Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Master didn’t react. Didn’t change expression. He continued to stare down at Karlin with cold, flat eyes. “You think Helena is infallible and yet I was there at Crawley the same time as Fender. She tried to recruit him because of his fighting abilities. She was behind trying to get him to throw the fights. When it didn’t work and he ended up in prison, she thought she had him. But I was there too, and she didn’t even notice me. Did you, Karlin?”
Karlin took a breath and let it out. “Yeah. I saw you. In the yard. But you flew under the radar. The guards didn’t single you out as a troublemaker. No one saw anything unless they got close and knew what to look for. Then Lance Picard was found dead in his locked cell. Strung up, his intestines wrapped around his throat. Someone had done a number on him. He was a pedophile and had raped a number of children, always bragging about it. There was no one caught on the security cameras. No prints. Nothing at all. A couple weeks later, you got out, and then two weeks after that, Fender went. Helena was furious. She had no idea how Fender got out. But it was you, wasn’t it? Both Picard and Fender.”
“She has a boss. She isn’t the head of this. Someone runs her, Karlin, who is it?”
Karlin shook his head vigorously. “No, she hires out her services, brokering the teams for jobs, but no one runs her.”
“You know that isn’t true. She may be trying to break away from him, but he’s all over her. Someone from her past. Someone from Russia. He won’t let her go, no matter what he tells her. She’s too valuable to him. She’s the perfect front.” Now Master sounded almost solicitous, as if he worried a little about Helena.
Karlin scowled. “He’s a monster. He likes little kids. Boys and girls. He likes movies. He wants her to provide the people he knows with those things, and then he films them and blackmails them.”
“And she does it for him,” Master confirmed, trying not to let his stomach turn.
“She has no choice.”
“Is he after Viktor? Did he send her after Viktor?”
Karlin drew back. “No. She found out about Viktor at one of the clubs she frequents and has been hunting him ever since. She thought he was dead and was horrified to find out he was still alive. The thing with Viktor is personal to her.”
“Who is the man in Russia she works for?” His throat hurt like a son of a bitch. It felt raw and sore, like it was burning and swelling with every word he spoke. He was afraid if he kept it up he would start bleeding, but they needed this information.
“I have no idea. Helena keeps her own counsel.”
“Who does she have at Crawley?” Master returned to the original question. Helena wasn’t alone there. She wasn’t the one running the prison, but she had too much freedom. She’d planted a team in another prison, so someone had shown her the ropes.
Karlin looked stubborn again, remembering he had taken an oath to protect his mistress and he was giving out too much information. The moment he hesitated, Maestro slammed a two-inch blade into his left thigh, up high near his groin. At the same time, from behind him, Keys covered his mouth with a gloved hand to muffle his scream.
Master just looked bored. “We can go at this all night, but it’s really kind of useless. You know what’s coming next. They’ve got the tools laid out. Blowtorches. Drills. You’ve done this a million times. When that doesn’t work, they start slicing you to pieces. I know you’ve done that, because you seem to like to do it to women.”
Karlin knew enough to deny that accusation adamantly. “No, it’s a job. It’s how he wants it done if we’re hired. A signature. He suggested it. He called it ‘a bit of home.’ The Russian. He’s the one who came up with that punishment. He likes it filmed and the film sent to him. Helena always handles that.”
Master filed away both pieces of information. Helena might not know his real identity, but she had an address for Torpedo Ink’s enemy. The “bit of home” was a familiar torture. All of them were forced to learn it. They’d practiced over and over until they’d perfected the technique.
“I want the name of the man at Crawley that helps Helena. It isn’t the warden, so don’t give me that crap, Karlin.”
“You’re going to kill me anyway.”
“Yep. You’re going to die. Difference is, I kill you fast and painless or you die slow and in agony. You can make that choice. This is the last time I’m asking the question.”
“The warden sits in his office all day. He doesn’t mingle with the prisoners or guards. He doesn’t know shit about the prisoners. The chief deputy warden doesn’t either. But the deputy warden, he hears every complaint, investigates, talks to the prisoners, talks to the guards. Makes the rounds. He knows everyone, doesn’t he?”