~ Dakota ~
Her back up crew had tracked down the former owner of the venture capital firm. Oscar Draden was a stinking disheveled mess when they got to him. Though it was early morning, he was tipsy already. Oscar was young, attractive, and Dakota could tell, at one time, he’d probably been ambitious. The dispirited man was now spiraling down into a bottle of whisky.
Durk shoved him down into a kitchen chair, and Dakota began her questioning. At first he denied everything, then His dark brown eyes flashed his anger over Mr. Sharden destroying the substance he was hired to analyze.
There was something about this one. Not only was he angry but he seemed to be drinking away some guilt. Dakota automatically got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, as it occurred to her that he may be feeling guilty because he was involved in Mr. Sharden’s death. Feeling it was get tough time, she immediately grabbed the drink out his hand and slammed him back into a chair. The man’s anger got the upper hand and a long string of slurred expletives fell from his lips as he flailed his arm around trying to strike her.
Dakota pressed one hand firmly against his chest. “You’re the only one with motive, so don’t waste my time or yours. Tell me where he is.”
“I don’t have to say anything that might incrim…incrimidate myself.”
“That’s incriminate, you fool.” Dakota leaned forward and looked into his eyes. “Have a look around. Do we look like law enforcement officers to you?”
He quickly shook his head no. His mouth opened and then promptly closed again.
“Do you think that makes us more or less dangerous to you?”
As intended, the man appeared to be all kinds of alarmed at her insinuation, but he sealed his lips. Sighing, Dakota took out her hunting knife. “The answer you are looking for is more dangerous.” He jumped slightly at the sight of the knife, but did not come off with any information.
She sunk her knife about two inches deep into his leg until it hit bone, waited patiently for him to stop screaming, and then asked tried again. “Did you, or did you not, have Mr. Sharden abducted?”
He nodded his head yes. His eyes were riveted on her, filled with pain and fear.
Dakota knew she’d just crossed every ethical line in the book, but she couldn’t stop now. “Where is he?” The man squirmed in his seat. Dakota pulled the knife out again.
She could see him thinking hard, and realized he was about to fabricate. She could tell because telling the truth rarely took so much forethought and because small beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. It would be her job to sift through his words, separating the lie from the truth.
He quickly relied on a half-truth. “We had him in a warehouse about two hours from town and someone broke in and took him. That’s the God’s honest truth.”
“You know, as far as criminals go, you are a bit of a disappointment. Do you actually expect me to believe that someone kidnapped a hostage from a kidnapper? You must think me very simple.”
He stubbornly stuck to his story, saying, “You can go there. You will probably find DNA evidence and all that. You will see that what I am saying is the truth.”
“We’ve already been there. What do you think led me to you?”
“Well there you have it.”
Tipping his chair back, she glared at him. “Want to know what I think? I think you realized that the merry band of fools you hired to abduct him weren’t capable of torturing information out of him, you declined send someone more proficient at that kind of thing. That tells me that, even now Mr. Shardon is being harmed. It’s one reason I have no qualms about harming you to get information. What’s good for the good is good for the gander, Mr. Draden.”
“You can’t torture me.”
Pressing on the seeping wound on his leg, she murmured. “A bit late for complaining, the torture already started. This is just a little taste of what I’m capable of.”
“Fuck, he’s at the old cemetery at the edge of town. The caretaker works for me, or he did back when I had money.”
Spinning on her heel, she turned to Durk. “Get this ignorant fool to a medical center. We’ll head out to the cemetery and see if his report is accurate.” Turing to glare at Draden, she stated flatly. “Call it in. If I don’t find what I’m looking for, we’ll have another talk with Mr. Draden at the police station.”
Grabbing her arm, Draden looked up at her imploringly. “Look, there’s no need to get law enforcement involved.”
“It’s too late. We all pay the piper, Mr. Draden. It’s your turn.”