A Bloody Storm: A Derrick Storm Short by Richard Castle Read Free Book Online Page B

“I like that. It makes my work challenging.”
    He placed the satchel in his ample lap and removed an old Panasonic microcassette recorder from it. After checking to make certain it contained a tape, he switched it on and placed it on the floor.
    “My employers will want to know exactly what you said to me and how you said it. I have been hired to make certain you tell the truth.”
    Hasan shook out a cigarette from a hard pack and offered her one.
    “I don’t smoke,” she said.
    “Neither do I. It’s a nasty habit,” he replied, lighting his cigarette, and slowly exhaling.
    His denial didn’t make sense, and she wondered if her exhaustion was clouding her thoughts. Suddenly Hasan leaned forward and stuck the burning tip of his cigarette into her neck. She screamed and jerked back as the smell of burned flesh reached her nostrils.
    He eased back into his chair and sucked on the cigarette until its tip glowed again.
    “Now for the bad news,” he said sternly. “I will hurt you much more than that.”
    Showers was breathing rapidly.
    “I don’t think you have ever been interrogated,” he said, “but I know you have thought about it. Everyone does. ‘Can I keep quiet? Or will I break?’ It is a fool’s question. Do you know why?”
    She shook her head.
    “Because everyone talks. They talk or they die. The only real uncertainly is how long it will take for you to tell me what I want to know. For me, it doesn’t matter. A minute, an hour, a day. But for you, well, it matters a great deal.” He looked at the red tip of the cigarette and leaned forward. She instinctively pulled back. He flashed a toothy grin of yellowed teeth.
    He said, “Tell me, do you like to read?”
    She nodded.
    “Good,” he said. “I love literature. I try to read a book every day. I have done this since I was six years old. I do it because I want to learn. I am always trying to improve my mind and reading can help you deal with problems. Have you ever read Solzhenitsyn’s
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
? No? It is an important book, a very important book about life inside a Soviet prison camp where people were abused. And if you had read it, then perhaps you would have learned something from it that would be helpful to you now.”
    She stayed silent.
    “Do you know what Solzhenitsyn said about Americans after he was exiled from the Soviet Union and had lived in your country for many years? He said Americans lacked the moral fiber to defeat Communism. He said you didn’t have the stomach for it.”
    She drew a deep breath and responded, “Maybe you missed it, but the Cold War ended and we’re still standing—unlike Communism.”
    “Defiant. I like that. The challenge.”
    By now, the cigarette was spent, and he dropped it on the floor and stepped on it. He reached into the satchel and removed a spool of heavy white cord.
    She watched him intently.
    He said, “There was a reason why I mentioned books. It’s because I believe a person should strive to improve themselves in their chosen profession. Consider my field, for example. I could use the same interview techniques whenever I interrogate someone, but then how could I improve? This is why I am always searching for something more efficient. This cord, for instance. Do you know how many positions a human body can be tied into that can cause extreme pain?”
    She did not answer.
    “The Japanese have incorporated the use of knots and ropes and pain into their sexual customs. They call it Kinbaku or Sokubaku—sexual bondage using ropes. Did you know that?”
    Again, she kept silent. He was showing off.
    He grinned again and said, “What’s the matter? As you Americans say, ‘Cat got your tongue?’ Or did I say that wrong, too?”
    He placed the spool on the floor and took a new item from his bag. It was two strands of electrical wire. “Electric shocks, especially applied to a person’s private parts can be extremely painful, but everyone who watches television