The Project 04 - Black Harvest

close. She could smell his foul breath. He extended his forefinger and ran a yellowed nail lightly over her breast. The sensation was like nothing she'd ever experienced. Every nerve ending was incredibly alive. The feel of the nail across her skin was almost unbearable, intense, just short of pain, on the border between pain and ecstasy. She gasped. She couldn't help herself. She jerked away against the restraining straps. They felt like barbed wire
    "That was just my finger." He picked up the scalpel. The edge gleamed. He held it up in front of her eyes. He moved it back and forth. Her eyes followed the shining blade. He smiled.
    "Tell me how you found out about Demeter."
    Steph tried to control her fear. "I don't know anything about Demeter. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a secretary."
    "Oh, very good. I can see you will be entertaining."
    He took the dull handle end of the scalpel and pushed it against her arm. The pain was intense, as if someone had stabbed her. She screamed and tried to pull away. The straps around her arms and legs were like bands of fire.
    He set the scalpel down, reached over to the box and took out two wire leads with large metal alligator clips on the end. He turned the dial.
    "Watch." He brought the clips close. A blue-white electric arc sparked between them. He took the clips and briefly touched them to her, one on each leg.
    The pain was total, instant, overwhelming. Her bladder let go. When she opened her eyes he was watching her. He lit another cigarette.
    "That was at the lowest voltage. The battery is only twelve volts. It won't kill you. The next time I use this I will clip one lead to your nipple. Guess where the other one goes?" He giggled. "Can you imagine what that will feel like?"
    He took a deep drag on the cigarette and blew smoke at the ceiling.
    "There is an interesting effect I haven't shared with you. As your body is overloaded with sensation, it will begin to shut down the response. That is when I increase the voltage."
    "Fuck you, you creepy prick."
    "Will you tell me what I want to know?"
    She shook her head. He sighed, the sound of a disappointed parent.
    "Why don't you think about it for a bit?" He glanced at his watch. "I am going to come back in exactly two hours. I will inject a new dose. Then you will tell me everything."
    He put out the cigarette on her naked thigh. By the time she stopped screaming he had left the room.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

    They hadn't come up with anything. Harker wondered out loud where Stephanie had got to when her phone rang. She listened for a moment. She tensed. She put the phone down.
    "Someone's grabbed Steph. They found her keys and her purse by her car. In the garage of her building."
    "Lodge." Nick's ear itched. "It has to be Lodge."
    She nodded. "If Lodge took her, she's in one of his safe houses. We need to find it."
    "How?"
    Elizabeth clasped her hands together. "Hood would know where they all are."
    "But will he tell us?"
    "You know him, ask him. Call him now. Lodge will do anything to find out what Steph knows. Do I need to paint a picture?"
    "Don't call Hood." It was Selena. "Call Lucas. Steph says he's in love with her."
    Harker raised her eyebrows.
    Selena said, "Lucas has a personal investment, Hood doesn't. He doesn't know Stephanie or have any reason to care about her. Lucas might know where the safe house is, or get Hood to cooperate."
    He punched in Lucas' number. Monroe picked up on the second ring.
    "Monroe."
    "Lucas, Nick Carter."
    "Hey, Nick, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
    "We on a secure line?"
    "I'll call you back." He hung up.
    Nick waited. The phone rang.
    "What's up?"
    "Lucas, Steph's in trouble. Someone grabbed her."
    Nick heard Monroe suck in his breath. "What do you mean, someone grabbed her?"
    "In her parking garage. Her keys and purse were found by her car. We think it was Lodge."
    "Lodge? Why?"
    "It's complicated. I need you to trust me and I need your help."
    "What do you need?"
    "We think Lodge took her somewhere to interrogate her. He'd have to get rough to get anything. We need the location of CIA safe houses in the immediate area."
    "Are you saying she's going to be tortured? That Lodge is behind it?"
    "That's what we think."
    "Christ, Nick."
    "Yeah."
    "Those locations are classified."
    "Yeah, that's why I called you."
    "You couldn't get in without ID."
    "You can come with us."
    "Christ, Nick, let me think for a minute."
    Carter waited.
    "There are three possibilities. Two are in