Sylvia laughed out loud.
“My guess is that Commissioner Gerland isn’t long for his job either,” She added.
“Seriously?”
“I have an inside source,” she said with a wink.
“Well that is just a real shame. He and I were finally becoming close,” Harris said as he laughed aloud.
“Yeah, I thought you’d get a kick out of that.” Sylvia added with a wry smile.
The two continued eating quietly as they sat across from each other and felt a mutual admiration which needed no words to express. Harris finished his sandwich and his coffee. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and smiled at Sylvia.
“I’m afraid that I need to get going.”
Sylvia’s face clouded over and her mouth turned down at the corner. A single tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away with the napkin.
“I will never be able…” she stopped.
“Sylvia, it’s ok,” he spoke softly. “I know.”
“No,” she said shaking her head. “You don’t.”
The district attorney grabbed another napkin and after wiping her eyes repeatedly, blew her nose and dropped the napkin to her lap. She managed a weak smile.
“She’s asleep now. Do you want to look in?”
“No,” Harris answered with a soft shake of his head. “Next time, Sylvia.”
“I-I don’t know if she’ll ever be the same,” Sylvia’s voice cracked. “How could she possibly?”
Harris pushed his chair back and stood. Her walked around the table and, kneeling in front of her, draped an arm over the woman’s shoulder.
“Did you know that she wanted me to shoot him?”
Sylvia looked at him quizzically.
“She screamed for me to shoot the bastard over and over,” he continued with a grin.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Your girl has guts. She’s a fighter. She will make it back, I know it.”
“Thank you, Jimmy. I’d give anything to have watched that son of a bitch die,” Sylvia hissed, sorrow turning to anger.
“I know.” Harris said.
Sylvia sniffed loudly and reached out for Harris. She pulled his head down so that it rested on her shoulder. Harris placed an arm around her back and held her. Finally, she softened her grip and he stood.
“I’ll stay longer next time. Promise.”
“Let me walk you to the door,” Sylvia said as she also stood.
The two walked in silence through the large house. When they reached the foyer Sylvia stopped and faced Harris.
“You have a blank check with me you know? If you ever need anything, you call me. Anything at all.”
“Emily’s safe. That’s enough for me.”
Sylvia smiled and wrapped him in another hug.
“Let’s get together soon,” she said as she opened the door.
Harris walked through the entrance and when he was outside he paused and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a DVD case and held it at arm’s length.
“What is this?” Sylvia asked her face instantly shrouded with the horrific memories of past videos.
“This was at the crime scene. I grabbed it before I left. Nobody knows about it.”
“Jimmy, what’s on it? I can’t bear the thought of watching…”
“Do you still trust me?” Harris interrupted with a reassuring grin.
She answered the question with a dour smile.
“For the record,” Harris said with a wink. “I want to say that I have absolutely no knowledge of what’s on this. But I have a gut feeling you’re going to want to see it.”
“Jimmy?” She asked warily. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” he replied smiling as he continued to hold the case out for her. “I’m pretty sure.”
Sylvia reached out cautiously, finally grabbing the DVD.
“Just do me a favor and watch it alone.” Harris added as he walked away. “I’d probably get in a lot of trouble if anyone knew I removed it from the crime scene.”
“What the hell, Jimmy?” Sylvia asked with a nervous laugh.
He opened the door of his Camaro giving the woman a broad smile and another wink.
“Trust me.”
Harris slid into the seat and closed the car door. The engine fired with a loud roar and he pulled out and headed down the long driveway.
Sylvia watched until he had gone through the gate. She then closed the front door and walked back through the foyer and into her study. She paused momentarily and then turned back and locked the door.
Walking to the TV that was mounted on the side wall of the office, she knelt and opened a cabinet. Inside were several electronic components. She pressed the power button on a DVD player and then opened the tray. Taking the DVD out of the case, she placed it in the machine and hit the close button. She then stood and pressed the power button on the TV itself before turning and walking to her desk where she took a seat. Sylvia opened a drawer and grabbed a remote control.
Staring somberly at the dark screen for a solid minute, Sylvia finally took a deep breath. Her heart raced and she had to remind herself that Jimmy had never let her down before. She released the breath slowly and hit play on the remote control. The screen flickered to life. What she saw caused her to jump.
Strapped to the same crude, wooden chair that Emily had been in, sat a naked Salvador Castillo, his legs and wrists restrained. His face was cut and bloodied and his left eye was swollen almost shut. His bare chest heaved with each breath and he looked past the camera to the right and to whatever, or whoever, was behind it. As the video began he coughed and Sylvia could hear his rattled breathing.
“I am a diplomat!” Castillo screamed in wild eyed, panic. His voice was deep with a thick South American accent. “I have immunity!”
The man’s back suddenly arched with a violent snap causing Sylvia to flinch. His eyes bulged and his face shuddered. As the electricity passed through Castillo, his fingers twitched and his body trembled violently. He threw his head back and held his chin high as he shook violently and suffered through the pain.
“Aaaaagggghhh!!” He screamed loudly.
And just as quickly as it had hit him, it stopped. Castillo’s body slumped forward and he struggled to breath. He threw his head from the right to the left as he waited for the pain to mercifully subside. He looked again to the right of the camera and bared his teeth in anger.
“I-I demand you release me!” he shouted between desperate gulps of air. “Puta madre, I am Salvador Castillo! You have no-no idea the mistake you are making! I will slaughter your entire family in front of you, bastard!”
Again the man’s body jerked and tightened as a second wave of electricity passed through his wrists and slammed into his body. This time it lasted much longer and the man’s face contorted with excruciating pain. A white froth bubbled from the corner of his mouth and once more he opened his mouth to scream only this time no sound came forth.
The electricity finally relented and again the Columbian’s body slumped forward. His head bobbed and his chest shook. He remained silent for several seconds and when he looked up again, the anger was gone.
“Por favor,” he gasped in Spanish, struggling to catch his breath. He stared to the right of the camera, his face twisted into a pitiful mask of anguish. He began to weep openly and he pleaded. “Por favor….no mas. No mas.”
Whoever was administering the torturous punishment remained silent and allowed the man to beg for a full minute.
“I beg you,” the man sobbed openly. “No mas…no mas.”
A third wave of electricity hit the man and he jerked so viciously it appeared as if he might break loose from the chair. His contorted face shook again and he let out a deafening wail of pain. His gaping eyes stared straight up at the ceiling and he shrieked loudly.
And then, as abruptly as it had begun, the video ended. The screen went dark. The entire thing had lasted only three and a half minutes.
Sylvia
sat in stunned silence. Her heart pounded in her chest as she held the remote control in her quivering hand and stared at the blank television screen. Her own breathing was heavy and she felt herself racing with nervous energy. She continued to stare at the darkened television in shocked disbelief, having been completely unprepared to witness such a scene.
And then, slowly, the horrified look on her face began to melt away, and a trace of a smile formed on her lips. The smile grew broader and her eyes flickered with delight. Sylvia thought of Harris and she shook her head in amazement. She beamed and felt a raw sense of animal bloodlust that made her entire body tremble with excitement. She felt no guilt at all having enjoyed watching the man suffer. In fact, she admitted to herself, she felt euphoric.
With a shaking hand, Sylvia pointed the remote control towards the DVD player a second time. She paused, enjoying the moment, the large smile now completely consuming her facial features.
Sylvia hit play again.
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Good Cop Bad Cop (A James Harris Series Book 1) Page 27