The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.)

by Marnie Perry

  His eyes were surprisingly gentle as he said, ‘you’ve just named two of the reasons that drive me. Money and personal satisfaction.’ He sighed heavily, ‘maybe I shouldn’t have taken the job in the first place, sometimes I wish I hadn’t, but I did, and now I have to see it through, it’s a matter of principle.’ He recalled his conversation with Carson and how he had said the same thing and what Carson had said to him.

  Adela’s face was full of contempt as she said, ‘I suppose not killing women and children is a matter of principle too.’

  He looked surprised at the jibe then smiled wryly, ‘ah, Desi. She seems to have shared an awful lot with you.’

  ‘Yes she did.’ Her tone changed from accusing to almost pleading now, 'you must know some of what happened to her too. Have you no sympathy, no compassion, no pity, no human feelings at all?’

  He tried not to look away from her intense gaze but found it impossible. He looked over the top of her head at the wall behind her for a moment then his tone no longer gentle or placating said sharply, ‘as interesting as this conversation about my lack of principles or morals is, you’re here to answer my questions, Miss. Faraday, not the other way around.’

  ‘Maybe my questions are too difficult, or perhaps it’s the answers that are too hard for you.’

  She could not help the shiver that went through her as a mask seemed to slide over his features, leaving only his eyes with any expression and they were cold. His voice was also icy as he said, ‘stop stonewalling, Miss. Faraday, it’ll avail you nothing in the end. So now, you’ll answer my questions. So, who was the other person there that night in the street?’

  Her frown of confusion was not fake he could see that. She said, ‘other person?’

  ‘Yes, the person you called out too for assistance.’

  He saw realisation at dawn and she shook her head, ‘there was no one else there, I just pretended there was so as to make those men think I had help.’

  He had of course guessed this but still he was struck yet again how inventive she was, especially in moments of crisis. To her amazement he threw back his head and laughed out loud. She said, ‘I’m happy to see I’m still the object of amusement for you, Mr. Hennessey.’

  His laughter stopped but he continued to smile, ‘not an object of amusement, only a source of it. Your resourcefulness and coolness under fire never ceases to amaze me. You’re one of a kind, Miss. Faraday.’

  ‘Very soon to be extinct.’

  He stopped smiling and stared at her. He saw cold fear in her eyes, yet here she was giving as good as she got, no, more than she got.

  He shrugged, ‘so back to business, what else did you give Desi?’

  She sighed in defeat and licked her now dry lips, ‘a watch.’

  He smiled a thin, satisfied smile. ‘A watch, worth what? Ten thousand, twenty?’

  ‘Twelve.’

  He laughed, ‘let’s say fifteen. You’re very smart, Miss. Faraday, very smart indeed. So you gave her enough cash to live on and something to pawn. So she should be able to manage for quite a while out there in her brave new world.’

  ‘She’ll find a job, she’s smart and savvy, she’ll survive and be happy, and what’s more important, free.’

  He gave that complacent smile she hated so much, ‘not for long she won’t.’

  Her face paled and he regretted his words, ‘don’t worry too much about her, she’s survived this long with Glissando. What I meant was he won’t kill her. I assure you. He’s quite fond of her in his own way.’

  She was incredulous, ‘fond? If he treats those he’s fond of in that way what does he do to those he hates?’

  Hennessey raised his eyebrows pointedly and she paled and her shoulders slumped as the fight went out of her. He said quickly ‘look, I’m not going to hand you over to Glissando, that wasn’t part of the deal.’

  She searched his face looking for the lie but he seemed sincere. Then again she had been fooled by those eyes before. But Desi had said he didn’t kill women or children, well, she was a woman wasn’t she.

  He said more firmly, ‘but you have to answer my questions, and it’d pay you to be truthful. I’ll know otherwise. Again a shiver went through her at his tone and the look on his face. He said, ‘she caught a plane so it stands to reason she had a passport right?’ She nodded, ‘you saw this passport.’

