Defending Raven (Mountain Mercenaries #7)(64)

Black turned to face the man in the chair and said, “Yes. Now the fun can begin.”

Raven translated, and Dave saw a hint of fear in the bully’s eyes.

“What did you say to me when we found you earlier?” Black asked Ruben.

It was a bit awkward having to wait for Raven to translate, but she did so without hesitation, and everyone quickly got used to the stilted back-and-forth.

“Fuck you,” Ruben said.

“Nope, that’s not what you said. How about some incentive to remember?” Black asked, then didn’t give Raven much time to translate before his fist smashed into his nose.

Ruben howled and tried to hunch to protect himself, but he couldn’t move much with the ropes binding him.

“Now, let’s try this again. What did you say about David?”

“I said you’ll never find the fucking brat,” Ruben spat, the hate easy to hear in his tone even before Raven translated.

Dave watched Black interrogate Ruben with a somewhat detached eye. He was more concerned about Raven and how she was dealing with the violence happening right in front of her. He kept his hand on her waist, and as the minutes passed, he could feel her tensing up every time Ruben refused to answer, and Black or one of the others dished out a bit of incentive. She was sweating, and she flinched every time one of his men stepped toward their surprisingly stubborn captive.

Ruben was either stupid as fuck, or even more scared of del Rio than he was them. He supposed it didn’t really matter, because eventually Black would break him. Would make him tell them everything they wanted to know about David and del Rio.

When Black wandered over to the sparse kitchen supplies in the hut and picked up a knife, Dave said, “Hang on a sec.”

Raven had tensed even further, if that was possible, and had started to shake in his arms. Dave turned her until her back was to Ruben. He tilted her chin up and held her head in his hands. She was breathing a bit too fast, and he could see the stress in her eyes. When she reached up and grabbed hold of his wrists, digging her fingernails into his flesh, he wanted to drag her out of the hut and back to the motel and hold her as he’d done in the shower. But they had to get this done. None of them had a choice. Fucking del Rio.

“Look at me, Raven,” he told her.

“I am,” she whispered.

“Concentrate on me,” he ordered gently. “You can translate without watching what’s going on behind you.”

She swallowed hard and nodded, the relief easy to see in her eyes.

Dave didn’t take his gaze from his wife’s as he said, “Okay, continue, Black.”

“You seem to be fairly popular with the women around here,” Black drawled. “Although I’m guessing that’s more because you take what you want instead of wooing anyone. I suggest you tell us what we want to know if you want to keep your cock.”

Raven translated loud enough for Ruben to hear, but she didn’t take her eyes from Dave.

“That’s it,” he murmured softly. “You’re doing great.”

Ruben wailed and spit out a flurry of words. “Get that thing away from me! I’m not telling you shit!”

“The thing about my friend here,” Arrow told Ruben, “is that he’s not a poker player. Mostly because he can’t lie to save his life.”

“That knife doesn’t look very sharp,” Ball said, joining in the taunting. “That fucker won’t cut very well. Maybe you should see if you can sharpen it before you cut anything off.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Dave saw Black holding up the knife as if trying to decide if he thought it would work or not.

“I think it’ll do. Might take longer to cut through flesh, but since a dick doesn’t have bone, it’ll work.”

That seemed to do the trick. Ruben started babbling. “I don’t know anything for sure! Only what my friend told me. He lies a lot, so he could’ve just been trying to look cool or something.”

“What’d your friend say?” Black asked in a low tone.

Raven’s voice didn’t waver as she continued to translate.

“In the barrio where he lives, there was a lot of excitement because del Rio came to visit. He went to the home of an old lady who lives there. He had a kid with him, was dragging him behind him. The kid tried to kick del Rio and run off, but he backhanded him and told him to behave or he’d never see his mother again. He visited with the old woman for a while, then left . . . without the kid. Rumor is, he’s paying the woman to watch after the brat, and everyone’s pissed off about it.”

“Why are they mad?” Ro asked.

“Because del Rio usually talks with a lot of people when he visits, hands out money for information, but this time he didn’t. Everyone knows he probably paid the old bitch a lot of money. Money they want.”

“What else?” Black asked.

“Nothing, that’s it!”

There was a sound of fabric ripping, and Ruben let out a high-pitched scream. Dave knew Black had only cut through the man’s pants, but by the way Ruben reacted, anyone listening would’ve thought he was mortally wounded.

Raven’s pupils dilated, and she gripped his wrists harder.

“Easy, sweetheart. He just cut his pants. That’s all.”

She nodded, and Dave was mesmerized by her stormy, blue eyes. “Hang in there, just a little bit longer. You’re doing amazing.”