She said timidly, “I’ll stay out of your way,” and left the room while wishing she had the courage to lock its door behind her and set fire to the place.
Sheridan swirled his brandy. “My boys have got Hallowes.”
Jellicoe smiled. “Good.”
“You sure I have your unconditional backing to do this?”
Jellicoe placed a chubby finger into his liquor and sucked on it like a child with a Popsicle. He glanced toward the window. Outside were two vehicles containing their newly acquired FBI protection detail. “So long as you keep matters discreet, I don’t care what you have to do to her to make her talk.”
Antaeus was sitting in his study making the final amendments to his thesis on Stone Age settlements in western Russia. He was extremely pleased with the way he’d pulled his research together to form a document that would poleax Russian archaeological societies’ received wisdom that people back then were solely nomadic. But he had two other reasons for feeling happy.
Parker had just told him that Sheridan’s men had captured Hallowes and would use her to flush out Cochrane.
In return, Antaeus had told Parker that he’d just learned that Cobalt would be attending the meeting with the Taliban at noon the day after tomorrow. He’d given the CIA agent the precise location in Afghanistan, and Parker had told him America would now spring into action and ensure that everyone at the meeting was killed.
He couldn’t predict whether total war and genocide would follow the air strike. But he did know one thing for certain.
The United States of America would have its head separated from its body.
The two men were sitting in front of Ellie with grins on their faces. After she fully regained consciousness, she wanted to tell them that if they wanted to kill her they should get it over with. But she couldn’t speak, because a leather strap was tightly wrapped around her mouth and her head, in place to secure the sock that was screwed into a ball inside her mouth in order to prevent anyone standing outside her hotel room from hearing her screams.
Though her heart was pounding, Ellie refused to let fear take hold.
The men were obviously twins, and she estimated they were in their fifties. They were quite small, and if she’d seen them anywhere else but here and under different circumstances she would have assessed that they looked a bit unconventional, but otherwise perfectly harmless.
With two exceptions.
Their eyes were glistening, agitated, and excited.
And their smiles were just plain wrong.
They were the smiles you see on sadists, rapists, and mad-dog killers.
Both of them were holding big military knives that looked razor sharp; their jet-black hair was now out of ponytails and hung straight down to their shoulders.
“My name’s Augustus.” The twin nodded toward his brother. “And this is Elijah. We’d tell you not to be scared, but that would be a dumb thing to say given your predicament.” He laughed, then his expression changed. “We take the sock out when we need you to speak. We put it back in when we want a bit of peace and quiet. You get that?”
Ellie nodded.
“At any point, if you call for help or make any kind of noise to attract anyone, punishment will be instant and severe. You get that as well?”
Ellie tried to speak, but all she could emit was a barely audible muffled sound.
“Get it?”
Ellie nodded quickly.
“That’s my pretty little gal.”
Elijah moved to her side; his smell reminded her of a dirty zoo.
Augustus tapped the tip of his knife over Ellie’s two cell phones, which were lying on the bed by his side. “We think you’ve got a way to get in touch with Cochrane, and that way is inside one of these two phones.” He nodded at Elijah, who undid the strap and pulled out the sock. “Which phone is it?”
When she spoke, drool ran down her chin. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Augustus smiled and said, while tapping his blade over each phone in quick succession, “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.” He stared at Ellie.
She said nothing.
Elijah shoved the sock ball back into Ellie’s mouth as Augustus chanted, “Catch a tiger by the toe.”
Elijah whipped Ellie’s right shoe off her foot and used his knife to slice off her big toe.
Ellie’s back arched as agony seared from her foot to her central nervous system. The ropes kept her fixed to the chair, which Elijah was now gripping with tensile steel strength. Her head was shaking wildly as unbelievable pain made her retch.
As the pain receded to a fearsome but barely tolerable ache, the sock was removed from her mouth.
Augustus grinned. “Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers, let him go. Unless we wish him to suffer so.” His eyes intensified. “This phone has only got one number programmed into it. I’m thinking that makes it a special phone. Am I right?”
Ellie spat, “Screw you!”
Elijah shoved the sock back into her mouth.
Ellie braced herself.
Elijah placed his knife by her injured foot and touched her four remaining toes while saying, “This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none.” He sliced her little toe off and held it in front of her face so that blood dripped from it onto her lap.
Elijah stepped away and pulled out the sock.
Ellie said between gritted teeth, “You’re wasting your time.”
This made the twins laugh hysterically.
“So, let’s try again.” Augustus tapped one of her cells. “Is this the number Cochrane’s got?”
Ellie tried to decide what to do. She was certain she could withstand a lot more torture without breaking. She was also sure the men wouldn’t leave the room until they’d gotten the answers they sought. They’d keep torturing her until she was dead. Her best option was to maintain the upper hand by manipulating them into believing that she couldn’t take anymore, and giving them half truths and half lies that would help her and Cochrane.
Though she felt nothing but focus and anger, she had to act like she was scared.
It could well be her last curtain call.
She lowered her head to look resigned, and whispered, “Yes. It’s the number Cochrane has.”
Augustus clapped. “That’s my girl!” He tossed the phone to Elijah, while keeping his eyes on Ellie. “You’re going to call him and say you want to meet with him tomorrow — ten fifteen A.M. outside the Friendship Heights metro on Wisconsin Avenue. Don’t use any odd words, make yourself sound weird, tell him what’s really happening, or hang up midsentence. By all means sound scared, to make him concerned, but if you say or do anything to make him think you’re not making the call on your own, then today won’t be your best.”
Elijah placed the tip of his knife a millimeter away from Ellie’s eyeball, and held the palm of his other hand inches away from the blade’s hilt, ready to thrust it deep into her socket.
She rang Will’s number.
It went straight to voice mail, which didn’t surprise her because Will would be preserving his cell’s battery life for as long as possible, and no doubt would be turning it on later to check for messages.
She spoke for twenty-three seconds while Elijah craned his neck next to her so that he could hear if anything was being spoken back on the other end of the line.
Elijah stuck his thumb up. “All good. We’re done.”
Augustus stood. “We are, indeed.”
Ellie closed her eyes after she saw Augustus moving across the room toward her, because his visage was the last thing she wanted to see right now. She knew what was coming.