"Past-life regression therapy!" she blurted out, staring at Benny. "She was helping you… remember how to be a shark?"
"That's right," said Benny. "Really helps with my focus. But you already knew that. It's why you went after her, isn't it? Acting surprised won't help you."
"Went after...?" Joy sputtered. "No, she contacted us—Ow!"
"Trying to shift blame on an old woman?" said Benny, favoring her with a look of contempt. "She wouldn't do that. You found her and tricked her, somehow. Wouldn't be hard, with the state she's in, lately."
"No, I... Wait a minute," said Joy, staring at Benny. "You know she's… err… not all there, but you're still getting her advice?"
Benny wasn't fazed. "Takes special people to do what she does. Spend enough time in the other world, messing with spirits and stuff—it's no wonder she gets lost in this one. But make no mistake—once she gets in the zone, there's nobody better."
Joy had nothing to say to that, trying to match that statement with the pathetic figure she'd met earlier that day. Well, at least she didn't have to feel guilty about giving her up. That relief vanished as Shiori started cranking her finger again.
"Now, back to the important point," said Benny. "Who tipped you off about Madam Zenovia? Who are you working for?"
"No, she contacted us, but not about you—Aighh! Ow! No, really—you have to—" Joy saw Benny shake his head, and Shiori increased the pressure. The agony overwhelmed her mind, and she began to panic. What was she going to do? She was telling the truth, and they weren't listening. What could she say to make them stop? She had to make them stop, stop the agony radiating out from her hand. Stop it stopstopstop—
"This is getting nowhere," said Chief Gallach. "We came here for one thing. Not this farce. You say she stole our women? Fine--make her tell what she did with them. Stop wasting time with—"
"Wasting time?" Benny snarled. "You call this wasting time? You're the ones who don't get it. Someone out there, someone we don't know, is messing with me. My men are being attacked, being disappeared. Wrecking my property, stealing my money, messing with me—messing with me! Benny the Shark! Nobody does that! Nobody!"
Benny had dropped the polite, mannered facade, showing the real man underneath—the crime boss, the pirate, the one everybody feared. Joy felt herself shrinking back in her chair as the tirade continued.
"Weeks of waiting for a lead, of waiting for these assholes to slip up, and finally they do. Finally we got one of 'em. And what do you idiots care about? Your women." Benny sneered at the Guardsmen. "You think I give a shit about half a dozen street-trash whores? You think I can't snap my fingers and get those replaced in five minutes? But the way you're fussing over 'em you'd think they were the Sidhe Crown Jewels or something. Walking in here with a fucking bomb. You guys need to get laid that bad? Fine, I'll comp you. Whatever."
Joy saw the Guardsmen step back, but more than that, saw a few of them flinch at the phrase "Sidhe crown jewels." And, finally, a burst of inspiration struck her—A way out of this mess, or at least, a way to buy time. Benny was right. It didn't make any sense for the Guardsmen to get so desperate over missing slave girls. It was what they carried, concealed in their manacles—those strange jewels.
They didn't care about the girls, and Benny didn't care about the girls, but the girls were all she cared about. And she knew where they were, and they trusted her, so she'd have no problem getting them to give her their manacles. Just get their manacles, and leave them alone. Solve everybody's problems. Something only she could do, that they'd need to keep her alive for.
"Benny, you're right, the girls aren't what they're after," she said. "They're hiding something, and it's—"
"Shut up!" roared Benny. "Quit trying to change the subject. I've been nice and patient and given you every chance, but that's over. Who do you work for? Spill it. Now!"
"No, wait—you have to listen—" Joy tried to protest, but the explosion of pain from her finger cut her short.
"Who do you work for?"
"Aighh—no! No!" Joy's brief moment of hope had been dashed to bits. She had real information, but they weren't even listening, didn't want the truth.
"Who do you work for?
Joy had to say something, anything to stop the awful pressure in her finger, stop the tendons from popping, tearing. Truth was no good. Think of something. Had to lie. But she sucked at fiction. But the pain, the pain, had to try, had to lie, had to think, oh her finger was going to tear off, come right off her hand, it hurt the pain thepain thepainpainpain...
"NO! Stop," she wailed. "I'll talk! I'll talk I'll talk just stop, please, please!"
