Tolerable Cruelty - Chapter 21 (Patreon)

Chapter 21

Carter closed the interrogation room door behind her.

“Fuck!” She grunted.

Bad cop, worse cop had worked like a charm, even if Harris had gone white when she actually broke one of the little shit’s fingers.

On the other side of the door, the youngest Paloma alternated between sobbing in pain and shouting variations on “I want my goddamn lawyer!” Only usually with far more profanity.

“Think we can get anything else out of him?” Harris asked.

“Doubt it. He’s just a dumb kid who happens to have run into… her.”

“You shouldn’t have broken his finger. His sister’s a lawyer.”

“Corporate tank shark. Fuck her. The drug rap’s real enough to shut him up if we let him go.”

“Well, at least he confirmed it.” Harris noted. “We can’t really hold him that long.”

“He’s given all he’s got. For a minute I thought there was something more… The older brother’s got lab connections. Recycling? Whatever. Maybe it’s some kind of cover for the real research. That would be the first thing that’s made any sense.”

She sounded tired. First the satellite factory. Then the prison. Now the nightclub. It wasn’t adding up, but how many impossible, superhumanly strong women could there be? It had to be her. The lady in red. And the older brother was the mastermind somehow. Sending her in to take down Bledsoe. Conspiracy to commit murder. Tough to prove, but it’d be a major boost for her career.

Shit. Maybe the older Paloma had sent her to take care of the little brother, too? A loose end? Or a bodyguard?

The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that Peter was the prime motivator. They’d have to get a warrant, comb through his messages…

What a shit job that would be. No, if Peter was the brains, they needed the murder weapon: the lady in red herself.

“I’ll just scare the shit out of him and we can let him go. Let’s move on this supermodel nightclub bitch, ASAP. I can’t wait to get my hands on her.” Carter said gleefully. “See what she gives us. Find out why she was destroying the tech hardware. Then we can move on Professor Paloma once we get her.” And better yet, if I can get a little of what she got, turn into something like her… Carter salivated at the thought of having that kind of strength. She could finally live out her most sadistic fantasies...

“Hey Sarah, what’s up? It’s 7:00 PM! Aren’t you usually working at this hour?” Peter spoke into his wireless headset. Holding up a phone and trying to cook dinner with one good arm was impossible. But he had a big smile plastered on his face.

Maybe she was calling because she’d heard from Steven. It hadn’t taken long for his screw-off little brother to vanish for a few days again. Peter hoped he’d really turned over a new leaf, but it looks like he hadn’t.

“Peter.”

That matronly tone of voice. She was about to break some big news. And it probably wasn’t good.

“Is it about…” Peter began.

“It’s about Bledsoe. I just got my hands on the security video from Sarasota prison.”

“You what!? How did you manage that?”

“Morbid curiosity and lawyerly bluffing. It’s part of the job. Bledsoe was murdered.”

“Yeah, so? We knew that already. Some prison violence. Good riddance. Why would you bring it up? Hell, why would you even go looking for that?”

“They lied to us, Peter.”

“What!? You mean Bledsoe is alive? Why the fuck would they lie about something like that!”

“No, no. He’s dead. Very dead. They lied about what happened.”

“Okay…”

“He wasn’t killed by some inmate. There was a… woman dressed in a black bodysuit. He was brutalized. It was hard to watch.”

“What are you talking about, Sarah?” Peter couldn’t reconcile it. Sarah wasn’t prone to practical jokes.

“She stabbed him with some sort of sharp object. Over and over. Finally drove it right into Bledsoe’s heart. He was clearly going to die, but she brought her knee to his face and it was… I can understand why the prison wouldn’t give us all the details. But why would they lie outright like this? Oh god, and I didn’t even tell you how she got the prison keys for the cell. Peter, this woman was strong. Super strong. Like something out of a movie.”

Peter gulped. This all sounded quite familiar…

“The mystery woman killed the security guard too. I have no idea why. It’s terrifying. I hate to say it, but she’s dangerous.”

“What did she look like?”

He already knew the answer.

“Long, fiery red hair. Outrageously sexy figure. Know anyone who matches that description?”

Sarah clearly knew also. She was waiting for him to put together the pieces, the way she’d spoken to himself and Steven when they were children.

A burst of sweet wind buffeted his back. Peter could feel the warmth of Piper’s breasts radiating toward him.

“Sarah, I’ll call you back.” He hung up.

“Peter…” Piper began pleadingly.

He turned to face her. Slowly. He wasn’t sure if he should be confrontational, disbelieving, terrified for his life, or what. The pasta he’d been preparing roiled in the boiling water, completely forgotten.

She was fidgeting nervously with her fingers.

