in this chair were condemned to die, some by the state of New York, others by me. You, however, have the opportunity to live.”
“Oh, yeah. I tell you where Sara is, and you let me walk out. What do you take me for? A fool?”
Levy studied Derry for a few seconds. “I see I am not dealing with your typical street thug. You are right. I could never let you go after seeing my face. So, I will be completely honest with you. I will give you the opportunity to decide how much pain you suffer before you tell me what I want to know. This chair has been modified. Your death can be fast and somewhat painless—or very slow and very painful.”
Derry tilted his head to one side. “You’re insane.”
A fist landed in his stomach. When Derry reopened his eyes, the huge man stood next to the chair.
“This is Vance. He doesn’t like it when someone disrespects me.” Levy nodded to Vance, who stepped away toward a panel of knobs and switches on a table behind Levy. “To save you more pain, tell me where Sara is hiding.”
Derry shifted his attention to Vance then back. “I don’t know where she is, and even if I did, I’d never tell the likes of you.” He reached up and lightly touched his shoulder.
“I see. You don’t believe what this can do. You don’t understand how much pain I can inflict on a human before they die. Or you think you are tough. Able to stand up to my chair. Either way, you need a demonstration.” Levy turned toward Vance. “Get Seth.”
***
“Hand it over.” Jarred continued to block the window.
“Hand what over?” Sara glanced toward the hall. Ben kept an eye on her as he cleaned up the mess she had made of his face.
“What do you take me for? You wouldn’t come back here if you weren’t after something important. My guess is it’s the information Levy’s looking for. Where is it?” As dumb as Jarred was in so many areas, he understood people.
“I came back because I saw you leave. I thought it would be safe.”
“I told you she was hiding in those weeds.” Ben had a moment of enlightenment. Good for him.
“Yeah, and after bozo here threw a few rocks at me, I saw you two bumbling idiots leave. The coast was clear. I came back here to grab some clean clothes before I split.”
Jarred gave her the once over. “Yeah? Where are they?”
Sara glanced around the room. “I didn’t have a chance to get them. I—”
“You’re lying again. You had several minutes back here, and your closet door is closed, along with your dresser drawers. Your lie doesn’t hold up. And with the money you stole, you could buy several clothing stores. You were in the clear. You wouldn’t risk coming back here, unless it was for something really important. My guess is it’s the account number and password of the bank account.” Jarred moved toward her. “Now hand it over, or I’ll have to search you.” His lips formed a devilish smile, his leer moving from her face to her body.
“You won’t touch me.” Sara backed into the corner.
Jarred’s smile broadened as he closed the small gap between them. He forced her deeper into the corner. Her blood ran cold as her mind stalled out. She’d been here before, too many times. She flung out her claws, aimed at Jarred’s face. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them together.
Sara struggled to free her hands, hoping to give him the same treatment she’d given Ben. His grip was too tight. He spun her around, smashing her face into the wall. He pushed his smelly body up against hers. His free hand groped her body. He wasn’t searching for the jump drive.
“I heard you like this kind of stuff. It reminds you of your youth.” He shoved his body against her again. Images and feelings from the foster home flooded her mind. She went stiff. She couldn’t move or think. She tried to fight it, but her mind and her body wouldn’t listen. She was shutting down, just like all those times before. Jarred spun her around and threw her onto the bed.
She wanted to move, to fight, but she was paralyzed by fear. She had promised herself she would never let anyone do this to her again. Anger burned deep inside her.
Jarred continued to grip her hands as he leaned forward, dropping his knees onto the bed, straddling her. Rage flooded every inch of her body. She had to keep her promise, even if it meant her death. She had to act now.
In one swift move, she brought her knee up hard, smashing it between his legs. He yelled in pain as he fell to one side, reaching to protect his injury from another hit.
Ben laughed. He’d been enjoying the show, the big pervert.
Sara rolled away from Jarred. Ben remained at his post near the door, but the window was now open. In a flying leap, Sara shot out the window, clearing the frame. Crashing to the ground, she rolled before springing to her feet and dashing for the Knights’ front door.
As she raced toward the driveway, she glanced over her shoulder at the window. Ben’s head stuck out. Good, he wouldn’t be coming out in time to stop her.
Cutting around the corner, Sara glanced back one last time. It was clear.
“Ouch.”
All forward movement stopped as she ran full force into a body. She bounced back a good foot as two large hands grabbed her.
“Trying to escape? Not today you little snob.”
Looking up, she could just make out Mike’s crooked smile.
***
Derry sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, as Vance strapped someone named Seth into the chair. Levy paced the area between Derry and the chair.
“This man’s incompetence cost me six million dollars. Money your girlfriend stole from me. He is lucky this will be a short demonstration”
Derry focused on Seth. He had been badly beaten. Someone used his face as a punching bag. The poor man slumped in the chair, crying as he kept repeating the same plea. Telling Levy he was sorry and it wasn’t his fault. Begging for his life. His voice was as weak as his body.