  ‘I didn’t help her to get that, she already had it.’ She said defensively.

  This time he nodded as though she had said something very important. He leaned toward her and said, ‘what name was in the passport?’

  She had not seen that coming, her face turned white and her eyes opened wide followed by her mouth before she closed it again.

  He said, ‘remember what I said, Miss. Faraday about my patience. Come on, what name did she use?’

  ‘I don’t know, she didn’t tell me.’ Playing for time she said, ‘I need to use the bathroom.’

  He smiled and said quite nicely, ‘of course you do after all that water you’ve drunk, and you can as soon as you answer my question.’ She didn’t answer, ‘come on, it’s not a difficult question, what name did Desi use in the passport?’

  She felt light-headed and sick and her tongue felt as though it was stuck to the roof of her mouth and if she could she would have ripped it out for letting it betray her yet again.

  He stared at her, waiting. She swallowed deeply, ‘I…I don’t know.’ She tried to sound convincing but the quiver in her voice put the lie to her words.

  He leaned further towards her so that only six inches separated them and there was anger in his eyes now but he said quite calmly, ‘I told you, don’t lie to me.’

  Her words tumbled over each other as she blurted, ‘I don’t…I never showed it, I mean she didn’t show it to me, I never saw it.’

  She sensed he was fighting for control but he didn’t raise his voice and somehow his calmness was far more frightening than his anger. He said softly, ‘you’re lying.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Yes, yes you are, Miss Faraday, I know you well enough to know when you’re lying.’

  She shook her head and with one swift movement he leapt out of his chair and the next thing she knew he was towering over her, she looked up at him then down at the floor. ‘Look at me, Miss. Faraday.’ He demanded. She didn’t, she couldn’t. But his tone was insistent, ‘look at me.’

  This time she did and what she saw in his face caused her to jerk back in her seat. She couldn’t take her eyes from his as he leaned down so that their noses were almost touching. She saw his jaw clench and she gulped in her throat. Again despite the menace in his eyes and in his demeanour his voice was low and calm but there was a definite threat in his tone as he said, ‘I’m fast losing patience with you, Miss, Faraday, so no more games. What name was she using?’

  Adela tried to look away from those terrifying blue eyes but couldn’t. ‘I swear I don’t know. She didn’t tell me and I didn’t ask. Just as I didn’t ask where she was going to settle, I didn’t want to know so that I couldn’t tell.’

  He stared at her and then quite suddenly he shot to his feet and into her face he yelled, ‘DON’T FUCK WITH ME.’

  She jerked back so hard the chair tipped backwards and she thought she would fall but he put out a hand and stopped it. He kept it suspended on its back legs and his face still only centimetres from hers said through gritted teeth, ‘what name did she use?’

  Tears came to her eyes as she insisted, ‘I don’t know. I never saw…She gasped as he pushed the chair backwards so that she tipped back again but again he caught it and held it but this time her head was suspended only a foot from the floor. Her heart hammered like a piston in her chest.

  ‘I told you my patience was not infinite, Miss. Faraday,’ he declared menacingly, ‘for you I’ve stretched it as far as it will go, but it’s just about to snap. So one last time. What. Name. Did. She. Use?’ He emphasised each word as though she was an imbecile unable to understand simple wo
rds.

  The tears made her eyes shine as they looked back at him but this time there was no softening of his features, no sympathy, only an icy emptiness. She could hardly speak so frightened was she, eventually she managed, ‘I swear I don’t… She got no further because now she was lying on the floor the back of the chair beneath her. Luckily he had not let it go but lowered it quickly to the floor. Her hands and back hurt where they dug into back of the chair. She felt dizzy and disoriented as he straddled her putting a hand either side of her head.

  She found it impossible to tear her gaze from his. His face was so close to hers that his breath blew her hair as he spoke, ‘now for the very last time, Miss. Faraday, what name was in Desi’s passport?’

