Page 78 of Shattered Queens: Veronica
“You may feel sick throughout the night,” I hear Tomas tell me. He walks to Miles and whispers something. Tomas examines his friend's hand; he cleans it and bandages it up.
They walk out of the room, but Miles returns moments later with his laptop. He pulls the chaise chair right up alongside the bed and places the trash can on my nightstand, maneuvering carefully so he doesn't bump the IV setup. He sits down, opens his laptop, and immediately starts working, completely silent. The only sounds in the room are the tap of the keyboard.
I’m sick all night, and he’s here holding my hair as I throw up in the trash can. I don’t know when I fell asleep. The scene of Vaun being beaten replays over and over again. All because of me. Because I was angry and I needed to be self-destructive. I wake up to find Felix sitting in the chaise.
“Where is he?”
“You don’t want to know.” That is all he replies.
Miles
Chapter 36
I’m standing in thecorner of Damon’s dungeon, as he likes to call it. Sitting in a metal chair, tied up, is Angel. The waitress whoworkedat Caleb’s club and was dealing. She’s also the person who sold Veronica the pills last night. I look at the hand I injured while I beat the shit out of the guy who was all over her. I almost killed him; it was close. If she hadn’t stopped me, I wouldn’t have on my own. Regardless, he’s dead anyway. Felix assisted with that; he needed to hunt, and I provided him with a target.
I remember her eyes. They weren’t clear blue; that’s when I realized she was high. I called Felix because he’s one of the people she trusts the most, and the person who would protect her secrets. Then I called Tomas.
Before Tomas left, he told me what to expect throughout the night, but that still didn’t prepare me. Apparently, the pill she took is new. Itjust started hitting the streets. I spent all night holding her hair while she threw up and making sure she didn’t overheat. When I wasn’t doing that, I was going through recordings of her, trying to catch any moment she took something besides alcohol. She’s been clever because I didn’t find any. The question is, how long has she been doing this?
I look at Angel, who’s waking up from being sedated. While going through the footage from last night at the bar, I saw it was she who walked away with Veronica. Something told me to dig deeper, so I canvased every bar and club Veronica has been to. I came up with the night she stabbed Eric Harrison. Again, that night, she followed Angel into a hallway.
I called Damon and Caleb to tell them what I found. What I didn’t tell them is that it’s their cousin the pills were sold to. I tracked Angel to the location Veronica had been to; she was still dealing. Damon’s men brought her here after sedating her.
She looks around but only sees an empty room. She can’t see me. Caleb and Damon stepped out. I told them I’d watch her. They were confused as to why I’m here. I never attend these interrogations, but seeing as how they know Veronica and I are now close, they don’t ask questions.
My boots echo as I walk directly into the light. I don’t bother hiding my face. I know she won’t have the opportunity to tell anyone what happens here. Her eyes widen, and I see the fear in them. Good. I lean down, resting my hands firmly on the cold metal arms of the chair. The room is quiet, the air tense. I can smell her—it’s a sourness in the air; it’s her fear. I see the tears running down her cheek, and small cries begin to fill the room. I put my lips next to her ear.
“Shhhhh. I need you to listen very carefully.” Her cries are getting louder. “If you so much as mention the name Veronica Kayde, I willbreak every fucking bone in your body. Do you understand me?” She’s crying, but nods. I pull away and see her bloodshot eyes. I hear the metal door open, and she turns to see who entered. Then she begins to sob uncontrollably.
I pull back and head to the corner and let the Korolov brothers take over. These men don’twantto hurt Angel, but they won’t hesitate to eliminate whoever threatens their family and business. If they knew Veronica was involved, they would slit her throat without a doubt, but there must be more to the story. I feel it in my bones.
Caleb approaches Angel. He grabs her by the throat and squeezes.
“You’re going to tell me everything I need to know, or I’ll start slicing you into pieces and feed you to my dog.”
He doesn’t have a dog.
Angel is crying, her words barely audible. He isn’t even the most unpredictable brother; that devil is leaning against the wall, enjoying the spectacle. He lives for this shit. I, on the other hand, prefer to be on the other side of the lens, but I can’t stop replaying the events of last night over and over again.
Damon whistles. “I’d tell him everything you know, Angel.”
We don’t have time for this. I walk behind the chair and pull Angel’s hair so hard that Caleb loses the grip he has on her. I hate hurting women, but how many people has she hurt by dealing?
“Who’s your supplier?” I yell.
Her eyes widen. She must see that I’m close to losing it. “Please. If I tell you he’ll kill me,” she sobs.
I look at both brothers and return to my questions.
“If you don’t tell us, we’ll kill you,” I say. “So again, who’s HE?”
“Please. I-I can’t tell you.”
“Fuck this,” Damon says as he rolls a table of surgical instruments and places it next to the metal chair.
“Eric Harrison!” Angel screams. “He hired a bunch of us around town.”
I look at the brothers. I ran backgrounds, and I made sure they were clean when they were hired.