Shiori released her grip and the agony went down to a dull throb.
"Spill it," said Benny.
"I work for…" said Joy, exaggerating her gasps of relief to buy time. "I work for The International Women's Liberation League."
Benny stared at her. "Never heard of it."
Not surprising, since she'd just made it up. "Well of course you wouldn't," she said, trying to project as much confidence as she could. "You're not a woman, are you? And we're new—but we're going big. We're sick and tired of seeing our sisters treated like chattel, like property, and we're putting an end to it. You hear that, Benny--we're putting you out of business."
Benny raised an eyebrow. "And this Women's League—they gave you all your training? Lock-picking, and—"
"No, the Kallistrate Intelligence Bureau did that," she said. "But the war's over, isn't it? I've got a new cause now, something that makes me feel better than killing people for the KIB ever did. I'm talking about freedom, real freedom, not like—"
About midway through Joy's rant, Benny leaned forward, took a huge snort of air, and made a sour face. Shiori seized her pinky and cranked it hard. Joy felt tendons popping as her finger bent the wrong way, going past the point of no return, and searing agony tore through her, like nothing she'd ever felt before. She screamed and thrashed against her bonds. The pain subsided a little from the first horrifying burst, but didn't go away. It left her with an awful feeling of wrongness coming from her left hand, like her pinky was twisting off at a weird angle, though at least it was still attached. It felt grotesque. She wanted to check the damage, but she couldn't see anything with her hands behind her back.
“Women’s Liberation? Bullshit," said Benny. "You think you can fool this nose? That lie stinks to high heaven. Who do you work for?"
"I… uhh..." Joy stammered, utterly stymied. The Women's Liberation League had been the best she could come up with. And screw your nose, Benny! Your nose couldn't smell shit.
"Looks like she doesn't much care for her fingers, Shiori."
"You're right, boss," came a voice from behind. "No point wasting any more time with those."
Joy's surge of relief was short-lived, as a rough hand seized her by the hair, and a cold steel edge pressed against her cheek, then slid back a bit.
"I say the next lie should cost an ear," Shiori's voice made her want to jump, coming inches away from her head, even as the blade came to rest right beneath her earlobe, preparing to slice through that connective tissue.
"That's assuming it's okay with Daphne here," said Shiori. "I wouldn't want to offend her delicate sensibilities or anything."
"It's not a blow to the head, so I don't see why you think it would," said Benny's assistant, ignoring Shiori's sarcasm, while scribbling away in her notes.
"No... No, wait," said Joy, terror rising, threatening to send her into a blind panic, ruining any shred of concentration she had.
"No more waiting, Ms. Fan," said Benny. "Who do you work for?"
Joy couldn't think, couldn't think, not with that knife there. They were going to mutilate her, had to stop them no she needed time, more time. "I... I..." She stuttered, and the knife bit into her, started to slice upwards. No—not that, not that!
"Boss! Boss!" Came another voice, a man's voice, from far away.
The blade stopped moving, then pulled a
way from her. How much damage had it done? She couldn't exactly tell. The base of her ear itched like crazy, and hot liquid ran down her throat and jawline. Was her ear still on? She thought so, but it was hard to tell, not like you ever noticed your ears unless they touched something else—
"Big Sister Joy! No!"
Joy recognized that voice, and felt a new level of dread take her, as she also recognized another sound--the rattling of chains. She looked over, as best she could with Shiori yanking at her hair, and saw a dirty and scraped-up Lin-Lin being dragged closer by two big Triad men.
"Well, that's something gone right," said Benny. "One very small thing. This the only one you found?"
"Yeah, so far," said one of the men. "We're sweeping the area though. We think she was trying to run a distraction for the others or something."
"Found one. Good," said the Chief. "So, you can hand her over—"
"Patience, Chief," said Benny. "You'll get her when I'm done—"
"No! Let her go," said Joy. "You can! They don't really want her, they—"
Shiori's knife-point pressed down on the top of Joy's lips, forcing her to stop talking to avoid cutting herself.
"No interrupting the boss."
"No, don't hurt her," cried Lin Lin. "Punish me. It's my fault. I ran away. I'm sorry. I won't do it again. Please don't hurt Big Sister Joy."
