Page 68 of Storm Warning

The prisoner’s reaction was immediate. His back bowed, and he screamed. Although he thrashed around, Beefy couldn’t dislodge their hold. After a minute, Riley motioned for Andre to ease up.

“All you have to do is tell us your name,” Riley said. “Nothing hard or dangerous about that, is there? No one will know you shared your name.”

“I don’t have to say nothing,” Beefy said, his voice just above a growl.

Elias shook his head. “Look, buddy. You aren’t the first man to show up unannounced today. Things didn’t go well for the other one. I’d hate to see the same thing happen to you.”

Uneasiness filled Beefy’s gaze. “What are you talking about? What did you do to him?”

Elias laughed and motioned to the tools Riley and Iona had amassed. “Look. It’s only fair you should understand that we know how to use every one of these.” He inclined his head toward Andre, who tightened his hold a fraction. “My friend here will enjoy using each one to force you to talk. Sorry, man, but he takes this kind of thing personally.”

“What thing?”

“You don’t know? Dude, we know why you’re here, and the woman you targeted belongs to my friend. He can’t wait to get his hands on you. If I were you, I’d talk and run as fast as I could. He’s not in a good mood.”

Blood drained from Beefy’s face as he turned his head from side to side, seeking an avenue of escape. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Elias shook his head, a sympathetic expression on his face. “Wrong answer, my friend.”

Seconds later, tears streamed down the intruder’s face as he screamed curses at them while writhing in pain.

Riley leaned close to his ear. “You’re suffering needlessly. Just tell us your name, and the pain stops. You have my word.”

She glanced at Andre, and he bore down hard on Beefy’s shoulder. When the prisoner was sobbing, Riley signaled Andre to back off. “What’s your name?”

His eyes closed for a beat. “Cliff Carter.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard. Tell me why you came here, Cliff.”

“It’s just business. Nothing personal.”

“Tell me more.”

He shook his head.

Riley increased the pressure on nerves still sparking from the last round.

He hissed, squirming to ease the pain. “Please.”

“Tell us why you came here, and the pain ends. Otherwise, we’ll have to move on to more unpleasant ways of extracting information.”

Cliff shuddered. “I wasn’t supposed to hurt anyone. I swear.”

She looked at Elias, eyebrows raised in silent question.

“You’re lying to us, Cliff.” Elias shook his head again. “You must like pain because you’re making a ton of bad choices this morning.”

Andre leaned down, increasing the pressure of his hold again. “Tell us why you came here.”

Cliff groaned, sweat popping out on his face. “My job was to kidnap a chick named Riley. My boss wants her.”

Elias scowled. “Do you know what she looks like?”

A head shake. “I only know her name. That’s all. Didn’t know there were two women here.”

“How would you have solved that problem?” Elias’ intense gaze locked on Cliff. “Think carefully before you answer that question, Cliff.”

He swallowed hard. “I would have taken them both to the rendezvous point.”