  In that moment all hope left her, the hope that because of their relationship he would not kill her. She knew she had been fooling herself to believe that he would just leave her alive. After all, that’s what he did for a living. Kill people. She knew that he had lied before when he said he had not been hired to kill her, she saw it in his eyes, that single minded purpose, that ruthlessness, that empty dead look of someone already damned. No matter what happened here in this shack; no matter what she said or did he would kill her anyway. And with that realisation came a renewed courage. She stared back at him pursed her lips then turned her head away. He said, ‘look at me, Miss. Faraday.’ She did not comply. His hand coming down with a hard slap at the side of her head made her jump but she did not look back at him.

  He remained there for a long moment then leaned back slightly. She did not let herself believe that he had given up. She was wise not to.

  He had seen the range of emotions in her eyes just before she had looked away. He had seen those same emotions many times in the eyes of the men he had killed just before he had pulled the trigger. Enlightenment, fear, pleading, sometimes even acceptance. Although of course he had not seen the latter in her eyes. So now she knew at last, knew him for what he really was.

  He reached across her and dragged the bag from the table. She flinched as it hit the ground close to her head but did not look round.

  She felt him rummage around in the bag until he pulled something out, she did not turn to see what it was, she did not want to know.

  When he spoke it was in that same sympathetic almost pitying tone he had used earlier but she was not fooled, she would never be fooled by him again. He said, ‘I was going to say look at me but maybe it’s best if you look the other way.’

  Her heart began that now familiar sledge hammering at his words and she bit her bottom lip hard. He leaned over her and put something in front of her face so close that she had to blink to bring it into focus then wished she hadn’t.

  He said, ‘you know what this is don’t you? Of course you do, you with your love of crime books must have read about them. And of course you’ve experienced its effects for yourself.’ She bit her lip so hard it bled, ‘I put it on a low setting earlier and maybe I’ll begin with that then move on to the medium then, well, maybe we won’t have to go that far, I sincerely hope not.’

  Her new found courage evaporated as quickly as it had come. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably. With his other hand he pushed the hair from her face, his touch was soft and gentle as his fingers moved down her forehead to her cheek, her nose, her lips.

  She was rigid as he put his lips close to her ear and whispered, ‘maybe that won’t be necessary after all. Maybe there’s another way to get you to tell me what I want to know and at the same time giving you some much needed pleasure before…’

  He deliberately left the sentence unfinished. She raised her upper body and tried to throw him off but it was a futile effort. He said, ‘what’s the matter, not comfortable? Never mind I’ll soon make you forget your discomfort, I’ll soon make you forget everything, just like I did twice before.’ He kissed her cheek then ran his tongue down the soft flesh between her ear and her shoulder. She twisted her head from side to side and heard him chuckle. His voiced sounded muffled when he spoke, ‘what? Don’t tell me you don’t like this, you went wild the last time I did it. Begged me for more if I remember right.’

  She was incensed now, ‘don’t, don’t touch me.’

  She felt the lips on her neck turn into a smile, ‘you didn’t say that last time, on the contrary. I think I might have made a mistake there, I should have asked you my questions then, when you were begging and pleading and willing to give me almost anything, even your body.’

  Now she did turn her head and faced him. She summoned up as much contempt and conviction as she could, ‘I don’t know which of us I hate most, you for the cruel, wicked killer that you are, or myself for letting you anywhere near me,’ now the contempt was easier than the conviction, ‘I’d rather be electrocuted to death than have you touch me again.’

  Any other time she would have laughed at the look of astonishment on his face. Then she saw anger in his eyes before that now familiar mask came down over his features. But it was her turn to be amazed as he suddenly took her mouth in a kiss that was fierce and brutal making her already cut lip bleed again. She tried to wriggle free but it was hopeless, she had no choice but to endure it.

  She hated it and hated him with all her being. But despite her repugnance a part of her mind was back at her cabin in Mississippi, in her bed, with him. If she closed her mind to her situation, to why she was here and what he intended to do to her she could almost feel that joy and pleasure she had experienced there. This time the struggle was not with him but within herself.

