~~
Reece
~~
I had stayed in the car while Talia and Trinity went to free the soul from the body. Based on what I heard after that time, I think it was a good idea. I wouldn't have been able to stay calm when that doctor came in unexpectedly like that. I would have flipped out, and probably gotten angry about it. Trinity handled it a lot better than I would have.
Now though, we were heading back to Artem's house. It was almost time for us to interrogate those slimeballs that ran away at the beach. One of them had to know something about what happened. And the sooner we found it out, the better.
This is going to be good. I haven't had the need to interrogate an asshole like this since the beginning of my relationship with Trinity. Those asshats that were sneaking onto my property all those years ago were the last ones. Too bad that one of them died. Though it wasn't my fault. That had been Edmond.
I would behave myself this time. I wouldn't hurt them. I would just scare the living daylights out of them. I might even shift into my Lycan form and really give them a fright. That would be good. I would love to see the looks on the faces of those cultist freaks when I showed them what I could really do. They though that we were monsters, well I would show them a fucking monster.
.....
When we got back to the estate, I followed Trinity to where the prisoners were. Talia was sent to spend some time with the triplets. That would do her some good after what happened today. She wouldn't need to worry about these people at all. They were for me and Trinity to handle.
“Hello, King Reece.” Chris shot to his feet when he saw me. “I didn't expect you back so soon. I requested records be sent over on all those that had been captured. Well, on the names that we were given for them anyway. And I took fingerprints from them. I wanted to see if there was anything that we would be able to gather from that as well. They should be here soon.” He was looking a little scared and nervous as he spoke.
“That's fine. We're going to start the first interview. Bring me the file when it arrives.” I walked to the first door and sniffed the air. This was definitely a human that I was going to talk to. “What is their name?”
“This here is Jared Hughes. He says that he is twenty-two years old and that he doesn't know why we were chasing him.”
“Of course he doesn't.” I sneered at the door.
“Control yourself, Reece.” Trinity put her hand in mine. “We will be in there together.”
“Yeah, I know. Do me a favor though, Little Bunny. Let me do the talking. Please.” I was practically begging her in front of that cop that was so close to me.
“I will let you do the talking to begin with. If I need to ask something or step in though, then I will. Agreed?”
“Fine.” I smiled at her and accepted the terms. “Now, let's go.”
The man that was sitting at the table looked like a scared little boy. If this guy here was supposed to be a member of the group killing all those people, then I was a fucking ballet dancer that was famous for pirouettes and doing the split while jumping in a frilly tutu. And I had never done ballet in my entire life.
“Explain yourself.” I said as I sat at the table. Trinity was sitting quietly in a chair in the corner.
“I..I..I don't know what you want me to say. I..I d..didn't do anything w..w..wrong.” He was trembling as he spoke to me.
“Why were you running?”
“W..what?” He looked like a little rat that had been cornered and was looking for a way out.
“Why did you take off running at the beach? If you didn't do anything wrong, why did you start running?”
“I..I am not good with people. I..I normally d..don't do th..things like that. I..I was looking b..be..because I wanted t..to see th..the cops i..in person. I..I am writing a b..b..book and wanted t..to see how th..they actually handled a crime scene. Wh..when the men around me started shouting I..I got r..really sc..scared. I thought that th..there was g..going to be a..a..a fight. I didn't want to get h..hurt. S..so I ran. I..I..I'm sorry. Pl..please, l..let me go.”
I sighed and looked at the table. I didn't want to look at him anymore. Mostly because I was afraid that if I did, he would get scared and die of a heart attack. I could hear how scared he was as he spoke to me. It was audible in his breathing and the pounding of his heart. I knew that he was telling the truth, but I needed to see his records first.
“Wait here. I need to check one thing after I leave this room, if that checks out, then someone will take you home.”
“I..I will be fr..free to go?” He looked shocked as his wide eyes glued themselves to my face.
“Well, you didn't do anything wrong, did you?” I gave him a stern look.
“N..n..n..no, S..S..S..Sir, I..I didn't. I..I didn't d..do anything wr..wrong.”
“Then you will be free to go. After I check on one other thing. And someone will drive you home.”
“Th..th..thank you. Thank y..you s..so much.” I swear he was already crying. “Th..th..this is g..going to b..be a gr..great a..addition to my b..book.” He was crying yet smiling. What a weird kid.
Trinity and I left that room and walked over to Chris. He was standing across the hall, waiting for us.
“He is innocent. Just a scared introvert. When the files get here, double check that he doesn't have a criminal record and send him on his way.”
