The cabin Eyes took her to was very large.

It boasted of a large bed that could easily accommodate five people and still leave a space for a toddler, a single bookshelf that held unfamiliar paperbacks, a large desk made out of shiny dark wood, and two doors that led to a large bathroom and a walk-in closet.

Eyes had left once she'd closed the door behind her, so Elodie took the time to explore the space but wisely kept her fingers to herself.

After taking care of her business in the toilet, she returned to the bed, and sat gingerly on the edge, placing her purse besides her.

Her mind churned with what little conversation she'd heard.

It was either she was reading too much into things or there was something else at play here. The way Angelo spoke and the men she'd seen addressing him tonight told her that he was very powerful, but just how powerful he was, she didn't know.

First, he'd been referred to as Boss, the Bones had called him Capo, too. Prehaps, it was the Italian term for boss, and she was just searching for problems where there was none.

She'd be spending four days with the man, so there was no use borrowing trouble on the first night.

Elodie reached for her purse, opened it, and got out her work phone. Boss could be pissed later, but she remembered that she'd told Jean she was going to check on Mace, so it would be in her best interest to tell her that she couldn't make it to work.

Hi, It's E. There's been a development on Mace's case
and I wouldn't be able to
make it to work, but I'll keep
you updated.

T

he message was vague enough that she could choose the narrative when next they met. Elodie had never been a good liar, so it was best to leave the conversation open.

She also sent a quick message to the home explaining that she wouldn't be able to come in to see Mace because she was away on a business trip.

Once she was satisfied that all loose ends were closed, she returned her phone to her purse, and got to her feet. Her soles ached, so she pulled off her shoes, and went over to the round-shaped window overlooking the Bay. It was hard to see anything out there due to the dark, but she could make out the glistening water just fine.

A sudden scream tore through the air.

Elodie jerked away from the window, eyes blown as she whirled around, half-expecting to see someone standing in the doorway. All her muscles became locked when she saw that she was still the only occupant of the room.

Her heart pumped away in her chest, and her body began to shake.

What the hell was that?

Did she just hear someone scream, or was it a figment of her imagination?

Was this what Angelo meant when he told her to stay in the cabin no matter what she heard?

Was someone being hurt, or worse...was it Angelo himself?

A second scream—this one more blood curling than the first—filled the silent space again.

Elodie's muscles became unlocked and she sprang into action.

Grabbing her phone from her purse, she ran toward the cabin door, grabbed the knob and wrenched it open. The hallway was deserted, and there was no soul in sight like she'd been expecting, considering what was happening.

Maybe they'd ran for their life, leaving behind the person screaming like their soul was being wrenched from them.

There was no one on the deck either, but she did not let that deter her. Another scream led her down a set of stairs to a dark hallway which had low light, and the carpet muffled her footsteps as she drew closer to the partially shut door at the end. As she drew closer, Elodie could hear low murmurs and whimpers of pain.

She dropped into a crouch, and crawled on her hands her knees until she was leaning against one of the walls bracketing the door.

"Where are the girls?" She heard a familiar voice ask.

It was Angelo.

His tone sounded nothing like when he spoke to her. This one was dry and cold, almost lifeless, even. He also sounded bored; as if he couldn't be bothered to be there, talking to whoever was one the receiving end of his words.

"I told you that I don't know what you're talking about!" The speaker—a man—sounded enraged, but beneath his anger was fear.

If she could hear it so plainly, then Angelo must too.

Elodie bit her bottom lip, took a deep breath, then leaned forward so that only a part of her face was visible.

A man swan into view. He was naked as the day he was born, strapped to a wooden low table. His face was turned towards the door, although he wasn't staring at her, but at the dark figure looming above him. Dried blood coated the side of his face she could see, and his eyes were wide, mouth gaping as he sucked in air.

Angelo stood beside the man, his back turned to her. He'd swapped his clothes for a pair of black cargo pants and a dark henley. He wore dark surgical gloves on his hands. His shoes were dark and sturdical; the type worn on a hike up a mountain and not on a yatch.

To his right stood a crude wooden counter, where different wicked, sharp glinting tools lay in all sizes, shapes and designs laid. It ranged from knives to long dark rods with spiked ends and surgical tools.

Elodie watched as Angelo reached for what looked like sharpened tweezers.

Then, he turned back to the man who was watching him with wide eyes, chest heaving.

"Who are you people and what do you want with me?" The man asked.

"Luca Casimir, have you ever played a game of truth and dare?" Angelo countered with his own question running the dull end of the tool across the naked chest of the man before him.

Elodie sucked in a breath as she registered that name.

Dario had mentioned him earlier, and Angelo had promised that he would take care of him. What had the man done to require this type of punishment? And who the hell were these people?

"W-what?" Luca sputtered.

"Truth and dare," He repeated calmly. "A game where you either choose to tell the truth or do something out of your comfort zone. But unlike that game, we'll be playing truth, and truth only."

"I did play that game growing up," Bones said. He was farther in the room, so she couldn't see him.

