“This is it, Doctor. Time for truth — or consequences.”
The air was chilled and Lauren was shivering. She looked up at Hung Jin and groaned. In the relative darkness, she could barely make out a large, dark bruise over his left forehead.
“I’m in a bitchin’ mood today, Doctor. You know why?” He bent down and rested his palms on his thighs, bringing his eyes level with Lauren’s. “Because today you’re going to tell me where your husband is. And if you don’t, you’re going to die.”
“I want to… talk to Anthony.”
“Well, he doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“I think he does.”
“I’m sure you do. But we’re not going there now. He’s safe, tucked away, cowering somewhere in a corner of my mind, no doubt.”
Lauren knew that what he said was actually true. Unless she could locate an efficient trigger that allowed her to touch Anthony’s essence, she would not be communicating with him again. If Hung Jin was aware of her making another attempt — of challenging his authority, his power over her — she was sure he would kill her.
He grabbed a wooden chair, dragged it in front of Lauren, and turned it around backward. He sat facing her, his arms resting casually over the seat back. “There comes a time in an interrogation where you have to realize you’ve gotten all you’re going to get and you have to just cut your losses.” He pulled out his knife, popped it open, and looked at the shiny silver blade. “And I do mean cut your losses.” That insane laugh again. “That’s funny, Doctor! Don’t tell me you’ve lost your sense of humor!”
Lauren sat there, realizing she had to tell him something, anything, to prove her value to him. But there was no guarantee that even if she did tell him where Michael was, he would let her live. At that point, she would be useless to him. “My hands… are numb. Loosen… the ropes.”
With a few twists of his hands, he loosened the rope around her chest just enough to allow her to talk. She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. Thank God. She never thought she would crave a simple lungful of air.
“You know what I’m going to ask you, so why make me repeat myself? Let me just cut to the chase. Where is your husband?”
Every muscle in Lauren’s body ached. Her arms and shoulders were so sore from being pinned back that she didn’t know if she would be able to flex them even if he did free her. Her stomach hurt with every movement, and her ribs ached from being bound. She hadn’t been able to take a decent breath since he had tightened the ropes last night. As she sat there, she pleaded to God to make her captor release her.
Not having received an answer to his question, Hung Jin reached into his coat pocket and removed a revolver.
The blood drained from Lauren’s face.
“I see from your reaction that you recognize this. It’s your daddy’s gun, isn’t it? A Colt six-shooter, manufactured some forty years ago.”
Lauren stared down at the barrel of the gun, the one that had saved her life two decades ago. This can’t be how it ends.
“I’m not going to shoot you, at least not right now. We’re going to play a game first. Here, let me demonstrate.” He flicked the cylinder open with his thumb and turned it over, the rounds clunking to the wooden floor. He bent over and picked up one of the brass bullets and fit it into a chamber, then slapped the housing closed. “First, I give the cylinder a spin. Then, I point the weapon at my target and squeeze the trigger.” He aimed the gun at the roof above Lauren’s head. “And this is how we play. I ask you a question, and you refuse to answer. I press the trigger.” The gun clicked: an empty chamber. “Then I ask you another question. You refuse to answer, so I press the trigger again.”
Hung Jin squeezed and the gun exploded, firing a round through the roof. A fine trail of dirt fell from the hole onto Lauren’s head. “You see, in this particular game you’d only have had two chances to give me the correct answer.” He opened the cylinder, inserted another round, and pointed the gun at Lauren’s head. “This time, you might have four or five chances. Or you might only have one.”
“I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”
“If that’s the case, I won’t have anything to lose by killing you, will I?” He extended his elbow and pressed the barrel of the Colt against her forehead. “Once again, where’s Harper Payne?”
Lauren began to sweat profusely. She bit her lip and started to cry, realizing she had to think up a story, something convincing and something quick. If he thought she was lying, he would kill her instantly.
“If you kill me, you’ll never find him.”
His eyes narrowed. “Oh, I assure you I most certainly will. You were just the easiest way, and I always try the easiest way first. But I’m a hunter, a survivor. I will find him, however long it takes. Revenge shouldn’t be rushed. It should be savored, like the time we’ve had here. Haven’t you enjoyed it?”
She had played her hand and lost. Now she needed a story.
“Time’s up!” Hung Jin squeezed the trigger and a blank chamber clicked. “Only five more to go. I’ll give you till three to tell me what I want to know, and then we’ll try again. One. Two. Three—”
“Okay!” she screamed. “I’ll tell you. Just take the gun away from my head!”
A grin broke across Hung Jin’s unshaven cheeks. “Very good.” He nodded slightly. “But I make the rules here, Doctor. This isn’t your office, remember?” His smile faded as he moved his face down even with hers, keeping the weapon against her head. “Now, you were going to give me some information.”
“He’s in Colorado, cross-country skiing somewhere near Vail. He went with a few of his fraternity buddies. One of them had an e-mail address that spelled out ‘targard.’ I swear, that’s all I know.”
Hung Jin squinted again, considering her reply. “I’ve had people in Colorado at the big resorts for the past couple of days. As of yesterday, no one had seen or heard of him.”
“They were out on their own, it’s a new company his friend was setting up—”
“Name of the company?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know, I’m telling you the truth!” She was staring right at him, holding his cold, gray eyes in her grasp.
Finally he nodded. “I’m going to verify this information, Doctor, and if I find out you’ve sent me on a wild-goose chase, I will kill you. And it won’t be pleasant, I promise you that.” He rose from his chair. “In this particular instance, you can trust what I’m telling you as fact.”
He walked to the door and opened it. The high, overcast sky was bright, and it temporarily blinded her as the glare caught her across the face.
“Cody,” Hung Jin called. “Get in here!”
A moment later, a stocky man with a shuffling gait entered the cabin carrying a covered plastic pail in his right hand and a spray bottle and brown bag in his left. He had a gold front tooth and his nose was so badly bent from fractures that it didn’t know which way it should point.
“I got the stuff.” He handed the brown bag to Hung Jin.
Hung Jin inserted his hand and pulled out a wriggling rat. “This is Simon. Simon says he’s hungry. Cody, do we have something for Simon?”
Cody dug into his pocket and fished out a Ziploc containing a slice of bread, which he removed from the bag and placed on Lauren’s lap.
Lauren’s eyes were fixed on the rodent, which was hanging by its tail, writhing helplessly in the air.
Hung Jin slid back his sleeve and consulted his watch. “While I’m checking out your story, Cody will be in charge of keeping you alive.” He turned to Cody and held up an index finger. “Water only. No food. I want her weak. Weak prisoners put up less of a fight.” Hung Jin looked again at Lauren. “If you’re lying, I will keep my promise. If you’re telling the truth…” His voice trailed off. “I guess you’ll have to chew on that one for a while.”