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ChapterTwenty
“This is bullshit!”The bellow could clearly be heard even through the closed hospital room door.“You can’t do this to me!I want a lawyer!I know my freaking rights!Bullshit!”
Sighing, Madeline Desalt shoved open the door to hospital room 308.Inside, two agents were stationed on either side of the hospital bed.Lateisha Gray stood to the right, her shoulders straight, her dark hair pulled back, and her eyes on the patient.To the left of the bed, Colson Reid had his hands crossed in front of his body.His blue eyes were on the suspect in the bed, and his jaw had locked tight.
In the bed, their suspect twisted and heaved, as much as he could twist and heave with one hand being cuffed to the railing and with the other hand having recently been sewn up and bandaged.
“You’re not breaking the cuffs,” she said, annoyed as she approached Brock.Who did the guy think he was?Superman?“But you might rip out all the stitches that the doctor just put in your hand so I suggest you settle down.”
At her voice, his head whipped toward her.
Madeline pasted a bright smile on her face.Time to play the game.“Hello, Brock.”
“This is bullshit!”he cried.
“I believe you’ve noted that a few times, yes.”She dipped her head forward in a commiserating nod.“However, it’s technically not bullshit.This scene is about to be you…answering every single question that I have.Spoiler alert, I have lots of questions.About you.About your dead boss Ivan.About the woman you tried to burn alive.”
He heaved up, dragging himself to a sitting position.The perp was bruised and battered, with scrapes all along his neck and arms.
“You look like you got the crap beaten out of you,” she murmured.“And here you went in with your whole gang to take out Naomi Romano.Bet this is not the result you expected, is it?”
Colson snorted.
Lateisha didn’t make a sound.
Fury twisted Brock’s face.“I ain’t telling you nothing!”
An annoyed sigh was her response.“Do I look like your local cops?”
“What?”
“Sorry, let me rephrase…” Her hands went to her hips.“Do I look like I’m going to give you an option on responding?”
He blinked.
“Colson, go stand outside by the door, will you?When he starts screaming again, I want to make sure we aren’t disturbed.”
Colson immediately double-timed it for the door.
“Wait!”Brock’s voice broke.“I want a lawyer.I want a lawyer,now!”
Madeline rolled her eyes.“No.”
His eyes practically bulged from his head.“You can’t?—”
“I can do anything I want.You see, I don’t exist.”She was not in the mood for this crap to continue.She had places to be.Other cases to work.
“The fuck you don’t exist?—”
“I have a fake name,” Madeline cut through his snarling words.The man was giving her a headache.“I have a fake life.And I have the power to do anything to you that I want.You see, I’m not a cop.Told you that.”She knew that she’d mentioned that important fact.The local cops had been the ones so dead set on getting the guy patched up.Frankly, she didn’t give a real damn if he bled out or not.But she’d had to maintain the appearance of caring in front of them.Only, there were no more local police eyes on her.Time for her to get business handled.“I don’t play by the rules that constrain local officers.In fact, I make my own rules.”Something that brought her great pleasure in life.“You tried to attack a friend of mine last night.Granted, he pisses me off most days, but…I still like him.You went after Eb.You and your whole gang?—”
He lunged forward.
Lateisha put a scalpel to his throat.
“What the fuck?”he breathed as he stiffened.“You can’t do that—this is a hospital!”
“That’s why I used a scalpel,” Lateisha replied without any hesitation.“Seemed fitting.I do keep a knife strapped to my ankle, FYI.But this felt better.More in tune with the scene, you know.”