KARMA: By Lori Titus
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010The Marradith Ryder Series, The Art of Shadows—-Part 3
Rafael was being drugged.
He couldn’t tell how long he’d been in this place now, only that it felt like an eternity. He remembered being injected with something. And then a litany of questions. Some that he could answer. Others that his mind was too fuzzy to grasp.
Don’t tell them anything, he thought. All his training had prepared him for the day that something like this might happen.
It was a different thing to be told what torture was like, as opposed to feeling steel put to flesh.
He screamed, feeling the hot poker as it touched his back. Tears flowed down his face as he closed his eyes.
The woman stood above him. In the darkness, he could not see her. A pale glow from a light bulb in the next room cast her in shadow.
“How long have you known the Ryders?” she asked.
She toyed with the poker . Tapping it against the wall, she waited for his answer.
“You will tell me,” she hissed. “Because very soon, you won’t be able to stop. How long have you known them?”
“Many years. I knew the Father first. Paul Ryder.”
“How did you know him?”
“He…. he was my superior.”
“He ranked above you in the Sojourners?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me about that.”
*********
It had been years, but as Rafael spoke, he recalled it vivdly.
“There was a prisoner being held for questioning. I came in early one night to deal with her. I’d asked a guard to have her prepared before I got there. As I instructed, they’d already begun to beat her. The woman had red brown hair. It was long, and she’d asked for something to pull it up with. She didn’t want her hair sticking to her bloody back. It wouldn’t be good to let it lay against her wounds. One of my men found a rubber band and tied her hair up in a ball.”
Rafael paused in his telling of the story, drawing in a long, ragged breath. “She bit her lip when they laid the whip into her back, until her lips began to bleed. When she finally did scream, I …I remember the sound.”
“ You tell me where Percival is, and this all stops, ” I told her.
“I would tell you … if … I knew!” she spat, shivering. She was on her knees, tied at either side by the wrists.
Her bare back bled profusely.
“He always came to me. I never sought him out. Sometimes he’d leave instructions… in an envelope…. At my door. And even that, I’m sure he had someone else bring.”
“You said you were his lover. So how did that work?”
“He came for me, when he wanted me.”
“Leny. Why should I believe you?”
“Because, it’s the truth. I have no reason to lie. Please!”
I paused when I heard footsteps coming.
Paul Ryder came around the corner. His eyes lit with fury when he saw the condition that Leny was in.
“Why is my prisoner being tortured?” he growled. “Castillo, we’re going to have a talk.” He looked at the guard who stood by with the whip. “You will untie her. Get a matron in here to help her get cleaned up.”
“Sir?” the man looked confused, looking from one of us to the other.
“Do as he says, Adams,” I told him.
“This will only take a minute,” Paul said to Leny.
She shivered, and nodded yes.
******
Paul took me to his office. He slammed the door.
“First of all, you’ve no right to go above me. You will not interrogate my prisoner, or anyone else’s, without my permission. What is it exactly that you hope to gain?”
“Sir. She has been here for several weeks, and we haven’t gotten any information. A different tactic would be in order to obtain information from her.”
“I have plans in the works that you don’t know about. And you don’t need to know about them, because it’s not your place. Understood?”
“Mr. Ryder….”
“Don’t you Mr. Ryder me. You need a vacation. How’s seven weeks without pay sound?”
“We’re wasting time, handling that woman with kid gloves.” I said.
“If you say anything else, Castillo, I swear to God, I will have you called before the Council for insubordination of a superior officer.”
“Would you really? I might have a story to tell them about how you seem to have a…. soft spot for our prisoner. Lenora Rubidoux has been wanted for a long time. Isn’t it strange how easy you’ve been on her? That we’re not any closer to getting Percival than the day you brought her in?”
“Fourteen weeks, without pay,” Paul yelled. “And you’re not saying anything, to anyone. Now. Get out of my office.”
******
The woman put a hand on her hip. “Interesting,” she said softly. “So you and Ryder weren’t the best of friends.”
“No.”
“This woman, Leny. Who is she?”
“She’s Paul’s wife. They got married, a few years later.”
“Maybe,” the woman said , “you can be of some use after all.”
_____
©2010 Lori Titus
Lori is currently writing a new book about Lazarus and the dead things that dwell therein. Meanwhile, her nightmares are haunted by zombies, werewolves, and a teenager named Marradith.
Lori’s book, Green Water Lullaby, is available here: http://www.sonar4publications.com/green.html
Vote for The Marradith Ryder Series on Web Fiction Guide: http://topwebfiction.com/vote.php?for=the-marradith-ryder-series.
For more about the author, read her blog: http://loribeth215.wordpress.com