"So was I," another unfamiliar man said from somewhere in the room. "Though the stakes were higher back then. You played with something dear to you: your parents, siblings...or a body part." Then, he chuckled darkly.

A chill raced up Elodie's spine, and it took all she had not to make a sound. She was witnessing something dark here, and if she were to tell the police what she saw, she had to stick it through to the end, no matter what.

Angelo trailed the tool up until it was resting above the left nipple of Luca and held it there. "I hate repeating myself so I'll ask this once more: where are the girls?"

Luca spat in his face, as his own contorted into one of pure rage. "You sick bastard. I do not know what you are talking about."

"Well, then." Angelo applied pressure to the tweezers and they dug deep into Lucas's chest, then opened them, watching as the flesh beneath gave way. "I hate liars, Luca."

"I am—"

He twisted the tool, burrowing them deeper while Luca tossed his head back and screamed.

Elodie stuffed her left fist into her mouth to muffle her own whimper of fear as she looked on.

Angelo looked so relaxed, his shoulders free from any tension. He looked like he was in his element, and the precision with which he dug into his prisoner's chest told her that this wasn't his first rodeo.

She couldn't believe that she'd allowed this monster to kiss her earlier and liked it. Hell, he'd have even fucked her in the elevator if she hadn't given him that bullshit about them having more time to get down and dirty.

"I have your collection of films, you bastard," Angelo said. Then, he closed the tip of the tweezers together and pulled. Hard.

Blood arced into the air as Luca screamed once more. "You ripped out my fucking nipple, tu bastardo ammalato."

Angelo dropped the tweezers and reached for a long scalpel which winked menacingly in the bright light suspended above the table. "I did warn you that I want the truth from you. You see, my game has its own rules; for every question asked, I expect the truth and if I don't hear what I want, you lose a body part."

Lucas's chest was heaving as blood followed the planes of his body to drip onto the table."I don't know what you are talking about."

Angelo sighed as though he was being put upon. "Rocco."

"Yes, capo?" A man shifted into view.

Elodie couldn't make out his features, but he was almost the same height as Angelo, but he was a head shorter and his voice was gruffer and hoarser—it was the voice of a regular smoker.

"If I were to slice him open here"—he pointed to a spot on the man's pudgy stomach—"would it kill him?"

"No, capo. There's plenty of flesh you'd encounter before you nick the intestines," Rocco said, bored. "But if you do decide to kill him, then you can just go for the jaguar."

She was disgusted by how they spoke freely as though they were discussing the stock market and not a living human being. Elodie vowed to make them pay once she got the evidence she needed.

Speaking of which, she leaned back against the wall, and quickly scrolled to the video app of her phone. The iPhone had a clearer and sharper pixel, so there'd be no mistaking the people she'd be recording.

She hit the record button, and leaned back in, holding the phone just below her mouth, it's back looking into the room.

"Well, I guess we're doing this the hard way then," Angelo intoned dryly.

He pressed down the scalpel on the spot the pointed earlier and started to press in deep, but before he could cut the flesh, Luca screamed, "Wait! Please, wait. I know the girls. I knew them. Okay?"

Rocco made a disappointed sound. "The fun was only just beginning."

"Why?"

"Why what?" Luca asked.

"Why did you stalk those girls? Kidnap them? Rape them? Torture them?" Angelo pressed, shaking his head. "Why?"

"Because they were asking for it," Luca said, spittle flying. "They leered at me, begged even. I see them everyday, walking in those little shorts and skirts. They were asking for it."

Despite her anger and disgust towards Angelo and his men, Lucas's words disgusted her even more.

He was one of those rapists who believed that the way women walked and talked had anything to do with them. They took it as a personal confrontation if a woman didn't conform to what they deemed normal and standard in their own mind.

He was a sick bastard, but that didn't excuse what Angelo was doing.

Couldn't he have just handed him to the police instead and let them deal with him?

"They were children for fucksake," Rocco sneered, baring his surprisingly white teeth. "We have a code, and that includes not harming children or women."

Luca let out a small laugh. "How high and mighty of you to speak to me about morals, Rocco. You and I both know that you traffic women from all over the world, so don't stand there and preach to me about what is right and wrong." He scoffed. "You and I are no different."

Angelo calmly took a step back, and Rocco took his place beside the table. He drew back a meaty left fist, and let it fly.

Elodie heard the crunch of the cartilage, saw the blood explode from the man's nose.

Bile rose up her throat from the sickening sounds that accompanied each low to Lucas's face, and she bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, tasting the metallic taste of her own blood. She knew her fate would be worse than that of the man being beaten if she was caught.

"Enough, Rocco. We can't get answers from him if his face caves in," Angelo said, stepping forward once more.

Rocco ambled off to the side, shaking out his bloodied hand as he went. "The next thing that comes out of your mouth better he the fucking truth," he snapped at the whimpering mess on the table.

"What do you say, Luca? Care to answer my questions now, or should I play a game of jeopardy with you?" Angelo asked.

"I can't tell you anything," Luca cried. "He'll kill me if I do."

Angelo kissed his teeth. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I give you the impression that you'd be getting out of this alive?" He thumped Luca on his forehead with his index finger. "I'll kill you once you tell me what I want to hear."

