Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Present Day - Maddox – age 36

"Ilike it when they lie,don'tyou?" Smiling, I kicked my feet up on the shitty metal desk, andI nodded to my Sergeant at Arms, Dimitri. He looked a little too gleeful ifI was being honest with myself.

"Sure do."Dimitri'sknife was already glinting in the glow of the dirty light.

The man tied to the chair had already been beatenrepeatedly but had so far denied stealing from the Iron Brotherhood.While I was president,theftwasn'tsomething I would stand for on my watch.An example was going to have tobe made.

"You know what happens when people sticky fingers?"Dimitri said, leaning over theman'sshoulder. His smile spread widely across his face.

"Wait,"the man breathed out."Wait." It was too late, though, for Ronald Dawson's first finger.

Dimitri had already pushed a cigar cutter forward before he could wriggle away. Like a miniature guillotine, the mechanism snapped, and the digit fell to the ground.

"Oh God! God," Ronald screamed. Blood spurted from the wound.

I kicked back at my desk while Dimitri continued his work. Ignoring the screaming, Isorted through my newest collection of daily videos from the cameras outsideHelena'sapartment complex in Phoenix.

Flexing myfingers,I allowed myself a full hour of scrolling before I caught her leaving for her workday. There was my princess…her golden hair shining in the Arizona sun as she left her building. Too bad the cameras weren't good enough to catch what sort of earrings she was wearing.It was Saturday, andon the weekends, she indulged herself with those crazy earrings that she liked. Sometimes, if the angle and the light were just right, I could see them swinging wildly at the end of her earlobes. Mushrooms, rainbows, little bottles … with Helena, who knew?

It'dbeen a few days sinceI'dsnuck up to catch a glimpse of her in person. Perhaps this week, I'dbe able to manage it. The thought already cheered me up.

"Well?"Dimitri'svoice called me back to the matter at hand. Closing the computer window, I let my attention get pulled back to Mr. Dawson and his remaining fingers.