Two large hands grasped Shawn's shoulders and pulled them back until his back protested, his moans of pain were muffled by the tape over his mouth. The hands held him as more tape was wound around his body, taping him to the chair. Finally and knife was brought out. Shawn's eyes widened at the large rusty knife and only relaxed slightly as they used it to cut the tape hold his hands together. His fingers tingled as the blood rushed back into his hands. The tape holding his feet together were also cut and new tape held his feet against the legs of the chair leaving Shawn with zero chance for escape. He had more chance of tricking Gus to the Mexican border again.
Danny reached forward and ripped the tape off his mouth with a flick of his wrist. Shawn gasped and sucked in a lungful of air. Breathing through his nose always made him feel light headed and it took a couple of deep breaths to stop the dizziness.
"Why did you take me?" Shawn broke the silence in the room.
Danny turned around and stared at Shawn, "You tell me, psychic."
Shawn gave a half shrug "You want something…you're not going to get money for me. I'm not worth much."
Danny took a step forward, "You're just our back up plan….in case things don't work out like we hoped."
Shawn frowned in confusion, "What things?"
Danny took another step towards Shawn, "I've planted a bomb, we get 2 million dollars and we tell the police where it is. We don't get our money, I blow up half of Santa Barbara."
Shawn's eyes widened, "What do you need me for then?"
"Well for one, having you here slows the police down considerably."
Shawn swallowed hard, "And the second?"
"Stops them from looking for us," Danny smiled and it sent shivers down Shawn's spine. "They find us, you die," he said bluntly.
Shawn barely had time to process his words when, Adam, shuffled forward. Shawn wasn't sure whether it was learning difficulties or brain damage but Adam's mental age was a lot lower than his actually age and he seemed to be taking all his directions from Danny. Shawn wondered if Adam even wanted to be a part of it or just didn't know anything other than doing what his brother said.
Adam whispered into Danny's ear and Shawn wished he had taken lip reading lessons years ago, it seemed more and more cases required the need to know what people were saying to each other. Danny nodded.
"Might as well," he said to Adam with a shrug, "He has no other use at the moment." Shawn raised an eyebrow; it was obvious that they were talking about him.
"Okay Psychic," Danny placed his hands on his hips, "Impress us."
"Spirits find it hard to work while I'm tied up like this," Shawn croaked. He hadn't anything to drink since the day before and this throat was dry. He licked his lips.
Danny surged forward and wrapped his hand around Shawn's neck, squeezing it tightly until Shawn had trouble breathing. "I suggest you entertain my brother before I decide to entertain myself with you, you don't really need ten fingers do you?" He whispered menacingly into Shawn's ear. Danny pulled his hand away and Shawn took in another deep breath.
Shawn took in Adam's appearance, looking for anything he could use though being beaten and tied up wasn't helping his concentration. He noticed the slight hint of food around his mouth and the grease on his fingers
"I see…" He tried to lift his hand to his temple but the tape wrapped around him stopped him from getting very far. "I see a clown…Ronald Macdonald?...You like a Big Mac and fries."
Adam jumped up and down excitedly, "Yes, yes!"
Shawn saw the grass stains on Adam's knees and the mud on his shoes, "You like to play sports….soccer?"
Adam laughed, "It's amazing!"
"I'm seeing something else," Shawn closed his eyes, "I'm seeing bars…chocolate?" He shook his head, "No that's not it…..bars of gold?" Danny's eyes widened at the thought of gold, "Nope that's not it either." Shawn opened it eyes and glared at Danny, "Prison bars are in your future." He finished with a smirk.
Danny's eyes flashed with anger, "You little-." He stormed out of the room and returned a second later with a baseball bat.
"Ohh," Adam sounded, "You're going to get it now."
"Adam, leave the room."
"But Danny!" He protested.
"Now!" The older brother ordered. Adam grumbled under his breath but did as he was told. Danny turned to Shawn. "I think you need to learn a few lessons."
"You know I wasn't all that attentive in school so if we could skip the lessons, that would be great." Danny swung the bat and it connected with Shawn's ribs. The air was pushed from his lungs and bit his lip from crying out.
"Lesson number one, I don't like smart mouths."
"How many lessons are there because I might need a pen and paper to write them down." Shawn knew he should stop when the bat connected with hit ribs again but something inside him couldn't help it. His brain and his mouth weren't connected and he always spoke before his brain could tell him to shut up.
"Lesson number two, I am in charge."
"At no point did I think Adam was in charge." Danny lifted a large boot and stamped down on Shawn's foot.
"Lesson number three, don't insult my brother." Danny didn't wait for a smart remark before he grabbed Shawn's left hand and pulled back two fingers until he heard them snap. Shawn cried out this time as the intense pain from his now broken fingers radiated up his arm.
Before Shawn could recover, the bat connected with his ribs for a third time and Shawn heard the crunch yup, definitely broken he thought.
"Stop! Shawn shouted, "Please stop!"
"Why should I?"
Shawn panicked for a second, he needed a reason to keep him alive and he needed one quickly, "I'm no use to you dead." He blurted a second later.
"You're no use to me alive," Danny replied. "I could kill you and police would'not know until it was too late"
"I'm psychic remember, I can predict the future. I can help you."
Danny considered it for a moment, "Why would you help us?"
"You get your money and then you let me go."
Danny raised an eyebrow. "You'll go to the police, give them our description," he guessed.
"You'll be long gone by then, with two million dollars you can hide and never be found!"
Danny lifted the bat up and Shawn flinched, Danny smiled at the fear "You play us and I will kill you." Shawn nodded. "Okay, what do you need?"
"A phone call… put the police on the phone and I'll be able to read their minds, tell you what they're thinking."
Danny turned away from Shawn and walked to the work bench, he placed the bat on the top. And let it roll away. He picked up something else and turned back to Shawn. It was a cell phone. "Okay, what's the number?"