“Question them,” Brew commands. “You were the one thinkin’ they had connections back home, right? So, you’re up.”
I wasn’t expecting him to say that, or to put me in the hot seat, but I’m not mad about it. I just usually take a backseat to these things.
“We all wanna find out what they know,” Haze says. “And lord help them if they had anythin’ to do with Willow’s kidnapping.”
Right now? This is my moment.
I swallow hard, then yank down goon number one’s mouth restraint. “What’s your name, asswipe?”
“Umm, uh, B-Barry,” he stammers. “I-I don’t know what we’re doing here, but?—”
I punch him in the stomach. “Did I ask for anythin’ other than your name? Speak when spoken to, that’s how this is gonna work, got me?”
He winces, gasping for breath, nodding profusely.
“Okay. So, let’s sort this out, and if you lie, I’ll make waterboarding look like an Olympic sport by the time I’m done. Nobody wants that, leather and water don’t mix, Barry, and mypals here pack some serious punch, so be a good boy and tell us what you know.”
I bend down close to him as his eyes dart around panicked. I chose him because the other dude sitting close by is a lot calmer. He’ll be harder to break. “What were you doin’ at Big Papa’s?”
“I-we-uh, we’re just tryin’ to find some new clients,” he says. “Networking around the hotspots. We’re new in town.”
“Clients for what?” I already know this answer, but I want him to say it.
“Girls,” he spits. “We have a business, and there’s no harm in asking around. This is all a big misunderstanding!”
“Girls?” I say, tapping my chin. “Not women?”
“Yes,women, of course, women. Hookers, for want of a better word. It’s what we do. And we have some beautiful girls. Men like you would like?—”
There’s that word again.
“Shut the fuck up!” Brew roars. “Or you’re gonna lose your balls if you say one more thing like that.”
I let a second pass before I continue. “So, just to be clear. When you saywomen,how old are these women you have workin’ for you?”
“They, uh, they’re old enough, all different ages.”
I hear someone crack their knuckles behind me.
“They’re all over eighteen, then?”
His eyes widen and he nods without speaking.Liar.
I place a hand on Barry’s shoulder. “You wouldn’t lie to me, now would you?”
He shakes his head.
“Because that’s funny, one of Big Papa’s men swears you showed him pictures of an underage girl. He said she looked no older than twelve or thirteen. That’s pretty young.”
“That’s not true!” he spits. “Some of these girls look a lot younger. I have kids of my own?—”
“Poor them,” Logan mutters.
“Do you sell children, Barry? Tell me the truth and this will all end quickly.”
His eyes widen. “End?”
I nod, smiling. “Yeah. I mean, you didn’t really think you were gonna be walkin’ out of here, did you?”