Zero Sum, Book One, Kotov Syndrome
Page 16
He was buzzed from the alcohol and anxious to slam, so he was clumsy as he fumbled for his door key, failing to register the men on either side of him until everything went black. When he came to, he was tied to his dining room chair, naked and shivering, already starting to hurt.
He tried to focus, shook his head. That’s when he saw the two figures sitting on the other side of the room and realized he was in serious trouble.
One of them spoke, conversationally, slowly.
“Our friend Seung likes the needle. Look at the track marks. Tsk, tsk. He should know better. Drugs kill.” The man spoke in Korean but had an accent Seung couldn't place.
“Yes. And I bet he’ll start to go into withdrawals soon. That’s no fun at all. He’s already shaking.” The taller man had the same distinctive accent, which Seung now recognized—Burmese. Like his cousin.
The smaller man looked at Seung, sitting naked, vulnerable. “I was going to cut off your toes, one by one, and then fingers, then your ears, then your nose, until you tell us what you did with our property. I still may, but only after you’ve gone cold turkey for a while. I hear that’s hell on earth.”
The other man smiled and held up a syringe. “Or you can tell us what we need to know, and you can go painlessly. Your choice. You’ll still be dead, either way. Like your cousin. And his two little girls. The second little girl was pretty far gone by the time he told us about you. God rest their souls.”
This was bad. Very bad. They’d gotten his name from his cousin, so they knew. Everything. Fuck.
Maybe he could lie, get the overdose.
“Give me the needle and I’ll tell you.” He struggled to concoct a story, head fuzzy from the blow and lack of heroin. “I gave the briefcase to my supplier—he’s going to convert it into diamonds. His name is Jung, runs the Poodle club. I’m supposed to meet him in the next few days and get the stones.”
The man appeared to consider it. “I think you’re a lying dope fiend. Gave the goods to your dealer, huh? Let’s try this in eight hours. In the meantime, here’s something to think about.” He walked over and placed a strip of tape across Seung’s mouth, and then pulled a test tube of clear liquid from his pocket and sprinkled the contents onto the young man’s lower torso. The skin started to smoke and crackle.
“A little acid does a world of good for the memory. See you in a few hours. Next time you lie to me you get more acid, and believe me, the second time’s worse than the first. And the needle option will be gone if there’s a lie number two.” The man smiled at him, just a little fun between friends, as Seung lost consciousness from the pain.
Six hours later he told them everything.
They lied about the needle.
The taller man squirted the syringe’s contents onto the floor while the smaller man cut off Seung’s fingers. The blood loss and the withdrawals would kill him slowly, but the last batch of acid poured onto his face would keep him conscious till the very end.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18