Levy shifted his attention to Vance. “Make it slow and painful. I want Derry to understand what you are capable of.”
Vance, expressionless, nodded in obedience before flipping a few large switches. As Vance turned a knob, Seth screamed. His body shook as his voice wailed a broken, “Noooo.”
Derry wanted to turn away, but something kept his gaze glued to the ghastly scene.
Vance turned the knob in the opposite direction before flipping the switches off. He moved over to Seth and checked his pulse and eyes. Spinning around, he said something about Seth being okay.
How was that possible? He couldn’t be okay.
Vance moved back and repeated the process. This time Seth’s vibrations were stronger, more violent. After each bout, Vance checked Seth and then applied the voltage for a longer period of time.
“You see, Vance is a master at his work. He loves it. Each time he checks to see how much more Seth can take. He’s narrowing in on that point where Seth’s mind will snap and he will do anything to make the pain stop. But there is nothing I want from Seth. He does not have the option to make the pain stop.”
Derry looked up at Levy. Levy was enjoying this. These men were out of their minds.
“Okay, I get the point.”
Levy peered down at Derry. “Do you?”
Without waiting for an answer, he changed his focus to Vance. “Finish him.” Levy spun around and headed up the stairs. “Give me a call when Derry’s strapped in.”
Vance flipped the switches one last time, and gave the knob a hard twist. Seth’s body shook, but only for a second as sparks lit up the floor in front of the ch
air. Vance said a few foreign words while Seth’s cries changed from terror to sick laughter.
Leaving him in the chair, Vance repaired the wires, cutting them apart and twisting them back together.
Ten minutes later, Derry watched as Seth died. It was fast, but far from painless.
Chapter 46
Levy burst into Kai’s office, startling her. “You better have something for me.”
She had nothing.
Standing in front of Sara’s computer, she threw the cable that she was holding across her desk, hitting the back wall. She glanced at Levy before returning her attention to the computer in front of her. “Sara wiped the hard drive clean. Reformatted it.”
Levy smacked the wall beside him. “That little—”
“But I might still be able to get something off it. It all depends on how she reformatted it.”
Levy stepped up beside Kai and glared down at Sara’s computer. “Well, get to work. I need to know what’s on there, ASAP.”
“I’ll need a different setup. It will take me a while to put it together.”
“Then get going. Whatever you need, just get it done.” Levy wheeled around to leave. “I’ve got other business.”
***
After Vance strapped Derry into the chair, he dragged Seth’s body to a room at the far end of the basement. The copper straps dug into Derry’s skin. Staring down at them, all he could see was Seth’s body vibrating. All he could hear was Seth screaming. His own body sweated in dreaded anticipation of Vance’s expertise.
Levy emerged from the stairwell.
Positioning himself in front of Derry, he studied him like a wolf studying its prey. His eyes weren’t so much looking at him as into him.
Vance joined Levy. “It’s ready.”
Levy glanced at him. “Any problems?”
“None I could not fix.”
“Good. Let’s get this over with.”
They talked like Derry wasn’t in the room, or worse, like he wasn’t a human being. Just something, that had to be dealt with.
Vance moved to the control panel, as Levy took a step forward. “Are you ready to tell me where Sara is?”
Derry shifted his focus back and forth between the two men. “I don’t know where she is. And electrocuting me won’t change that.”
“We’ll see. Hit him.”
Derry’s body shook. His muscles tensed and began to vibrate. His eyes rolled back, bouncing around. The shaking went on and on, until Derry was sure his blood vessels would burst.
When it stopped, his muscles wouldn’t obey him, and his head slumped forward.
“That was the same length of time and the same strength as the first hit you witnessed with Seth.”
Impossible. It had to be longer.
Derry forced his head up to see Levy standing a few feet away.
“I’ve heard that when you’re on the receiving end, time almost stops. Each second drags on. And with each application, the stretching of time gets worse. Where’s Sara?”
“Don’t you have anything better to do than torment me?”
“Yes, but until I get my money back, I’m forced to waste my time on the likes of you.” Levy nodded toward Vance. The pain started again.
***
Ben and Jarred came running out the door. Mike picked Sara up off the ground. She kicked and squirmed, trying to free herself.
“You incompetent idiots! You let her get away, again.”
“She nailed me between the legs,” Jarred whined.
“Two strong men can’t keep ahold of one little harlot.” Mike switched his attention to Ben. “And what about you? Where were you?”
Sara ceased struggling. Mike was too powerful. She’d lost.
“The little whore tried to rip my face off.”
“She was hiding in this shack the whole time, and both of you missed her. When this is over, you’re both fired.”
“No, she wasn’t hiding in there. She came back for something. I was searching her when she kneed me.”
“You were trying to rape me.” Sara had enough of all of them. “And you, fat boy, you were standing there watching, like some sick psychopath.”
Mike repositioned Sara as he looked at Jarred. “Did you find it? What she came back for?”
“Not yet. It might be on her or in the house.” Jarred pointed at the shack.
