29. Drew

Chapter twenty-nine

Drew

L ayla was asleep before her head hit the pillow. I wasn’t going to complain if she was too tired to tease us. It was now a bedtime routine that I dreaded every night.

“Poor baby tired herself out with all the excitement today,” Sean crooned as he removed her boots and socks. We moved around the room like a well-oiled machine as we got Layla ready for bed. You’d think five smart men would have just left her in her clothes, but no, we had to strip her down and pull a soft, oversized t-shirt over her head instead. We didn’t want her to be uncomfortable, and even though she had a hard time believing it right now, we would choose Layla’s comfort over our own every time.

“I have a feeling we have more days like this coming our way,” Tyler responded as he lifted Layla into his arms so Zach could pull down the comforter.

“It’s worth it if it means we’re one step closer to this whole thing being over with for good,” I said.

“Amen to that,” Colt replied with a tired sigh as he slid in beside Layla. “Zach, if you punch me in the head tonight, I’ll fucking kill you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Zach replied.

“Fucking switch sides with Tyler. I don’t want you behind me,” Colt barked.

“What makes you think I want him behind me?” I asked as I climbed in on Layla’s other side. I pulled her into my arms and buried my face in her hair, inhaling the scent of her mango shampoo. It was Layla’s fault I got a hard-on damn near every time I saw a mango.

“Oh, come on,” Zach said, jumping onto the bed and cuddling behind me. “You know you want to be my little spoon.”

“Technically, I’d be your middle spoon,” I argued, immediately regretting my decision as Zach cackled behind me.

“Drew-Drew, you can call yourself whatever you want as long as you’re mine,” Zach teased.

“Just shut the fuck up and go to sleep,” I growled.

W hen we all woke up later that morning, Layla took her sweet time preparing for the day. She dallied over her outfit, lingered over breakfast, and took a stroll around the backyard. Finally, she decided it was time to check and see how Tommy was holding up. When we entered the interrogation room, Tommy was a twitching mess. The skin where his bindings were was raw and bleeding.

Tyler turned the video off so we could hear ourselves think and, more importantly, Tommy could answer our questions.

As soon as it turned off, Tommy’s voice started bouncing off the walls as he screamed. “You dumb fucking cunt, let me out of here, or I swear to God on all that is holy, I will skull fuck your ear with a jackhammer!” That was one of the more inventive threats I’d ever heard. “If you think showing me this shit will make me talk, you’re fucking wrong. You can’t break me. I’ll never tell you a fucking thing!”

Layla grabbed a large knife with a thick leather handle from the cart and the propane torch. Without looking at him, she began to heat the blade. “Tommy, where is Anton?” she asked calmly.

“What are you fucking deaf and stupid?” Tommy asked. “I already told you I’m not fucking talking, and there isn’t a damned thing you can do about it.”

Layla sighed as she placed the knife and torch on a table and left the room.

“Hey! You guys don’t have to follow her. She may have a golden pussy, but I promise you can find some just as good elsewhere. Probably better. Come on, boys. We know each other. You can’t tell me life wasn’t better before Layla came back. All this death and fighting, and for what? So Daddy’s spoiled little Princess can play Mobster? Please,” he scoffed. “If you help me escape, I’ll make sure you are taken care of. You’ll be set for life and then some.”

I shook my head as he continued to make promises he’d never get the chance to break. “Tommy, there isn’t a single thing on this planet that you can offer us that would make us betray Layla,” I told him.

His eyes shifted to Sean. “I know that’s not true for all of you. Come on, Sean. Make a deal with me.”

Instead of answering, Sean simply punched Tommy in the face.

“Hey!” Layla said, returning to the room in time to see the punch.

“Sorry,” Sean replied. “I let him goad me.

Layla patted his cheek with her free hand. “Just don’t let him goad you into killing him, yeah?”

Sean nodded and stepped back as Layla held the steak in her other hand for Tommy to see. “See this? I just pulled this from the fridge. I want you to watch the steak carefully. Zach, be a dear and hold my steak for me.”

Zach stepped forward and took the steak from her. Layla grabbed her knife and torch again and reheated the blade.

