Page 32

Chapter

Thirty

LUNCHBOX

“ T he root cellar?” Grace glanced at each of us with a mixture of surprise and puzzlement. “We have a root cellar?”

I hid a smile while I washed down the last of the pancakes and bacon with coffee.

There was a faint smear of syrup on her lower lip.

She’d eaten a pancake and one egg, poached, not fried, but then she had two pieces of bacon.

Calorie deficits were a thing, but she was making an effort to eat. I’d leave it alone.

“Yes,” Voodoo said, before he caught her hand and tugged her a little closer. Dammit, he kissed her and cleaned that lip right up. “Tasty, could definitely go for more.”

Grace laughed. “I have some left if you…”

He shot her an exasperated look and nudged her plate back to her. “You have two more bites and it’s not worth my life to try and take ‘em even if I wanted them.”

With a slow blink, she looked from Voodoo to the rest of us, then back before she snapped her gaze to Bones. “You know, if you keep scowling, your face is gonna get stuck like that.” Her lips pursed. “Or maybe it already has.”

He spared a single look. “Hilarious.”

Amusingly enough, he wasn’t glaring anymore. Grace appeared more than a little pleased with herself. I could put up with just about anything to keep that look on her face. “Last call,” I informed the guys as I stood. “Want anything more?”

“All good,” Alphabet said, though he cracked a yawn right in the middle of the second word. “Let me get the next round of files running and I’ll be ready.”

I swapped out his coffee for water and he gave me a gimlet-eyed stare that I ignored. Keep downing the gallons of coffee that he had been and even we risked disintegrating our stomach lining. Grace collected the other plates and empty mugs and ferried them to the sink.

Voodoo was a half-step behind her and he took over washing up. I’d already cleaned most of the pans I’d used, but I went over the stove area and packed away any supplies that had remained out.

“We have enough supplies for a midday meal and a decent dinner.” I caught Bones’ eye and nodded to Grace. We had more than enough to feed her. We might be stuck with rations. “So if we’re planning to be here longer, we’ll need another supply run.”

“We may need a supply run anyway,” Voodoo said, drying his hands off after stacking the last of the now clean dishes in the rack. “Once we decide the next part of the plan, we go from there.”

“For now,” Bones straightened and swept a look over all of us before he focused on Grace. “We have an interrogation to get to. You do not have to be involved. Particularly because we will need to be aggressive in our tactics.”

Torture was on the table. There was no other way to ensure that our guest cooperated. Extracting a pound of flesh that was dearly owed?

That was just a perk.

Grace didn’t immediately launch into an argument over his cautious warning. Instead, she folded her arms and chewed her lower lip. Between the sweatshirt—it had to be one of Bones’—and her leggings, she looked almost painfully young.

But then, all I had to do was gaze into those brilliant blue eyes to see the scars life had already left on her.

“Will it create an issue if I am present?” Not an unfair question. I had my opinions. Clearly, we all did. Voodoo and Alphabet, like me, also waited for Bones’ verdict.

“An issue for us?” Bones restated the question, clarifying it before he shook his head. “No. We can handle it. Nothing he says or does can actually hurt you and any threats he makes won’t go far.”

Because the man would be dead when we were done. I didn’t fully agree that he couldn’t hurt her with words though. She was tough as hell, but she wasn’t us . Her skin hadn’t been turned to rawhide by training, war, and loss.

I never wanted her to experience that or to have to feel those things. Ever.

“You,” Bones continued after letting his response settle for a beat. “It might create more bad memories for you. More fuel for your nightmares.”

Dropping my chin, I let my gaze pass back and forth between them. Bones couched his own objection in a kind observation. Just telling her no wasn’t going to fly, she had to choose whether she went down there or not. Choose whether to stay or not.

If we could have brought the guy in and dealt with it without her ever seeing a thing? Yeah, I probably would have let her continue in ignorance. Some things she didn’t have to experience and more she didn’t need to, particularly when she had nothing to prove.

“Because you’re going to beat the shit out of him.” She wasn’t asking, more testing herself maybe with the statement. “How bad?”

Bones shrugged. “As badly as he requires to answer our questions. We need to be efficient, which means a certain level of brutality. Enhanced interrogation is not for everyone, Grace. You don’t have to do anything.

We will get the answers we need and any that you need whether you are in the room or not. ”

A faint smile touched her lips. Go Bones, I thought with no small amount of admiration. He’d laid it out with facts, not feelings.

