Richard grinned at Gina while enjoying his freshly brewed coffee. Earlier, he had given her a few sips of water—along with a punch to the face for good measure. Richard had never kept anyone hostage, although he didn’t quite view Gina as just a hostage. She would die—that was a fact—but Richard wasn’t getting the immediate rush of adrenaline he had grown accustomed to by keeping her prisoner. Slapping and punching her was his only outlet until the exact moment when he would slit her throat.
And Detective Mills will witness the blood draining from her body just before I kill him too.
Richard’s teeth chattered with excitement. Looking at Gina, he bit into the warm cheese Danish and rolled his eyes. “This tastes amazing. I can hear your stomach growling from across the room, Gina. You must be starving by now. I mean you haven’t eaten anything since that chicken dinner last night. Good thing you chowed that down like a hungry dog. Speaking of dogs, you do realize how foolish you look, right? Sorry about chopping off your ponytail, but I had to get my point across to the detective. Don’t worry. It’ll grow back. Oh, wait. No, it won’t.” Richard laughed. “It can’t grow back because you’ll be dead.”
“I hate you! You’re a lying, demented psychopath who gets his kicks from killing innocent people.”
Richard scooted his chair closer. He wanted her to smell the coffee and see how much he was enjoying the Danish. “Interesting descriptions, Gina. So Brad Risack and Manny Aragon—the two men who murdered your sister—were innocent? Hmm, maybe you were in on it. Did that whore have a stash of money you wanted to get your hands on?”
“Shut up! My sister was a wonderful human being. She was just trying to make an—”
Richard chuckled. “Were you about to say an honest living?”
Gina’s tears dripped to the floor as she looked down.
“Yep, that’s what I thought.” Richard licked the icing off his fingers and stood. “I’d let you lick my fingers, but I know you’d bite them.” He circled around to Gina’s back as she tried to look over her shoulder to see what he was doing. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a balled-up rag. “It kind of sucks that you don’t have that ponytail anymore. There’s nothing for me to grab except your head.” In an instant, Richard reached around and pinned her head against his leg. He knelt behind her and squeezed her cheeks between his fingers. “Open your mouth!”
She clamped her teeth tightly and tried to fight him off, but the fist to her temple knocked her for a loop.
“See what happens when you don’t obey, you stupid bitch. It’s taking everything I have not to slit your throat right now.” He jammed the rag into her mouth, tightened her restraints, walked out, then locked the door at his back. The race against time was about to begin, and Detective Mills was on the clock.