The Girl in the Attic by Jon Athan

Author:Jon Athan [Athan, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-25T22:00:00+00:00

16

Break and Build

Frederick shuddered in his seat, nostrils flaring with each breath. He couldn’t tell which of his bodily fluids were crawling down his face and neck. Tears? Sweat? Blood? About two yards away, Evan sat on a dining chair across from him with an aluminum baseball bat resting against his shoulder. Cooper and Dominic sat on the sofa behind him.

Evan said, “I don’t wanna kill you. It might be easier that way—we could slit your throat and melt your body in a tub or something like on TV—but that’s not what I want to do.” Frederick responded with a stifled ‘fuck you.’ Evan continued, “I’ll tell you what we are going to do, though. We’re going to break you. For real, we’re just going to destroy you, man. You’re going to be crying and begging in no time. Then we’re going to pick up the pieces and put you back together. Y’know, we’re going to build you into a good, ‘smart’ guy. The type of guy that knows not to fuck with us.”

Frederick lowered his head and replied with another muffled ‘fuck you.’ He said it twice, but it sounded more like a long groan the second time. Evan prodded Frederick’s chest with the baseball bat, then he tapped his chin, trying to get him to look back at him.

He said, “After all that, you’re going to pay us a fee for the… the lessons. I think they call it ‘re-education’ in China. Saw it on the news once. What? Did you think I was just some junkie with a business? Nah, buddy, I’m a lot smarter than you think. I’m no genius, don’t know shit about math and science and all that crap, but I know about business and people and the world. History, y’know? And those three—business, um… culture and history—are the worst, nastiest subjects, so you can bet I’m nasty, too. Nasty and smart.” He snickered for a few seconds, then shook his head and said, “But I’m talking too much. What I’m saying is: You’ll learn your lesson, you’ll pay us, then you’ll forget about us. You’ll forget about Sydney, too.”

Frederick raised his head and glared at him, fired up by the mere mention of his daughter’s name. He was simultaneously angry at her and worried about her. He blamed her for the home invasion, believing she was the mastermind behind it. He was also afraid the thugs were going to take advantage of her. He tried to say something, but it came out as gibberish.

From the sofa, Cooper said, “Don’t bother begging already. We ain’t gonna fall for your act.”

Raising his voice, Frederick said something else and lunged forward. The chair barely moved due to the bricks around its legs. They mistook his anger for fear—his threat for a plea.

Dominic said, “And those other bitches, they’re already gone and they ain’t coming back.”

He was talking about Seth and Tyler. They had departed in a hurry after Seth’s meeting with Sydney. They didn’t want to stick around at the Spot with two hostages on the premises.

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