Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 36154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Damon took her hand and they were back out in daylight again.
“If you want to go back home…”
“No, I’m fine. It’s good to get out.”
“You really liked her?” he asked.
“She was my friend. She was younger than me. It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter.”
“I just want to focus on now. Tell me about these accountants,” she said. If she focused on work, then her pain would diminish. That was all she could focus on right now. Work.
“Over half a million has gone missing from one of the casinos. The Boss requested a further investigation and it appears money only ever vanishes when a certain accountant is here. He’s been loyal for twenty years, but all of the markers point to him.”
“And if he’s innocent?”
“I’ve found applying the right kind of pressure helps to bring out the truth.”
They weren’t driving for long before they pulled up outside an abandoned bar. It was run down and had metal gates all around it.
“Original,” she said, climbing out of the car with her husband.
“We like to keep our image alive.”
She followed Damon into the old bar. A man was hung upside down, and a pool of blood already coated the cement floor. The scent of stale beer, decay, and death filled the air, making her stomach turn.
Her father had never allowed her to see him in action. Randy was the person she watched torture, or one of his other soldiers. They were always quick deaths. The men would scream out their secrets, and it would be over.
A whimper filled the air. The man flailed and tried to get away.
“Now, now, you’re really hurting my feelings,” Damon said.
“Please, Damon. I didn’t do it. I don’t know who did but I would never steal from the Boss. Never. I’m not stupid. Please.”
She folded her arms, instantly feeling uncomfortable.
Did her friend beg?
“But we’ve got the logs, Bud. We know the money went missing during your hours.” Damon held out a file that he opened up. She could only imagine they were the log books.
“How do you know it was him?” she asked, speaking up.
Damon turned to her. “Excuse me?”
“The log books state it was him in the system but have you checked it was the days he worked? Passwords and stuff can be taken, used against them.” She took a deep breath, waiting. “Make sure you’ve got the right person before you spill his guts out.”
“Yes, what the lady says,” Bud said. “I’m innocent. I only work for the Boss. I only do what he wishes. I would never hurt or do anything.”
She didn’t want to be here for this. Moving toward Damon, she took the file from him and glanced over it. “Where are his employment files?” she asked, turning to the man who held the file out to him. He had a distinctive mark on his neck, showing he was a direct soldier of the Boss.
“We don’t have any.”
“Then you should. The Boss wouldn’t want this man tortured for a simple error. He must be worth all this time and effort and to lose him would be a great loss.” She didn’t stop staring at the man.
Damon grabbed her arm, moving her back. “What are you doing?” he asked, whispering the words.
“Making sure the next person who is killed deserved it. Who told you to torture this man?”
“The Boss.”
She stared at the man, curious. “What if it’s a test?” she asked.
“A test?”
“To see if you’ve got what it takes to kill a man.”
Damon laughed. “I know what it takes to kill a man.”
“But do you have what it takes to see that you’ve gotten the right man?” she asked.
The smile disappeared from his face as the soldier came back, complete with his cell phone.
“Your wife is right,” the soldier said. “This man wasn’t working.” He held up his cell phone for them all to see. The man sat in the chair sighed in relief. “Someone must have been using his passwords.”
“Every single capo has access to those codes,” Damon said.
“Then it’s time you start looking into who is trying to steal money from the Boss himself, and it could be linked to who is trying to kill me.” She closed the file and without another word, walked out of the abandoned bar. She took a deep breath before climbing into the back of the car. She didn’t have to wait long before Damon returned. “What will happen to him?”
“He’ll be heavily compensated and his passwords and codes will be granted to him by the Boss.”
“You could have killed an innocent man today.”
“Isabella, you need to realize not a day goes by when I haven’t killed an innocent person.”
Their guards climbed into the vehicle and they were silent once again, staring out across the city as they drove all the way back to their place. She didn’t know when she started to call it her place, but it did feel like it, at least a little like hers.