Smiley paused outside room three and allowed his emotions to surface. Just thinking about the night he and Vanni had been drugged and all the things that could have gone wrong enraged him. He threw open the door and stomped inside. The human male handcuffed to a chair that was bolted to the floor jumped, his complexion already pale from living at Fuller Prison.
“Hello, human.” He slammed the door behind him and cracked his knuckles, making a show of it. “You can call me Pure Hell. That’s what you’re going to experience if you don’t tell me exactly what I want to know.” He approached the prisoner, keeping that anger alive inside. “I know we tend to be less violent than the felines and canines but don’t relax because I’m a primate. That would be a mistake.” He paused in front of the male and bent a little, glaring at him. “I have a mate. That makes me the most dangerous Species you’ve ever come into contact with. She was drugged.”
“I had nothing to do with that.” The male had an annoying whine to his voice.
“Drackwood created a version of the breeding drug for humans. She’s human. You’re guilty. You sold that shit to other humans.”
“It was Dean. He’s the one who sold it. It was his brainchild to weaken the dosages until it wouldn’t kill women.”
Smiley moved fast, grabbing the guy’s jaw. He applied enough pressure to bruise. “What did you do at Drackwood?”
“I’m Dr. Kent Berter. I ran research trials.”
“So you were the one who hurt Jeanie Shiver?”
His eyes widened. “No. That was Dr. Brask. I was animal research only. I refused to do human trials. Dean asked me first but I said no way. It’s one thing to kill a rat but something else entirely to watch a person suffer.”
“You worked for Mercile.”
“Drackwood. I never worked for Mercile Industries. We had nothing to do with New Species until some of them were transferred to our facility after they were shut down. We only had some mutual shareholders. I told all this to the men who interviewed me after I was arrested.”
“Who was the drug sold to?”
“I don’t know. That was above my pay grade.”
“What can you tell me?”
“I know two hundred doses of it were synthesized. I already told your people what I know. Dean authorized it. It happened a week before we were raided. Chris bitched about the mass order and the overtime he had to put in to make it happen. He was our chemist. He’s here. He was brought with me. You’ll have to ask him if any more of it was made. He was the only one qualified to do it.”
Smiley wasn’t willing to call it quits. “You know more.”
“I saw a guy there around that time. I thought he was the buyer. He looked like a professional wrestler or something but he wore a suit. All muscle and kind of scary. He was kind of a dick. I ran into him in the break room and he glared at me. I was afraid of him. He bitched about our shitty coffee, as if it were my fault. I was afraid he was going to punch me out. He wasn’t in a good mood.”
“Did he tell you his name?” Smiley released his face.
The prisoner shook his head. “Dean came in though, and I think he called him Bruce. I remembered it because I have a brother-in-law with that same name and they are polar opposites. I tend to take an interest in traits of people with the same names. I remember thinking he had nothing in common with my sister’s husband.”
Smiley flashed his fangs. It was probably the same male who’d abused Vanni. It was the same description. “What else can you tell me?”
“I got the hell out of there because he complained to Dean the second he walked in that he thought his boss was being robbed. I got the impression he didn’t like the price he was paying. Dean came in carrying one of the freezer cases we use to transport liquid drugs. That’s all I know. As I said, I got the hell out of there. Dean was never a pleasant guy to be around in the first place and that Bruce guy seemed even worse and bigger. I thought they might get into a fist fight or something. Dean never took shit from nobody. Look at me. Do I look like I’m into violence?”
Smiley ran his gaze over the thin male. He didn’t appear very strong or aggressive. “No.”
“That’s all I know. I swear. I don’t even understand why I’m serving time in prison. I mean, sure, I should have called someone when they brought New Species into our facility but I was afraid. They told us they’d kill our families. I just kept my nose to the ground and tried to ignore it all.”
“That’s why you’re at Fuller. You admit you could have made a call to the NSO, yet didn’t. We would have protected you and your family. Instead you chose to do nothing while our people suffered.”
The door opened and Jericho stuck his head in. “Let’s go.”
Smiley followed him into the hallway, closing the door behind him. “What is going on?”
“Woods and his son are on the move. They have left for the airport. I thought you’d want to monitor it all from Security.”
Smiley increased his pace. He wanted to make sure Bruce was with Gregory and Carl Woods. That would mean all the males who had harmed Vanni would be brought to the NSO, to him. He couldn’t wait to get a little payback on her behalf by watching them suffer.