"What?" He gasped, as though he'd been consoling himself with the fact that he'd be getting out alive.

"Yeah, Luca. You're not walking out of here," Rocco added. "Your fate has been sealed the minute you went after those toddlers. How many limbs you lose...Well, that is up to you."

"I have done this countless times," Angelo picked up from where he left off. "And I know how many limbs you can loose before succumbing to your blood loss."

He traded the scalpel for a knife that had a curved tip and thick hilt made out of leather. Angelo pinched his thigh between his left pointer finger and thumb and placed the knife beside the puckered flesh.

"Now, dear, tell me what I want to hear."

"Oh, God," Luca whispered.

"God cannot help you now, rapista bambino." Angelo swiped the blade, and the skin came off in one swoop.

Luca screamed, tears leaking out the sides of his eyes.

Tears also welled up in Elodie's eyes and she could do nothing but let them fall. She pitied the bastard despite what he'd done. No one deserved to watch their own body get cut into shreds while still conscious no matter what they'd done.

How could Angelo be so heartless?

"Okay! Okay. I'll tell you. Please, just stop."

Angelo moved to his knees and, pinched the flesh there. "You better start talking fast."

"I am not the only one raping those children, I swear. He pays me to discard their bodies after he's done with them, but they were always still alive so I figured that I could enjoy his sloppy seconds. But, I'm not his only hench man, too. There are others supply him and his group children. They prefer the ones between the ages of three to five."

"And what do they give you in return?" Bones asked.

"Five million dollars and a week on his private island off the L.A. coast goes to the person who gets the highest kids andd discard them without arousing suspicion. I was set to go there this weekend, but you ruined it for me."

Okay, maybe this bastard does deserve to rot in hell, E2 snarled, talons bared.

It's still not right. Elodie protested.

Boo fucking hoo, E2 rolled her eyes, wake up and smell the fucking coffee, girl. People like this exist undetected. He doesn't deserve the mercy jail time is going to afford him.

Elodie blocked out the cold bitch, and instead focused on what they were saying.

"That's it?" Angelo asked. "You killed over thirty children for money and a vacation on an island?"

Luca snorted. "It's not about the money. It's about the pride. Do you know how many years the military train men to do we do? We're an elite team. We do what we want when we want."

"Who is he?" Rocco asked.

"We don't use names."

Angelo sliced off the flesh.

Luca squealed like a pig, blood pouring out of his opened mouth, staining his teeth. "His name is Vasily Medvedev."

"That can't be right," Bones murmured.

Luca nodded. "It's definitely him. It took me a while to find out, but I'm sure."

"Who is this guy?" Angelo asked his men.

"Fucking Russian Bratva."

Luca let out a small chuckle. "Ha! You see that you're punching above your weight? He'd come for you if he doesn't hear from me in two days."

Angelo turned back to him, dropping the knife onto the table beside Lucas's bleeding thigh. "Let that be my problem." Then, he turned to Rocco, tilting his head slightly. "Make it hurt."

Elodie heard the sound of a gun corking from behind her—she'd watched enough action movie to recognize it—and slowly turned around to see a gun aimed at her head.

Eyes stared down at her, lips twisted into a frown. "You should have stayed in your room."

There was no time to think.

Elodie recalled the self defense training Boss had made her go through just in case a problem arose; although she didn't think Boss knew she'd be in a situation like this one.

She slowly got into a squat, hands raised in the head.

"Who's out there?" She heard Angelo ask, and his footfalls became heavier as he walked toward them.

Elodie knew it would be over for her the minute he opened the door.

She whipped out her leg, wincing when she hit Eye's knee, and ducked when he squeezed the trigger as he went down.

The bullet missed her head by a few millimeters, and her hands shook as she registered that she was almost killed.

The door behind her swung open, but Elodie was already on her feet, running toward the ladder she'd climbed on her way in.

Halfway up, she chanced a glance over her shoulders.

Angelo was leaning against the door jamb, watching her with that blank mask on his face. She didn't have the time to savor the smooth expanse of the skin of his face—stained with specks of blood—now that he had gotten rid of the mask earlier.

"Run, preda," he told her, "Run."

Elodie climbed onto the safety of the deck, relieved when no men in suit came looking for her.

She climbed off the yatch and onto the marina, remembering the way they came from. Another glance revealed that no one was after her, but she couldn't take any chance.

She hiked up the skirt of her dress,, holding her work phone in her grip, and did what the monster had told her.

Elodie ran.

A/N:

If you're offend, somewhat, that I did not put up a warning above the chapter, then I won't apologize for it.

I did warn in the FOREWORD, and also did that in the last chapter.

This is a story where there'll be lots of violence, and if that's not your thing, then I suggest you leave.

Consider this your last warning, as I will not talk about this again.

Question time:

What do you think about this chapter?

Is Angelo a good guy?

Will he go after the Russian Bratva?

What do you think will happen to Elodie?

P.s.: This chapter is so fucking long.

Don't forget to vote, share and comment.

Silent readers: I SEE you❤️