Joy caught Lin Lin's expression and it tore out her guts. No. This was wrong. This was totally backwards. Lin Lin shouldn't be protecting her. That was Joy's responsibility. She was the eldest. Looking after everyone else was her job. And she'd failed. The one girl she needed to protect the most, the one she'd promised to rescue, was now trying to save her. Joy had failed in every conceivable way. Just like she'd failed in every other aspect of her life. They should kill her now, before she spread even more misery.
"Oh, you care about your 'Big Sister,' do you?" Said Benny. "Well, maybe we can make a deal, then. She's being real tight-lipped, and it hasn't been good for her health. Maybe you can be more reasonable?"
Lin Lin stared at Benny, and then looked over to Joy.
"Just do what he wants," said Joy. "Don't worry about me."
"Good, that's good," said Benny. "So let's get down to it. Who does your 'Big Sister' work for? Who's her boss?"
The question took Lin Lin aback. Confused, she kept glancing from Joy to Benny and back again. "I don't... I don't understand—" she said, and whimpered as one of the goons started twisting her arm behind her back.
"Stop that! She doesn't know anything," Joy cried. "Don't hurt her. If you're going to hurt someone, hurt me! Hurt me, not her!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Joy realized it was the worst thing she could have said. Benny turned to her, and the corner of his mouth tugged up in a cruel steel smile.
"What's going on?" said Chief Gallach, unable to follow the Xiaish conversation prompted by Lin Lin's entry. "Speak Kallish. That’s one of our women. Turn her over. That's why we're here."
"Hmmm... That's an idea, isn't it?" said Benny, switching to Kallish. "I could think that over, but there's just one problem. It's late at night, and I still haven't had a decent meal. Just snacks." Benny sighed and peered wistfully at his fine plate of cracked bones. "And now I'm all out. What else is there? Ah, I see something."
The Triad men dragged Lin Lin closer, forced her arm out, straight towards Benny, made her open her hand, fingers splayed out. Benny exaggerated his grin, clacked his teeth together. Was he serious? He couldn't be serious.
"Wait, what are you doing?" said Joy, as Benny opened his mouth wide and started closing in on the terrified runaway. "You can't do that. It's sick! That's disgusting! You can't—"
"You!" snapped Benny, thankfully turning away from Lin Lin. "You don't tell me what to do. You don't like this? You're the one putting me in this spot. This is all thanks to your obstinance."
"But I'm not—"
Benny wasn't having it. "Enough! You care about this girl? Don't want her hurt? Don't want her to become shark food? If that's what you want, then you need to stop lying to me."
Joy's frustration was surpassed only by her fear. She hadn't—well, she had lied, but only because they hadn't believed her when she'd told them the truth. And now they wouldn't believe her lies, either.
Just her expression alone was enough for Benny. He opened his mouth wide and turned towards Lin Lin, who reeled back in horror when she saw the monster-teeth—or she tried to, but couldn't break free from her captors. She started to scream, but one of the Triad men clapped a hand over her mouth. Slowly, Benny closed in on the girl, ignoring her muffled whimpers, her pitiful attempts to escape.
"No, wait!" said Joy, "Wait a minute—stop!"
Benny ignored her, inching nearer and nearer. Joy felt herself straining against her bonds, making her chair hop up and down, until Shiori leaned on her. She couldn't push back against that weight, couldn't do anything. She couldn't do anything.
Benny's wide jaws reached biting distance. Lin Lin's trembling fingers were held fast. She couldn't pull them away as they were forced into the insane pirate's open mouth. This couldn't be happening. She had to stop it. She had to say something. Something, anything, anything, had to think, had to think.
Joy saw Benny's jaws tense, prepare to snap down, and Joy couldn't watch. She had to look away, but that was even worse, waiting to hear the sound, the crack and the meaty tearing, the thought of it triggered a final surge of panic racing through her body, and tore out one last, desperate scream.
"THE RED SPECTER! I'M WORKING FOR THE RED SPECTER, OKAY?" she sobbed, "Thats it! That's who you want, not her. She's got nothing to do with it! It's him you want. The Red Specter! He's the one behind it all! So don't hurt Lin Lin, please, please. PLEASE don't hurt her."
