“Doesn’t Old Yeller get shot at the end?”
All right, then. Javi’s diving straight in. Fucking hell.
“Leave my dog alone.” Jacob tries to stand, but his leg is too weak to support him.
“Tell me what I want to know.”
“Fuck off.”
Javi laughs, but it’s got no mirth. I wonder if he’d say something crude in response if I weren’t here.
“Tell me what I want to know, and your dog lives. Give me only part of what I want, and I go after your sister. Give me nothing, and your dog is dead within the hour.”
“Fuck my sister. Leave Yeller alone.”
“That’s an offer I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.”
“Nah. You’re fucking the bony bitch hiding behind you.”
I cringe. Not because he insulted me. Javi puts a bullet through his other knee. It didn’t take a genius to see that coming.
“You think you can piss me off enough to lose my shit and kill you. The more you piss me off, the longer it’ll take me to kill you.”
If I were any other woman, he’d never confess something like that. Then again, another woman wouldn’t have shot a man through the eye.
“I can keep putting holes in you that’ll make you bleed but won’t kill you quickly. You’re still talking with two bullets in you.We can test your pain tolerance by putting a few more holes in you before you pass out.”
Javi points the gun at Jacob’s hand that rests on the ground beside him. The latter looks at where Javi aims, so he’s unprepared for the knife Javi flips open and flings at him. It imbeds in Jacob’s chest just beneath his collar bone near his left shoulder.
“I didn’t say how I’d make the holes.”
Javi jerks his chin toward Jacob, and one of his guys jogs forward. I peer between Javi’s and Jorge’s arms to watch the man twist the blade before yanking it out. He wipes it on Jacob’s shirt before bringing it to Javi.
“You going to have him play fetch?”
Jacob’s an idiot to keep taunting Javi. I can almost guarantee Javi has far more experience interrogating a guy than Jacob does. I don’t doubt Javi can draw this out.
“Did you cause the raid that nearly got Madeline killed?”
“Fucking inept local cops let her leave.”
Not quite an admittance, but practically.
“Did Drew send you or do you have your own plans for Madeline?”
“That piece of shit can barely think straight. He’s so pissed he doesn’t know what the fuck to do. You don’t want to be in the middle of this. Trade Madeline to me, and I’ll make sure the DEA’ll focus on the O’Rourkes instead.”
“The DEA isn’t going anywhere near them now that a former agent is part of that family. I should call Shane right now and let him know what’s going on.”
“You didn’t deny you don’t want to be in the middle of this. Give me Madeline, and I’ll give you something better in return.”
“Impossible.”
“Come on. Everyone knowsTres J’sdon’t give a shit about women. You’ll do anything to keep your family ahead. She’s only worth something to Drew because she knows shit.”
I sort of know what he’s talking about from what Laura’s told me. She’s hinted at some stuff to warn me away fromTres J’s. I heard my big sister, but clearly, I didn’t listen. Javi doesn’t flinch at the taunt.
“That shit she knows seems worth something to you. Either you want her to tell you what she knows, or you want to manipulate Drew by holding onto her. What you want and what’s going to happen aren’t the same thing. Madeline goes nowhere. We’re back to where we started. Answer my questions, or I make sure your dog is dead within the hour.”