* * * * *
Vanni showered and put on an oversized T-shirt to be comfortable. It was just after seven. Smiley had been gone for a long time. She wished she dared call and check on him. She resisted. She’d told him to go to that meeting but she hadn’t expected it to last all day and into the evening.
“Hello, human.” He slammed the door behind him and cracked his knuckles, making a show of it. “You can call me Pure Hell. That’s what you’re going to experience if you don’t tell me exactly what I want to know.” He approached the prisoner, keeping that anger alive inside. “I know we tend to be less violent than the felines and canines but don’t relax because I’m a primate. That would be a mistake.” He paused in front of the male and bent a little, glaring at him. “I have a mate. That makes me the most dangerous Species you’ve ever come into contact with. She was drugged.”
“I had nothing to do with that.” The male had an annoying whine to his voice.
“Drackwood created a version of the breeding drug for humans. She’s human. You’re guilty. You sold that shit to other humans.”
“It was Dean. He’s the one who sold it. It was his brainchild to weaken the dosages until it wouldn’t kill women.”
Smiley moved fast, grabbing the guy’s jaw. He applied enough pressure to bruise. “What did you do at Drackwood?”
“I’m Dr. Kent Berter. I ran research trials.”
“So you were the one who hurt Jeanie Shiver?”
His eyes widened. “No. That was Dr. Brask. I was animal research only. I refused to do human trials. Dean asked me first but I said no way. It’s one thing to kill a rat but something else entirely to watch a person suffer.”
“You worked for Mercile.”
“Drackwood. I never worked for Mercile Industries. We had nothing to do with New Species until some of them were transferred to our facility after they were shut down. We only had some mutual shareholders. I told all this to the men who interviewed me after I was arrested.”
“Who was the drug sold to?”
“I don’t know. That was above my pay grade.”
“What can you tell me?”
“I know two hundred doses of it were synthesized. I already told your people what I know. Dean authorized it. It happened a week before we were raided. Chris bitched about the mass order and the overtime he had to put in to make it happen. He was our chemist. He’s here. He was brought with me. You’ll have to ask him if any more of it was made. He was the only one qualified to do it.”
Smiley wasn’t willing to call it quits. “You know more.”
“I saw a guy there around that time. I thought he was the buyer. He looked like a professional wrestler or something but he wore a suit. All muscle and kind of scary. He was kind of a dick. I ran into him in the break room and he glared at me. I was afraid of him. He bitched about our shitty coffee, as if it were my fault. I was afraid he was going to punch me out. He wasn’t in a good mood.”
“Did he tell you his name?” Smiley released his face.
The prisoner shook his head. “Dean came in though, and I think he called him Bruce. I remembered it because I have a brother-in-law with that same name and they are polar opposites. I tend to take an interest in traits of people with the same names. I remember thinking he had nothing in common with my sister’s husband.”
Smiley flashed his fangs. It was probably the same male who’d abused Vanni. It was the same description. “What else can you tell me?”
“I got the hell out of there because he complained to Dean the second he walked in that he thought his boss was being robbed. I got the impression he didn’t like the price he was paying. Dean came in carrying one of the freezer cases we use to transport liquid drugs. That’s all I know. As I said, I got the hell out of there. Dean was never a pleasant guy to be around in the first place and that Bruce guy seemed even worse and bigger. I thought they might get into a fist fight or something. Dean never took shit from nobody. Look at me. Do I look like I’m into violence?”
Smiley ran his gaze over the thin male. He didn’t appear very strong or aggressive. “No.”
“That’s all I know. I swear. I don’t even understand why I’m serving time in prison. I mean, sure, I should have called someone when they brought New Species into our facility but I was afraid. They told us they’d kill our families. I just kept my nose to the ground and tried to ignore it all.”
“That’s why you’re at Fuller. You admit you could have made a call to the NSO, yet didn’t. We would have protected you and your family. Instead you chose to do nothing while our people suffered.”
The door opened and Jericho stuck his head in. “Let’s go.”
Smiley followed him into the hallway, closing the door behind him. “What is going on?”
“Woods and his son are on the move. They have left for the airport. I thought you’d want to monitor it all from Security.”
Smiley increased his pace. He wanted to make sure Bruce was with Gregory and Carl Woods. That would mean all the males who had harmed Vanni would be brought to the NSO, to him. He couldn’t wait to get a little payback on her behalf by watching them suffer.
* * * * *
Vanni showered and put on an oversized T-shirt to be comfortable. It was just after seven. Smiley had been gone for a long time. She wished she dared call and check on him. She resisted. She’d told him to go to that meeting but she hadn’t expected it to last all day and into the evening.
