Page 149 of Seven Deadly Sins

“Get up.” Harper yanked him to his feet. “Sit.”

The man sat on the sidewalk. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Then why did you run?” Liam planted his palms on his knees and slowly regained his breath.

“Because you two are the sin of anger. You’re not enlightened. That means you’d stop my preaching.”

Liam shook his head. “Thompson is the angry one, although you running off hasn’t made me exactly happy. What’s your name?”

“Steve.”

“You’re kind of young, Steve. Where’s he hiding?”

He shrugged.

“Do you know Thompson?” Harper crossed her arms.

Steve pressed his lips together.

“What’s your last name?”

Still nothing

“Okay.” Liam hauled him to his feet. “You can think about your answers at the station.” He turned Steve around and cuffed him. Once the man was secure, he searched his pockets and pulled out a wallet. He flipped it open. “Steve Reynolds.”

“Hey, I’ve got rights.”

So, Liam read him his rights before marching him across the park and to the car while all the people he’d shoved aside in his haste clapped as they passed.

“I feel sorry for all of you!” Steve’s face turned the color of a tomato.

“People don’t usually change their minds when someone is yelling at them.” Liam opened the back door and helped the man inside the car.

“Mr. Thompson is a great prophet. You’ll see.”

“Sure, he is.” Liam slammed the door closed. It always amazed him at how easily people could be swayed to follow someone with a message no matter how far out there the message might be. Thompson might have a larger cult following than previously thought.

Thankfully the drive back was short, or Steve wouldn’t have made it. The fool kept reciting the sins and Thompson’s version of punishment until Liam wanted to punch him.

When they arrived, they ushered a still chanting Steve into a holding cell. “He can stay there until he shuts up.” Liam locked the door before turning to Harper. “I knew you were fast, but today you blew past me.”

“Ran track in high school. Jog when I can. This case hasn’t given me much opportunity for jogging.” She glanced at her phone screen. “Amber quit talking.”

Chapter Eight

Amber’s scream andcries of fear resonated through the room. No one spoke. All eyes were on the television screen.

“Please, I’ll start reading again. I will. I promise.” She jerked against her restraints. “I’ve almost got it memorized. I needed a drink. Please!”

Robert, at least Harper assumed the masked man was Robert Thompson, stepped into camera view holding the shears. “I told you the consequences.”

“They were unreasonable.” She tried leaning away from him.

“Unreasonable to you. See…what I’m doing here…what I’m using you for, is to show the world that I mean business. The consequences of sin in the long run are far worse than me cutting off a mere finger. I’ll start with the pinky on your left hand. You don’t really need that finger unless you’re a typist, and you, my dear, don’t work at all.” He raised her pinky as far as he could while keeping her hand tied to the arm of the chair.

Harper swallowed against the bile rising in her throat. After the first finger, would he order her to keep reading? She’d have to stop again eventually. Would she lose her fingers one-by-one until she had nothing more to give?

Liam rested a hand on her shoulder. She took comfort in his touch, feeling a twinge of guilt that she couldn’t give the same to Amber.