“Now, Tommy, I’d like to play a little game of pretend. Let’s pretend that steak is... I don’t know, part of your thigh muscle, ok?” Layla didn’t wait for him to answer, not that he was going to. “I’m going to ask you a question, and if you don’t tell me what I want to hear, I’m going to take this knife and cut a piece of you off... like this.”

With a sizzle, Layla’s knife cut through the steak like butter, and the scent of cooking meat filled the room. She set the knife down, took the two pieces of steak from Zach, and turned them so that Tommy could see the edges where the knife cut.

“Do you see how the knife cooked the steak? Imagine what that would do to your flesh if I were to cut you with the knife. Sean, what do you think the knife will do to his flesh?” Layla turned to hear Sean’s opinion, and he looked surprised at first before his chest puffed out a little. Layla always knows what we need when we need it. And after letting Tommy get to him, he needed to be included in this. To be part of the process to show Tommy that no matter what happened before, he’s one of us.

“I’m pretty sure it’s going to cauterize the wounds as you make them,” Sean replied. “There would be very little blood, so we wouldn’t have to worry about Tommy Boy here bleeding to death.”

“That was a big concern of mine when I fed his brother to the sharks,” Layla replied. “It was helpful to chum the water, but I had to work fast. I couldn’t take my time and enjoy myself like I’ll be able to with Tommy.”

“Provided he doesn’t tell us what we want to know,” I reminded her.

Layla nodded. “Very true.” She took the two pieces of steak and walked over to the shark tank, dropping them in. The sharks thrashed about in their tanks as they went after the morsels. “Tommy? Would you like to cooperate and tell me where Anton is?”

“You really are a thick-headed bimbo,” Tommy growled. “Fuck. You.”

“Strip him down and string him up,” Layla ordered. While she began reheating the knife, Zach and Colt cut Tommy’s clothes off while the rest of us hooked him up to the chains hanging from the ceiling. With the press of a button, they began to raise, lifting Tommy out of his chair and spreading his arms wide. When his feet were dangling, Zach and I went forward and secured his feet to a second set of chains embedded in the floor. Tyler adjusted the tension on both chains until Tommy was suspended mid-air.

“Where should we cut first?” Layla pondered. When she hit the torch again, Tommy flinched, and I chuckled. It seems he wasn’t as unaffected as he was trying to appear.

“I think you should cut off his dick,” Zach suggested.

“For the first cut?” I asked. “That’s too soon. You go straight to cutting a man’s dick off, and he has nothing left to live for. Let him get a taste of what’s to come first and work up to the dick. Or balls. Castration could be fun.”

“I’m afraid I have to agree with Drew,” Layla said. “Tommy can keep his penis for now. How about I just slice off a piece of his thigh? Start in one of the more fleshy bits where he has room to lose a piece here or there.”

Layla stepped forward and shaved a piece of flesh from Tommy’s thigh. He screamed in pain, and I couldn’t help but grimace as well. It wasn’t just that he was being cut into, but he was being burned as well. So much that it was cooking him. Think of the worst burn you’ve ever had, then multiply it by a million. The room filled with the scent of burning flesh, and this time, it did not smell like steak.

Once she had a piece of Tommy’s thigh cut off, she went back to the shark tank. Layla paused to make sure Tommy was paying attention, dropped it in, and returned to inspect his wound. “You know what, Sean? You were right. There’s hardly any blood. I could keep doing this indefinitely.” She grinned at Tommy as I pushed the TV so he could see it and the shark tank simultaneously. “Maybe you need more time to think it over,” Layla said. “I’ll be back later.”

Tyler started the video again, and I was grateful when the door closed behind us, and we couldn’t hear it anymore.

“Layla, how long do you plan on torturing him?” I asked as we went upstairs.

“Until he tells me what I want to know, or there isn’t anything left to cut off,” Layla replied.

“You’ll want to feed him then and keep him hydrated,” I replied, “otherwise he won’t last as long as you want him to.”

“You have a point. What to do, what to do,” Layla pondered as we entered the kitchen.

