Boris and Janna left. Janna was a little confused, and once they were out of earshot she asked “Is it really necessary? I mean, it might get us the information faster than I could, but I was hoping for one of those that can force the truth out. Like Bethany Anne did to me.”
Boris shrugged “They were all busy I’d imagine. Dan used to assist in operations to take out Forsaken vampires. I’m sure this isn’t his first interrogation. Besides, not all vampires can do what you want. I imagine they are mostly busy, which is why they sent Dan. I have faith that he will be able to tell if someone is telling the truth or not. Vampire or not, he has the experience.”
Paul finished hanging the plastic. He started pulling out a few things. A circular saw, a chisel, and hammer and finally a cricket bat.
Dan looked them over, lifting an eyebrow in query. Paul shrugged and explained, “I haven’t got everything I’d like, but we can make do with this. It would be better to have a dentist on hand, to be honest. For some reason, having teeth drilled without anesthetic gets most people talking. I have one dentist on the way, but the sooner we get the information, the sooner we can act.”
Dan pointed to the bat, “Why the cricket bat? I’ve always preferred a solid Louisville Slugger.”
“A baseball bat is for amateurs. Look at who uses them most often. Criminals, like the mob. You can do more with a cricket bat.” Paul turned to the man tied to the chair. His knee was conveniently clear of the arms. “You see, you can cause pain without permanent incapacitation.” He swung the flat of the bat against the knee. The prisoner screamed once, but there wasn’t the sound of breaking bones. “Or you can permanently damage them.” He swung the bat edgewise at the knee. There was a solid crunch of breaking kneecap. The screams, this time, lasted a lot longer. “Besides, there are what, three or four countries where baseball is more popular than cricket? So you usually have more access to a cricket bat.” Dan thought Paul’s reasoning was impeccable, but the argument might unnerve the prisoner.
Dan pantomimed swinging an American baseball bat, “There’s just something more balanced about a baseball bat. It’s more comfortable to use.”
Paul shrugged his shoulders, not giving an inch to Dan’s argument, “It’s all in practice, mate. You get used to it pretty quickly once you begin.”
Dan turned to the prisoner. “You know, we can just keep going until you volunteer the information. My boss even gave me some stuff to heal up things like that so we can go again and again. Your choice.”
The prisoner spat on the floor “I do not fear you as much as I do Konrad. You have no idea what I’ve seen him do.”
“What? Let me guess. Drink the blood outta someone’s neck when they failed him? Rip off someone’s arm? Yeah, I have a fair idea. I’ve been fighting people like him for more than twenty long-ass years.” Considering how much younger than his real age he appeared, there was no need to disrupt the interrogation by saying he had actually hunted them for thirty years.
Paul swung the flat against the other knee and ignored the screams, waiting a few seconds for them to die down before he turned to Dan “Only twenty? Damn, I’ve been doing it for twenty-five.” The prisoner was trying to keep his sobs down, but failing miserably.
The prisoner looked shaken “You are just humans. I’ve seen a man change into a wolf. Another into a leopard. Nothing you can do will scare me.”
Paul said conversationally. “Oh, I didn’t know cats were possible. I mean Boris there can turn into a nine-hundred kilo bear, but a cat is a new one on me.”
Dan grunted “There are rumors. Never seen one myself. Still, I think a bear is scarier. I mean fuck, Boris was flipping trucks on the last combat mission I went on.” He turned to the prisoner “You know that refinery that your boys were guarding? It only took two of us to take them out. Me and Boris. That was it. If that’s the best your Konrad can throw at us, I’m not really worried. There were ten wolves in that group — they went down like wheat at reaping time.”
Paul chuckled and tapped the other knee with the flat of the bat again. Another set of screams. “So why did Bethany Anne send you?”
“Need to keep my skills sharp. If we can drag the info out of this spunking fuck knuckle.” He held out his hand for the bat and drove it into the prisoner’s groin. A scream with some sobbing ensued. “After all, when we hit space we might need to resort to torture. We’re fairly sure we’ll be able to tell if someone is lying. But forcing it out of them like she can on humans? We just don’t know. And most skills tend to fall by the wayside if you don’t use them.”
Paul turned to their prisoner, “You ready to talk yet? I’m enjoying the workout, but if you wanna talk then I’m happy to pause for a bit. At least, if it is the truth coming out of your mouth.”
The prisoner looked at him, a mix of mild fear and great hatred in his eyes. His mouth remained firmly shut.
“Well, looks like we keep going with the workout.” Paul slapped the guy across the face. “I’m sure once the dentist starts you’ll talk, but we may as well keep having our fun.”
Boris looked at Janna. Really looked at her. After more than a week of large meals and steady exercise her body had filled out. (A little bird called Nathan had told him about Alexi training Janna while he was away.) Her original tall, willowy body was now slightly taller, with fuller hips, and a perfectly fantastic gait.
He found it hard to concentrate around her. When he closed his eyes, he could think of how much he liked and respected her. Her input on military matters was well-founded and her intelligence was impressive. However, when he saw her, smelled her, his body took over. The sway of her ass was mesmerizing. Her long red-blonde hair was entrancing. His hormones and attraction collided with his respect for her abilities until he could not seem to think objectively.
Trying to find some balance, he attempted to think objectively. Her bust was, honestly, larger than he usually found physically attractive. That made no difference to his thoughts or feelings. He had learned over the past four hundred years that it was the person, not the body that was truly important. And she was an entrancing, intoxicating person to him on multiple levels and to his head, heart and hormones.
The two of them both started talking at the same time. Janna broke off in a burst of laughter that sounded like sweet-toned bells. “You first,” she said with a smile on her face.
He drew her into a hug and said “I think my time away has given me some perspective. Janna, if you are willing, I would like to see where ‘us’ will head. No pressure, beyond doing our jobs as well as we have been. But I missed you, worried about you horribly, while I was gone. When I found out what you had done while I was…”
She interrupted his sentence with a hungry, aggressive kiss. Breaking the touch of her lips on his, she laid a gentle finger to his mouth. “Don’t spoil it by saying something like ‘you were angry.’ Or you wish I hadn’t done it. It was simply part of the job. I will not have you saying what I can and cannot do, ignoring the fact that I am a grown woman.” She waved her free hand up and down her body, illustrating her point. “A woman who has done this kind of work for five years. I was the best person to send. Danislav did object, just so you know.” She frowned, thinking about it, “Paul, if anything, encouraged me.”
Boris shrugged and commented, “I am honestly not sure how Paul’s brain really works. Even in the UnknownWorld, many fear me. He never has. He is always pragmatic to the point of sociopathy when on a mission or a job.”
“Balancing that, he shows a level of empathy with his family and friends many others cannot match. He is in many ways a cipher. Paul is only able to look at the pros and cons based on the mission requirements. He’s never been able to look at the overall impact on an operation, though. Just the individual tasks. But he is brilliant in his work.”