Joy was bawling like a baby now. She'd screwed everything up. The Red Specter? That was her worst lie yet. They'd never believe that. She couldn't look at them, couldn't bear to see what they'd done to poor Lin Lin, couldn't bear to see the blood, the look of betrayal in the eyes of an innocent girl, whose only mistake was listening to an idiot failed reporter with delusions of being some kind of crime-fighting—
"What was that?" said Benny, and something in his voice was different. It made Joy look back up. He'd turned away from Lin Lin. His teeth were still shiny, unblemished gold. No red stains at all. Joy glanced over and saw Lin Lin's hand still held out by her captors, with no signs of damage.
Benny peered at her, his gaze focused, intense. "What did you just say?"
Joy stared back, fought to control her breathing. "The...the Red...(hic)... The Red—"
"The Red Specter? The Red-Faced Ghost? The spirit of vengeance from the Great War? That's who's behind all this? You've met him?"
Joy felt the wheel of the world spinning beneath her. Had it worked? That story? But...
She looked around her, scanning the faces of everyone in the warehouse. Easy enough, because they were all staring at her. She saw incredulity, disgust, disbelief—from some of them. Daphne radiated disdain from over the top of her glasses, and Yang looked ready to explode, but quite a few of the Triad men shrank back, sending nervous glances at each other. But their opinions weren't what counted. Benny's did. And he wasn't looking dismissive. He was serious.
But of course he was. He believed in that stuff. He went to Madam Zenovia for advice. Joy realized she'd let Daphne's scathing contempt of the Gazette blind her. She should have pulled out the Red Specter from the beginning.
"Hey, I asked you a question," said Benny. "You trying to—"
"No!" said Joy. "I mean...you win, okay? I'll talk, I'll talk. Yes, it's the Red Specter. It's him. The one you're thinking of."
“Yeah?” said Benny. “So what’s his game, then. What’s he want?”
“As far as I can tell? He wants to put you out of business, Benny. And you guys, too,” she added, glaring at the guardsmen. “All the corruption, and drug-smuggling, and arms-running, and slavery, and—“
&n
bsp; “Yeah, real noble of him. He thinks he can take us all down himself? How’s he going to do that?”
“You think he sits down and explains his plans to me? I just do what he says.” Joy was on a roll. Spinning out each new bit of fiction came so easily that she almost believed it herself. “He keeps changing how he contacts me, never lets me get a good look at him. Every time we meet in person, it’s always in some weird place with deep shadows. But I can guess some of it. He’s been picking at your operations at key points, turning you against each other—“
“Nonsense,” said the Chief. “Part of her reporter cover. Story on Red Specter sightings.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” said Yang. “She was going on about that when we first saw her, too. And if Chen hadn’t been dumb enough to listen—“
“What? What’s that, Yang?” Benny sat up, a new, dangerous edge to his voice. “You didn’t mention that, Yang. And I distinctly remember that I did say to tell me everything. But I don’t remember hearing anything about the Red Specter until now. Tell me, Yang, is there something wrong with my memory? Is there?”
Yang flinched, withering under the simmering menace radiating from his boss. “Well… No, sir. There—“
“Then why, Yang, why did you withhold that little detail? Huh?”
“I’m… I’m sorry boss,” Yang looked like a dog that been kicked. “I just… didn’t think it was important, that’s all—“
“YOU didn’t think it was important? YOU didn’t it was important?” And Benny the Shark was out of his chair, two steps and he had Yang by the collar, hoisting him up on his toes. “You tell me, Yang—do I pay you to think? Do I?”
“No… Boss,” gasped Yang.
“Wait,” said MacInroy. “This doesn’t make sense. If she was secretly working for the Specter, why would she call attention to him in the first place? She—“
“It’s called ‘hiding in plain sight,’ dumbass,” Joy retorted. “And it worked, too, since none of you brought it up when you should’ve. And it’s not even a giveaway, since the whole dock’s been buzzing with Red Specter rumors, anyway.”
“The whole dock has? And this is the first I’ve heard of it? Why is that? Daphne!” Benny whirled on his assistant. “Are you aware of this? Did you hear about any of these rumors?”
The Legend of the Red Specter (The Adventures of the Red Specter Book 1) Page 38