When we arrived, Keith was sitting at the table reading the paper. “How’s it going with Tommy?” he asked as he folded the paper and placed it on the table.

“He’s stubborn, but we knew he would be,” Colton replied as he slid beside him.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?” I asked as I sat across from him.

“Doctor Reuben examined me yesterday and said I was allowed to get out of bed for meals,” Keith replied.

Zach looked around at the empty kitchen. “You aren’t eating anything,” he pointed out.

“But it will be dinner time soon, and I didn’t want to be late to the table,” Keith replied with a wink.

“That’s it!” Layla said suddenly. “Drew, talk to the Doc and see if he can give you a crash course on feeding tubes and saline drips!”

Oh, goody. I wanted to do that about as badly as I wanted a hole in the head. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I know he overlooks a lot for us, but I feel like this might cross a line.”

“Nah,” Zach replied. “The Doc’s cool people. He’d never rat out Layla.”

“I trust him,” Layla agreed.

“Then I’ll go ahead and give him a call,” I replied, trying to hide my disappointment.

“Keith Simmons!” Cordy shrieked, coming into the kitchen through the door that led to her living quarters. “What are you doing out of bed!”

“The Doc said I could!” Keith replied.

“He meant you could get out of bed and sit in the chair beside it!” Cordy scolded. “He did not say you could get out of bed and waltz your ass into my kitchen and sit at the table.”

“Well, that wasn’t how I interpreted it!” Keith argued.

Cordy grabbed a spatula from the canister on the counter and started stalking toward us. “Keith Simmons,” she said menacingly, “if you do not get your ass back to your room and into bed until it’s time to eat, I swear on my life I will whack the shit out of you until you do.”

Colton jumped out of the way so Keith could get out. As he slid along the bench, he mumbled, “I miss the fucking hospital.”

A fter dinner, I called Doctor Reuben, who was more than happy to come to the house after I explained what I wanted to know. He didn’t bat an eye when I let him into the interrogation room. I lowered the volume of the video so we could hear each other speaking.

“Is there a table we can lower him onto?” the Doc asked.

I called the guys to come down and help us get him strapped to a table. Tommy was struggling against us until Dr. Reuben pulled out a syringe and jabbed it into Tommy’s neck.

“Just a light sedative,” he assured us. “He’ll be awake and eagerly watching his video in no time. It’s just easier to do this when they’re relaxed.” He pulled out a roll of thin clear tubing and showed it to me. “Now, this is what we will push through his nose and into his stomach. I’ll leave you with these bottles of formula and this syringe. Just screw it on the end, like this,” he said, demonstrating. “Flip this valve here and depress the plunger. He should eat three of these bottles a day to thrive and remain healthy, but given the circumstances, one or two will be sufficient.”

I watched as he inserted the tube into Tommy’s nose and expected him to talk me through the process as he did, but he remained silent. I finally spoke up when he finished and taped the line to his face. “Doc, I don’t know that I’ll be able to repeat that.”

“You won’t need to. It can stay there indefinitely unless, of course, you plan on releasing him. Then you can remove it,” he replied. “As for the IV, this also can remain in, but you’ll want to keep the saline bag above the arm. He will begin to bleed into the line if it is lower than the arm.”

Dr. Reuben set the saline drip up and then supervised as we clipped the bag to the chain and raised Tommy back into position.

“Perfect!” he praised. “You should be all set now to continue with your psychological and physical torture.” The man packed up his things and let himself out of the room, with Tyler chasing after him to escort him out.

“Is it just me, or was that man too excited about what we were doing here?” I asked. “Especially for a doctor who swore to do no harm.”

“Yeah. The more times I see and interact with that man, the more certain I am that he’s a psychopath,” Colt replied.

“Tell me about it,” Zach said with a shudder.

We all looked at him in disbelief. “Hey, Zach?” I said as he wandered over to Tommy and poked him to see if he was waking up.

“Yeah?”

“You’re a little bit of a psychopath, too,” I told him.

“I know,” Zach replied, spinning to face us with a smile. He looked like he had more to say, and then he left the room without another word.

I exchanged looks with Sean and Colt. “At least he’s our psychopath,” I said.