The cop who had kneed him lowered his lips to Wilde’s ear. “You know why we’re here?”
“To serve and protect?”
The punch to the back of Wilde’s skull stunned him, made him see stars.
“Guess again, cop killer.”
*
They jammed a black bag over Wilde’s head, bathing him in dark, and pushed him into the backseat, being sure to bang his head on the way in. One of the men said, “Drive,” and they were gone.
“I’d like to know what I’m being charged with,” Wilde said.
Silence.
“I’d also like to call my attorney,” Wilde said.
“Later.”
“I don’t want to be questioned until I speak to my attorney.”
More silence.
Wilde tried again. “I said, I don’t—”
Someone silenced him with a hard punch deep in the stomach. Wilde doubled over, retching, the air gone from his lungs. If you’ve ever had the wind knocked out of you, you know what an awful feeling it is, as though you’re suffocating and dying and there is nothing to be done about it. Wilde had enough experience to know that this feeling would pass, that it was caused by nothing more than a diaphragm spasm, that his best bet was to sit up and breathe slowly.
It took thirty seconds, maybe a minute, but he rode it out.
Wilde wanted to ask where they were headed, but the blow to his solar plexus still stung. Did it matter? If they were taking him to Hartford, it would be an uncomfortable two-plus hours. His handcuffs were still on. There was one cop in the back with him, another in the driver’s seat obviously. Could be a third. No way to tell with the bag over his head. He weighed his options and saw none. Any move he would make would be foolhardy. Even if he could incapacitate the guy in the back—through the blindfold and cuffs—the back door wouldn’t open from the inside.
There was just no way.
Ten minutes later, the car pulled to a stop. Not Hartford, Wilde knew. Not Connecticut. The car door opened. Strong hands reached in, grabbed him, and dragged him out. Wilde considered going weightless, flopping to the ground, but he figured that would only earn him a kick in the ribs. He stayed upright and kept pace, letting the men lead him.
Even with the bag over his head, his deep inhalation detected pine and lavender. Wilde listened. No traffic sounds. No street bustle or voices or mechanical whirs. Under his feet was dirt and the occasional root. There was no way to know a hundred percent, but Wilde felt pretty certain he was somewhere quiet and rural, probably in or near woods.
Not good.
They hauled him up three stairs—he dragged his feet, testing the surface, realizing it was made of wood—and then he heard the creak of a screen door. There was the smallest tinge of mildew in the air. This wasn’t a police station. A cabin, maybe, somewhere remote. A hand on either shoulder pushed him onto a hard chair. No one spoke. He could hear the men moving around, whispering. Wilde waited, trying to keep his breathing even. The black bag was still on his head, making it impossible to see or identify his assailants.
The whispering stopped. Wilde braced himself.
“They call you Wilde,” a gruff voice said. “Is that correct?”
He saw no reason not to reply. “Yes.”
“Okay, good,” the gruff voice said. “I’m going to skip good cop, Wilde, and move right to bad cop. There are four of us. You know that. We just want justice for our friend. That’s all. If we get that, it’s all good. But if we don’t, you, Wilde, end up dying a very long and painful death and we bury you where no one will ever find you. Am I making myself clear?”
Wilde said nothing.
That was when he felt something cold and metallic rest against his neck. There was a moment’s hesitation and then a zapping sound. An electric current surged into him. His eyes bulged. His body lurched. His legs straightened. The pain was all-consuming, a living breathing thing that shut down everything except your desire to make the pain stop.
“Am I making myself clear?” the gruff voice said again.
“Yes,” Wilde managed to say.
And then he felt the cold metal rest against his neck again.
“Good, glad we see eye to eye. This is a cattle prod, by the way. Right now, I have it set on low. That’s going to change. You understand?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know who Henry McAndrews is?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know him?”
“I read about his murder in the paper.”
Silence. Wilde closed his eyes and bit down, waiting for the high-voltage jolt. But of course, they knew that he would be. They wouldn’t want that. They wanted to mess around with his head.