  Eventually he ended the kiss and wiped his hand across his mouth then looked at his blooded fingers. He looked down at her a smug almost sympathetic look on his face.

  He said, ‘you may regret a lot of things, Miss. Faraday, but not feeling as you did when you were in that bed, in my arms, in my power.’

  Although her face flushed she summoned up every ounce of willpower and met his eyes full on; she just hoped her hatred was mirrored in them.

  He said, ‘while your idea with the stun gun is not a bad one, I don’t intend to kill you with it, I tend to stick to the weapon I know best. I know you believe I’m going to kill you, but you can make it much easier on yourself, there’s no need to suffer.’

  Once more her body betrayed her to him as it trembled beneath him, this time not with passion but with terror, ‘you said something about needing to pee earlier.’ She was taken aback by the change of subject and didn’t answer. He held up the stun gun and went on, ‘after a few jolts of this you won’t need to visit the bathroom.’

  He knew that peeing one’s self would be a humiliation for anyone but for someone like her who was so clean and particular, not to mention shy of even speaking about such things, it would be twice as humiliating.

  He moved his weight putting pressure on her bladder increasing the discomfort she already felt. She tightened her stomach muscles hoping to relieve the discomfort. He put the stun gun against her neck saying, ‘just two names, first and last, that’s all I want and I promise I’ll make it quick and painless, you’ll never even see it coming. So what do you say, quick and clean or prolonged and nasty? Just two words, why make it harder for yourself.’

  When she remained silent he began to unfasten the buttons on her blouse with his free hand, she squirmed but it was a tired effort. She didn’t even move when he opened her blouse and took her left breast out of her bra. He looked down at her exposed breast for a moment before once again raising his eyes to her face.

  He pressed the stun gun into the skin of her neck then began to lower it slowly downwards towards her breast bringing it to a halt on her nipple. She tensed waiting for the shock to shoot through her breast and into the rest of her body and praying that she would not be shamed and wet herself. Suddenly in her fear and humiliation she heard a voice in the room, not his, a different voice. The voice was low as if coming from a long way off but she recognised it of course. “I always said you were useless and look at you now, what a mess you’ve got yourself into
,” her mother laughed that croaky, hoarse laugh caused by too many cigarettes and too much booze before adding, ‘you’re more stupid than even I took you for, as if a man like that would be interested in you. You, who’re so smart and must have read a least a million crime books fall for the oldest trick in the book, a man’s charm. You were so desperate for attention and flattery that you fell for the first man who flattered you, fell for his lies and honeyed charm and failed to notice the evil beneath. And look at you now lying there helpless and humiliated and terrified.” The laughter grew louder and louder. Adela knew that it was not really her mother’s voice she heard but the voice of her own conscience

  Her eyes involuntarily opened wide then closed tight shut and a small tear squeezed its way out of the corner of one eye and worked its way down her cheek.

  She opened her eyes and met his, her own were so blurred she did not see the look in his nor did she feel the pressure of the stun gun ease from her skin. She whispered, ‘Olivia, Olivia Llewellyn.’

  CHAPTER 30.

  Adela hoped and prayed with all her might that he would believe her. She had chosen Olivia because it was the name she knew her by and hoped and prayed Olivia would not use it in her new life, and Llewellyn for her hero hoping that he would bring her luck.

  As she kept his gaze she prayed, just this once don’t let my eyes betray me, just this once let him not see the lie. He searched her bright tear filled eyes for what seemed like hours, and just when she prepared herself as best she could for the jolt of electricity to surge through her, she was suddenly upright again. Although he had not righted the chair roughly it still jarred the bones in her back and buttocks almost causing her to do what she had most dreaded and wet herself.

  She gave a grunt of pain then sat tense waiting for him to speak or to shoot her in the head. He did neither but walked slowly around her chair and standing in front of her pulled her bra down over her breasts and refastened her blouse. His touch felt like a jolt from the stun gun and had the same effect. Then he sat down in his own chair the stun gun still in his hand.