Mike moved toward the guesthouse, carrying Sara like a sack of grain. “Well, get in there and start searching. If it’s the bank information, we won’t need to keep her or her boyfriend alive.”
He stepped through the door and flipped on the lights. Tossing Sara into the center of the room, he glanced around. “Where is it?”
“You’re as daft as they are.” Sara glanced at Jarred and Ben, then back to Mike. “I came back for a change of clothes. If I tried to board a plane or a bus looking like this, they’d call security.”
“You can pick up clothes anywhere. You wouldn’t risk coming back here unless it was important. Hand it over.” Mike held out a hand.
Sara stood with all three men staring at her. Mike was out of his mind to think she would just hand over the jump drive. He’d shoot her where she stood before calling Levy.
She noticed movement behind Ben, just outside the door. She needed to keep their attention on her. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. Maybe I came back for this.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew the jump drive.
Mike advanced, hand still out. He had a satisfied smile on his face. “Hand it here.”
Did he really think she was that stupid? She pitched it behind her. It hit the wall near the kitchen table and fell to the floor.
“You little—” Mike raised his hand to strike her.
“I wouldn’t do that.” Lamar’s rich, sweet voice boomed into the room. All three men spun toward the door.
“Lamar.” Relief flooded Sara’s body as real help stepped through the door.
Mike took a step toward him. “You just made a big mistake, old man.”
“I’m Special Agent Stover of the FBI, and you better leave this woman alone.” Lamar stepped within a few feet of Mike.
“I don’t think so.” Mike slipped his gun out from under his shirt.
Before he could bring the barrel up, Lamar sprung forward, grabbing Mike’s wrist. Twisting it out and around, he kept the gun traveling upward and away from him. Lamar smashed his other hand into Mike’s Adam’s apple. As Mike’s grip loosened, Lamar rotated the gun free.
Mike’s hesitation lasted only a second. Using his empty gun hand, he reached for Lamar’s throat. Grabbing it, he shoved Lamar back, brought his other hand up, and threw a punch at Lamar’s face.
Lamar deflected the fist as he brought Mike’s gun level with his nose. “Think about your next move. Are you faster than a bullet?”
Mike released Lamar, raised his hands, and stepped back. The other two men raised their hands.
Lamar maneuvered a few feet to the left, out of their reach, then stopped where he could still see all three of them. He glanced at Sara. “You okay?”
“I am now. But they got Derry. He took him somewhere.” Sara nodded at Mike.
Lamar shifted toward him. “Where’d you take my friend?”
Mouth closed, Mike glared at Lamar.
“I asked you a question.” Lamar took a step forward.
Mike dropped his hands. “We want our lawyer.”
***
Derry opened his eyes. Each round of torment lasted longer than the previous one. At the end of each session, he was sure he couldn’t survive another. Each time, he was wrong. Vance was good at his craft. Derry’s brain was turning to mush. Time became meaningless. His shirt felt wet. Glancing down, he noticed fresh blood. The last round of muscular
convulsions had reopened the wound.
Derry’s shoulder burned with a fever of its own. With all the muscle reverberations, what kind of damage was the bullet doing to his shoulder? A silly question when he’d be dead soon. He looked up. The room seemed darker. Did they turn down the lights, or were his eyes going? He focused on the evil in front of him.
Levy picked up the stack of papers he’d set on the table earlier. Slowly, he flipped through them. “You think of yourself as some kind of protector, helping the weak and the innocent.”
He glanced up from the papers.
Derry kept quiet. He didn’t want to give Levy any ammunition to use.
“You think, by helping Sara, you’re protecting a helpless, innocent girl, one worthy of your help. Is that it?” Levy stared condescendingly at him.
Sara does need my help. She needs my protection.
“She’s not helpless, innocent, or worth it.” Levy chucked the papers aside, adding finality to his statement. “She’s a little thief that would sell her own mother for a few dollars. Who knows? Maybe she did.”
Derry raised his head slightly to listen, but he wasn’t sure why this man’s lies mattered.
“Oh, you don’t believe me? I’ll tell you about her. Before she came to me, she stole everything from the family that took her in. Once she had their money, she made up lies about them. The lies were later proved false, but they destroyed the family. If it wasn’t for their kindness, she’d be in jail.”
“Not the way I heard it.” Derry was surprised at the weakness of his own voice.
“You heard it from her, I’m sure.” Levy’s expression changed slightly. “I’m sure she told you several lies while sharing your bed.”
Levy told a convincing story. Was it true? What had Lamar said the other night? His story didn’t sound like Sara’s, either. Had she lied to him?
“After getting away with those crimes, she went to work for one of my companies. I learned she was using my company to run a scam on the elderly. Telling them she’d fix up their computers for free. Offering to set them up on the Internet and show them how to use it. Once she gained their trust, she stole their bank account information, then their life savings. This is the innocent little girl you’re trying to protect.”
Fatal Transaction (Thriller & Suspense, Cyber Crime) Page 25