The Eden Prophecy

CHAPTER 46

Caught flat-footed because something on Hawker’s phone had distracted her, Danielle raced to catch him before he went too far.

As he slammed the door open, she saw Scindo stirring, a look of fright in his eyes. Hawker grabbed him, yanked him out of the chair, and threw him against the wall. Dropping down beside him, Hawker ripped the tape off the man’s mouth.

“You’re going to tell me where they are, you bastard!” Hawker yelled. He hoisted Scindo up, just far enough to knee him in the gut and then fire a right cross to his jaw. Scindo’s lip burst open with blood.

“Hawker, stop!” Danielle shouted. “We don’t have to do this!”

Hawker wasn’t listening. When Scindo didn’t reply, Hawker threw him to the ground again, kicked him again, and then stood on his chest.

“Listen to me,” Danielle said. “There’s something wrong here.”

“Get out of here!” Hawker shouted. He grabbed a pair of pliers off the shelf, dropped onto Scindo with a knee, and jammed the pliers into the drywall beside him.

Scindo’s eyes were as large as saucers as Hawker gouged out a huge hole right above the electrical socket. Slamming his fist into the wall, Hawker widened the hole, then he reached in and, using the pliers, tore the copper wires loose from the socket.

“Hawker, there’s a message on your phone. It came from my phone but I didn’t send it.”

Hawker wasn’t listening. “You murdered her father!” he shouted.

For the first time the man replied, his eyes filled with fear. “I did not,” he said in English.

Danielle took that as a positive and a negative. Scindo’s determination not to talk might be breaking, but did that mean Hawker’s insane plan needed to be tried?

“You lie!” Hawker shouted, yanking more of the electrical cord through the wall.

“I don’t,” Scindo said. “It was not me. I never saw him.”

Hawker stood, pulled the gun out of his belt, and put it down on the table behind him.

“Where are they taking her!” he yelled.

No answer.

“Where!”

When Scindo refused to speak, Hawker moved away from him an inch or two. Careful not to touch him, he jammed the two copper leads into Scindo’s side. Sparks jumped, the lights dimmed and came back on, and Scindo screamed.

Watching this, Danielle’s heart went into her throat. She knew what was coming. There was no way to turn back now.

“Tell me, you son of a bitch!” Hawker shouted.

“Stop it!” Danielle screamed at him.

“Tell me!”

Scindo held quiet and Hawker shocked him again.

The lights in the room dimmed and Scindo screamed. Hawker held the prongs on him, singeing the man’s skin. The smell of hair and skin burning filled the room.

“For God’s sake, Hawker!”

“Get out of here!” he yelled back.

“Please,” she begged.

His response was to shock Scindo again. And Danielle could wait no longer.

She grabbed the gun off the table and cocked the hammer. The sound got Hawker’s attention.

Hawker turned and Scindo’s eyes followed. Both of them stared at her.

Tears were streaming down her face, welling up in her eyes, and rolling across her cheeks.

“Get away from him,” she said firmly.

A look of utter shock appeared on Hawker’s face. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Please,” she begged. “I can’t do this. I can’t go where you’re going.”

“You’re saving him?” Hawker whispered in disbelief.

“I’m trying to save you,” she said.

Hawker’s face hardened, as if this was another betrayal. “No,” he said. “Go to hell. You’re not stopping this.”

He turned back to Scindo and shocked him again. The prisoner writhed and slammed his head into the wall.

“Hawker!”

“Tell me what you know!” Hawker shouted.

“Hawker, please!”

Hawker shocked Scindo again, only this time a gunshot echoed along with the prisoner’s screams. Hawker fell forward, dropping the electric wires and slamming into the metal chair in the corner of the room.

It collapsed with a loud clang and Hawker rolled over on it. Lying prone, he turned back to face her. Staring back from the corner, he clutched a bleeding shoulder.

“Are you insane?” he grunted.

She ignored him. “Get up!” she shouted to Scindo.

If Hawker was in shock, Scindo was even more surprised.

“Get up!”

Scindo staggered to his feet, the shackles making it hard to walk, traces of smoke rising from his charred skin.

Hawker moved as if he were about to get up but winced in pain and fell back down. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he shouted.

She backed out the door, motioning for Scindo to follow. He shuffled through and she shut and locked the door behind her.

“Come with me,” she said, heading toward the front door and wrapping a coat over Scindo’s taped hands.

She opened the front door, her heart sick, her mind spinning. She hadn’t wanted to do this, but Hawker had forced her.

“Down the stairs!” she shouted. Scindo hesitated as muffled sounds came from the interrogation room, where Hawker was shouting at the top of his lungs and slamming something against the locked door.

“Move!” Danielle shouted.

Scindo complied, hustling down the stairs as fast as his shackled feet would allow. Danielle followed, wondering where the hell she was going to go and not even wanting to think about what would happen now.