“Can he hurt any of you with me in the room?” Also not a bad question. Her compassion really was a strength, even if it also opened her up to pain.

“He can try,” Voodoo answered with a nonchalant shrug. “Bones is right, we’re going to hurt him, Firecracker. He can make it worse for himself by being a dick to you. But it won’t get him out of this life any faster than necessary unless he just decides to cooperate from the word go.”

Alphabet snorted. My thoughts exactly.

“Then I’d like to be present, if for no other reason than to support you all.” She pursed her lips. “That said, if it becomes too much I’ll just storm out—maybe slap him and storm out.”

“You won’t slap him.” Bones didn’t even let her finish her statement. “You won’t be anywhere near him.”

She wrinkled her nose but this was not a battle she’d win and she seemed to recognize it. “Acceptable.” Huffing out a breath, she scanned us again. “Do you want to have a code phrase to tell me to go if you need me to leave?”

Damn if she didn’t have Bones’ number. There was no mistaking the genuine smile that appeared and disappeared like the sun behind fast moving clouds. Yes, she had his number and let him know it.

“We’ll ask you to take Goblin for a walk.” Straightforward enough code phrase. “If any one of us asks, you go. No hesitation. No arguments.”

“Agreed,” she said with a nod. “Do any of you need key phrases to get out of there?”

The silence that hit the room after that question was almost like a blanket bomb hitting.

“Coffee,” Alphabet said. “If I need to get out of there, I’m going to say something about coffee. You can tell me to go make it.”

“Magic trick,” Voodoo said after a long moment. “If I mention a magic show or trick, that’ll be my cue. You can ask me to walk you out or whatever.”

When she glanced at me, I blew out a breath. “Food.” Easiest answer for me. “If I say something about needing to start on dinner. Then damn straight it’s time for me to go.” I’d never needed an out before.

None of us had, but Grace offered us a way to get her out of the room, she wanted to give us the same chances.

That just left Bones. He didn’t say anything for a long moment. Almost too long. “Stick,” he said finally. “If I mention I need a stick. That’ll be my cue.”

“As in the stick that used to be up your ass?” The level of skepticism and amusement tangling in her voice made me laugh. I wasn’t alone. Everyone cracked up. Everyone except Bones.

“Maybe,” was all he said. “You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?”

“What a way to dare me with a good time.” So very dry and deadpan, she could have given him a run for his money. “I guess that means we’re ready.”

“I guess so,” was his response.

Watching them flirt was wild and entertaining.

“Oh, Gracie,” I said as we all straightened. “Boots on.”

She glanced down at her bare feet, then up again before she nodded. “I’ll go get them.”

As soon as she was out of the room, Alphabet glanced at Bones. “You sure about this?”

“No,” he said. “But it has to be her call. She’ll leave if she can’t handle it.” At least he sounded certain on that subject. “If any of us see it going sideways for her, then call it for her.”

Worked for me.

“Shall we?” I asked, offering her an arm when she came back. Curiosity filtered through the worry in her expression, but she settled her hand on the crook of my arm. “Down we go.”

A light swung from the ceiling in the root cellar. It was a muddy light, enough to let you see but hardly bright enough for reading.

Our guest, Reznik, bled from the temple. A vicious bruise around his right eye stretched down to the second bruise on his jaw. He could look worse. His chair creaked as he leaned forward, partially rocking against his restraints.

We’d shackled him in place, then left him for the night. The insulation down here kept the sound from traveling. I’d also done a full scan for any trackers. Cocky bastard didn’t bother with one for himself.

Oh well. Too bad for him.

“Well, well, welll,” Reznik said slowly as we filed into the room. There were crates in the back. Shelving. In addition to the environment providing cooling, there was actually a freezer down here. It was far enough back from the bastard, that he wouldn’t even be able to spit on her.

I hoisted her up to sit on it, that way she could also see past all of us. The faintly incredulous look she gave me had me winking.

“You want to start with your partners?” Bones asked in an icy tone.

“My partners?” Reznik made a face. “I’d rather start this with a lawyer.”

“All out of those right now,” Alphabet said in an almost too happy singsong.

“If you want to skip your partners, we can go with fourteen girls. Fourteen, all under twenty, three dead before they made it to the first auction. Four more dead during the auction. Seven left, three returned for another auction—the other four? Presumed deceased?”