What had been most infuriating about the thefts from the Helmsley lab, as far as Ronda was concerned, was that despite having everyone who worked in the lab followed, no evidence had been found to incriminate anyone. This was most likely because the lab had needed to be closed quite soon after the the thefts had started. Whoever the culprit was wouldn't have had time to make much money from their underhanded dealings, but that wasn't the point. The point was that no one stole from Helmsley and lived to tell the tale.
Thea lead Ronda into the repair shop and flicked on the lights, which blinked slowly into action while Ronda closed the door behind them.
"Son of a bitch!" she exclaimed when she recognised the man who was chained up by his wrists, arms above his head, hanging from a high metal bar with his feet several inches from the floor. The chain was attached to some kind of pulley system that must have remained from when the repair shop was in business. His shoulders looked like they were being wrenched out of their sockets. There was a thick piece of cloth tied in his mouth to keep him quiet; although he did start attempting to cry out in panic when he saw Ronda and the bat that she was carrying.
"You got him here and strung him up like that by yourself?" Ronda asked Thea, a hint of respect in her voice.
"Us little people can pull our weight too," Thea said. There was humour in her sarcasm.
Swinging the bat idly in her left hand, Ronda walked over to him. Stopping in front of him, she looked him in the eyes, her own expression one of utter distaste. "Mike Mizanin. Of all the people. My uncle helped to pay for your wedding to that dumbass French bitch, whatever her name is. I was at that fucking wedding. The Helmsley family were never anything but good to you 'Miz', and you repay us by stealing from us?"
Miz had already started desperately writing around as best he could and moaning into the cloth.
"Get that out of his mouth," Ronda said to Thea, who was casually standing nearby with her arms folded across her chest. Obliging, she walked over, reached up on tip-toes, untied the knot behind Miz's head and pulled the cloth out of his mouth.
"No, Ronda," he gasped out, panic stricken. "This is all a mistake. I didn't steal anything..."
Ronda gripped her bat with both hands and swung as hard as she could, connecting with his stomach with a sickening thud and driving the air out of him.
"My friend here seems to think that you did. I know for a fact that someone was stealing from the lab. You know, the lab that you worked in? Let's try again, shall we? Did you steal any meth from us, yes or no?"
"No," Miz grunted, and the had a coughing fit, bringing up some blood.
"Seems like he's determined to deny it," Ronda said to Thea, using the statement as a question regarding what evidence of guilt she had.
"Kind of a shame for him that he sold some of what he stole to someone who's on good terms with my contact then, isn't it? I can prove it, too." Looking at Miz, she advised, "I'd just tell her the truth, asshole. We're in no rush, and no one's going to find you here."
"Fuck you," Miz hissed at her.
Ronda swung the bat again, this time hitting him in the left side, snapping several ribs. Over his agonised howls, Ronda calmly told him, "That's not the right way to speak to a woman. Now, before I inquire about this proof that she mentioned, I'm going to ask you again: Did you steal any meth from the Helmsley lab?"
"Ronda... Please..."
The bat thundered into his stomach again. "It was a fucking yes or no answer!" Ronda screamed at him.
"Maybe this will help to clear it up," Thea chimed in, reaching into one of the pockets of her jeans. She walked over to Ronda while unfolding the item that she'd pulled out, then handed it to her.
Ronda took it and realised that it was a print out of a photograph. The shot had been taken at night, but thanks to street lighting it was still clear enough. It showed Miz sitting in his car, passing a smallish bag of meth to someone who was standing at the driver's side window. Miz's unnamed customer had a wad of cash in his other hand. Whoever had snapped the picture had done so at just the right time. Any doubts Ronda might have had about Thea and her mysterious contact disappeared. Miz was guilty as charged. The only puzzling thing to Ronda was why someone had been there to take a picture of what was essentially a very small time drug deal. Raising an inquisitive eyebrow, she asked Thea, "Someone just happened to be there to take this?"
"My contact is in the business of information, Ronda, not buying small ass quantities of meth from dickheads. The identity of someone selling Helmsley meth on the side could have been a valuable commodity, or as it has proved to be, useful for a sign of good faith."
"Smooth," Ronda admitted. Her expression hardened as she turned her attention back to Miz, who seemed to be on the point of losing consciousness from the pain he was in. His writhing had stopped and his head was drooped to the point where his chin was almost touching his chest.
Ronda helped him to raise it by lifting his chin with the end of the baseball bat, and then held it in place for him as she showed him the picture. "I don't know about you, but that looks to me like you're selling meth to someone?"
"Needed money," Miz managed to pathetically croak out.
Ronda took a second or two, nodding to herself as she took in the admission of guilt and what it meant. Whoever contact was, they were legit, and so was Thea Trinidad. Turning to her new partner, she asked, "You know who Cody Rhodes is, right?"
"Sure. He's the Warriors' First Baseman. Your favorite player?"
Grinning, Ronda took a few steps backwards and then approached Miz again as she made like she was stepping up to the plate in a baseball game. She provided her own commentary as she did so. "Cody Rhodes will come forward to open the third inning. No score to this point."
Miz started writhing again and gasping out pleas for his life while Ronda took a couple of practice swings. Neither one of his captors paid him the least bit of attention.
Chuckling at the spectacle and knowing what Ronda was going to do, Thea decided to join in and take over the commentary duties. "First pitch coming..."
Ronda swung as hard as she could, connecting with Miz's right cheek bone and across the bridge of his nose, completely demolishing his face and mercifully knocking him out cold.
"Fast ball, swung on, and this is going a long way out to left field! The fielder's back on the warning track, but forget about it! It's a home run!"
Thea's commentary had made Ronda smile, but it quickly vanished and she said, "Alright, get him down. Let's finish this and get out of here."
"You got it." Thea walked over to the where the chains were secured and released them, sending Miz crashing unceremoniously to the floor, landing in a crumpled heap. Ronda prodded at him with her foot to get his head into a more convenient position for what was to come next. In movies this would have the moment where Ronda would have delivered some kind of smart remark to her victim before finishing him off. Instead, she simply asked Thea, "Ever see a skull get smashed in before?"
"Yep."
"Good. Don't want you getting all queasy on me." With that, Ronda raised the bat high in the air above her head and brought it hammering down onto the side of Miz's head. There was no way the damp crunching sound could be confused for anything other than a fatal blow. The blood that began pouring out onto the concrete was further evidence.
"I think we're done here," Thea said, approaching Ronda. She formed a strange shape with her gloved hand. It was a gesture that Ronda had never seen before, although it was clearly a sign of camaraderie and respect.
"What's that?" she asked, genuinely interested.
"The wolf's head," Thea said simply, offering no further explanation of why she had decided to use it. Ronda formed the wolf's head herself and Thea touched her fingers to Ronda's; the two wolf's snouts connecting. "First successful operation of many, Ronda. We just need to get rid of the body now. I have somewhere in mind."
"Forget that," Ronda said. "I'll call one of my people and have him do it. He's good at that kind of thing."
"He won't have a problem with it being one of your own?"
Ronda snorted dismissively at that. "That sack of shit stopped being one of our own the first time he took meth out of our lab."
"Then let's go."
Thea lead the way out of the repair shop. When they were back out in the lot, she opened her van's driver's side door and then turned to Ronda. "I'll be in touch when I get the info on the first contract. I'm looking forward to working with you Ronda." She flashed the smile that Ronda was already getting used to seeing. "Actually, I'm looking forward to it a lot, after today."
"Yeah, me too," Ronda nodded. The most remarkable thing as far as she was concerned was that it was actually true.