“You listened in on my call?” he asked tremulously.

“I didn’t mean to. I just picked it up. …and then I listened,” she admitted.

“There’s no way. I thought you were just..”

“I was. I am. Well, up until… I thought that…” Piper’s lip trembled.

Peter’s phone ringed again.

“Shit, it’s Steven. What the fuck is it now!? He’s the worst!”

“Answer it,” Piper commanded, grateful for the distraction.

“Steven! Where have you been!” Peter yelled into the headset.

“Bro! Bro! I got picked up by some FBI spooks! They… they were asking me about some sort of super strong woman! Linked to you! Fuck, they broke my fucking fingers! This is some brutality bullshit! It’s crazy!”

“What!? Where are you now! What did you tell them!”

“They just let me go. I’m in some… I don’t know where, bro! I didn’t tell them nothin’, I swear! I wouldn’t rat you out! I gave them nothing they didn’t already know! Bro, what’s going on!?”

“Steven! Come home quick. Be safe.”

“What’s happening!?”

“I’ll tell you later,” he lied and hung up. “Piper, what have you done!?”

“Something that needed doing.” She’d come to a decision during Peter’s conversation with Steven. She stood her ground, super strong and proud.

“Bledsoe I can understand! I mean, I’m not sure he deserved to die like that… But what about the other guy?!”

“What the fuck do you mean ‘I’m not sure he deserved to die like that,’” Piper mocked him while making air quotes. “You said it in no uncertain terms. And we all agreed! We agreed, Peter! I agree with you!”

“And the other guy?”

“Fuck him! He was all buddy buddy with Bledsoe! A fucking serial killer! You know it’s not just your parents he killed!? He was bragging about it! I don’t think they even figured out it was him!”

“Come on, Piper! You think the guard deserved to die just cuz he was a piece of shit?!”

“Yes! Fuck him! And fuck you too, Peter! Your little potion did more than make me super strong! Your selfish little fantasy has legs of her own, it looks like. I grew a spine. I guess all that talk of yours was just talk in the end!”

“What do you mean by selfish!? As if you didn't get any benefits! What woman wouldn’t kill to be as beautiful and powerful as you! I’m not saying you owe me, but… Piper, this is murder! Two murders!”

“And what about your stupid fantasies, huh? Of me destroying the world!?”

“It’s just a fantasy!!” Peter wailed.

“Bledsoe deserved to die. I’m not apologizing for that. And that guard too. You didn’t hear what they were saying. I did.”

“And that’s fucking terrifying, Piper! Sometimes people say things when they know they can’t be heard! It’s… you... You have to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe! Context! You know, more than a few times, I wanted to say something, but I always held my tongue because you can hear everything now!”

“What!? What were you going to say, Peter! About me!? After everything I did for you, all the lengths I went to to satisfy you!?”

“It’s nothing that dramatic! I’m just trying to make a point, it’s…”

“After I fulfill all your fantasies, and then actually go and do something good in the world, this is how you repay me!? Telling me you didn’t talk about me behind your back, but only because I could take your head off with my knee!?”

“Like you did to that poor guard.”

“NOTHING POOR ABOUT HIM, PETER! I’D KILL HIM AGAIN IF I COULD!”

Piper stomped the linoleum kitchen floor. Her bare foot put a huge web-like crack into the tiles with an ear-splitting snap. Peter flailed and nearly fell on his busted arm.

“Oh shit! Peter! I’m sorry!” She blurred behind him and caught him gently, preventing any further injury.

Peter’s rage was cold. He shrugged off his wife’s embrace as best he could and got to his feet.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen to us. You’ve brought the police down on us. You heard what Steven said. And the prison was lying to us too. What’s going to happen to us?”

Piper clenched her fists. “As if anyone could hurt me now. I’ll protect all of us.”

“Listen to yourself! Are you even hearing what you’re saying!? What, are you gonna kill anyone and everyone based on your judgment alone?! You can’t do this!”

“Yes I can, Peter. I can do anything.” Her voice became darkly compelling again as electricity crackled in her eyes.

“P-P-P-Piper…” Peter tried to shrink away from his wife's unbreakable embrace. He’d never experienced Piper-induced terror before. It was bone-chilling. The glow of his wife’s beautiful eyes nearly caused him to urinate in his pants.

“Oh. Oh god. Peter. I’m so sorry…” Piper choked down a sob. Her hands were trembling. Her voice cracked. The aura faded from her irises only to reveal large, welling tears. “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t mean to scare you, I-I just… everything I did was for you, and you… you don’t even… no, I’m sorry…”

She vanished in a blur. Peter shivered for minutes on the broken kitchen floor, sucking in deep lungfuls of air.