him and Josh.
“Oh yeah! The
fool tried to head-butt me.”
“I see. Well, I
need you to remove the um...binding from his mouth. He has questions to answer,”
Jason told Jake with a wave of his hand in the direction of fool number one.
“Well, alright!”
Josh said with a hand pump in the air. “What’re we gonna do to him if he
doesn't want to answer – can I hurt him? Please say I can hurt him!” He
finished with a maniacal laugh.
“But of course
you may. I know you need to get your enjoyment wherever you can. Far be it from
us to deny you your simple pleasures,” Jason said with an indulgent look in his
younger brother’s direction, his eyes never leaving mummy boy, liking the way
sweat was breaking out on the hapless fool's face.
Jake remained
silent and watchful. He knew that a situation could change in a matter of
moments. His brothers could ham it up as much as they felt the situation
necessitated. He, however, wasn't about to take any chances with any of their
lives.
Reaching over,
Josh pulled the binding from the man's mouth, and his tongue snuck out to run
over his dry lips. Maybe it was just the fact that his mouth had been covered
for a while or maybe he was nervous. Jason hoped it was the latter, and just in
case it wasn't he intended to make it so.
Walking toward
the bound man with slow, deliberate strides, Jason stopped directly before him.
He stood close so that the man would have to crane his head backwards to look
up at his superior height. He had long ago realized that his height alone could
be used as a means of intimidation to smaller men. Coupled with his bulk, most
people quickly saw things his way.
Jason wasn't a
bully. In fact, he hated anyone who preyed on those less able to protect
themselves. But this man may have been one of the people who held Aviva in
captivity, had the audacity to hurt her and then to come into their house
brandishing a gun. Oh yes, he most definitely had questions to answer.
Therefore, Jason would use whatever means he felt necessary to extract the
information he wanted.
Looking down his
nose, Jason folded his arms across his chest and widened his stance, looking
fool number one straight in the eyes for long moments, regard ice cold. Aware
they didn't have the luxury of time, he used his will as a means of backing the
man into the position he wanted him in.
When Jason spoke,
it shook the silence that seemed to have become a part of their very
surroundings, making the sweating man jump. Good, he thought, his tactic was
working.
“You have two
choices, you either answer my questions or I hurt you. You have exactly twenty seconds
to make up your mind. Josh, if you please, you are the timekeeper. I want to
hurt this bastard so bad I may lose track of time. Yet, I am a man of my word.
I gave him twenty seconds and twenty seconds he shall have. The countdown starts...now.”
Jake couldn't
help but smile. He could see Jason was straining to get a hold of the man he
had so effortlessly intimidated. Obviously, he wasn't the brains of this two
man infiltration team. Standing closest to the bedroom door, Jake heard the
handle turn and felt an almost imperceptible change in the temperature around
him. Aviva had cracked open the door to peep out at what was going on in the
main room. He decided to ignore her. Jason whose ears were tuned in to
everything going on around him didn’t make the same decision. He had heard her
turn the handle of the door, and could feel her curious eyes roaming around the
room, stopping on him. He wasn't having it.
“I know I told
you to stay in that room!” Jason spoke without turning around.
Click, she was
gone.
Jason wasn't
prepared to give their captive an opportunity to think up a fabricated story.
He also had no intention of voicing his questions until the twenty seconds was
up.
“Times up,” Josh
said, still sitting in a relaxed position beside the now funky smelling man
whose sweat had soaked through his clothes and his
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