“Sure thing.” Chris smiled and nodded. “In the next room is Nathan Michaels. He is clearly a junkie. That is easy to see in his eyes and the needle marks on his arms. He is thirty-one and ornery.”
“Sounds fun.” Trinity giggled. “I can just imagine how that ornery attitude will hold up against my stubborn ass of a husband.”
“Hey! That wasn't nice.” I tried to sound offended, but the laughter coming from me negated that almost immediately.
When I went into the room, I saw a human man that was supposed to be thirty-one but looked like he was fifty-one. The years of drug abuse had taken their toll on him. His hair was thin, stringy, and greasy looking. It literally looked like slippery black wires that were brushed back over his head. And why he didn't just shave them off and go bald I would never know. That would have improved his looks immensely.
His complexion was pallid, his face was full of pockmarks and scars, he was thin to the extreme, and he looked like he only had about eight teeth in his entire head. I wouldn't have wanted to be the one to catch him and touch him if I didn't have to be. I was glad that someone else took care of that for me.
“Explain yourself.” I said as I sat at the table. It was just what I had said to the kid in the other room.
“Who the fuck do you think you're talking to, asshole? Just because you're some King Kong looking mother fucker that thinks he can intimidate me with his size, don't mean that I got to listen to you. I know my rights. I know what I am entitled to. And I ain't saying a fucking word to you. So, fuck off!” I mentally counted the words that he just said as I smiled at him. It only took me a second to have the total.
“So, you're not going to say a word to me? That's good. I need more than one word anyway. And I need something other than the seventy words that you already gave me.” I smirked at him as I watched him try to figure out if that was really how many words that he had said. “Now Nathan, tell me what you were doing at the beach. And why did you run?”
“I ain't talking to no pig. I don't need to talk to you. I ain't going to incriminate myself.”
“I am not a cop. And you will talk to me.” I lowered my voice as I spoke. I darkened my eyes. And I took on more animalist features that wouldn't show to the naked eye. He wouldn't be able to tell that something was different, but he would be able to sense it. And it would terrify him.
Just judging by the way that his face looked, I could see that he was feeling a lot less confident and a lot more willing to cooperate, with just that little adjustment. Still, he looked like he was going to give me just a little bit more trouble.
“I..I'm not talking to you.” He was looking around the room and saw Trinity. “I'll talk to her, not you. Lady, get this pig under control.”
“He isn't a cop, Nathan, and neither am I. Also, you're better off talking to him. I'm the meaner one.” She made her voice as menacing as I had. Combined with me in front of the man, it was working wonders.
“Fuck it. I'll talk.” His will snapped in an instant. I swear I could hear the sound of it like a rubber band that was stretched too tightly. “I didn't do anything. I didn't. I just saw the cop that busted me last month and got scared. I didn't hurt anybody. I just didn't want to get another drug pop. I'm carrying, dammit. Arrest me for that. I don't care. But I didn't kill anybody.” He was terrified, he reeked of the drugs that he mentioned, and he was telling the truth. Dammit. This one was another bust.
“I don't care about the drugs. Though I will be confiscating them and destroying them. You need to stop that shit, or it will kill you one day.”
“Yeah, sure man, I'll go clean. I swear it. Just don't hurt me. I don't want to do any more drugs. Nothing is scarier than that woman over there in the corner. Her alone will make me go straight.
“Her?” I asked in confusion. “Not me?”
“Fuck no, man. She's the scariest thing I ever saw.”
“I told you I was the meaner of us. I meant it.” Trinity giggled from the corner and that seemed to drain the druggie of the last remaining color in his face.
“I will check your file and if all is fine, you'll be free to go. After you hand over the drugs.”
“TAKE'EM!” He yelled in fear as he emptied his pockets onto the table. “Taken'em. She's worse than the fears of being sober. Don't let her hurt me, man.”
“Come on, scary one. We got more work to do.” I told Trinity as I gathered up the drug. Internally, I was laughing and crying about the fact that Trinity was the reason he was so scared.
“He's not the guy we're looking for either.” Trinity told Chris when we made it outside the room. “Check his file and then let him go.”
“It just came in.” He handed the folder to Trinity.”
“Hmm. Some drug possessions, but nothing else. No theft, no B&E. He seems to be an honorable addict at the very least. Cut him loose, Chris.” She handed the file back to him. “What about our friend Jared?”
“Squeaky clean. Never even been arrested. He has some stellar grades in school, but seems to stay away from most people.”
“Have someone take him home. And Mr. Michaels in there. They're free to go.”
“Understood.” Chris set aside the files. Hopefully, the last man would give us something.
