Chapter 168
Taking their three new captives to their own house was a necessary risk. They couldn't take the chance of a Sanctuary spy getting in their way. Only three people outside of their household knew where they were, and they hoped to keep it that way.
Their house had a basement so they were taken, bags over their heads and still unconscious, down there and tied to chairs. Hands around the back in magic-restraining handcuffs, ankles and shoulders duct-taped to keep them upright and incapable of almost anything. Just to be sure, they also wrapped duct-tape around hands so they were stuck in a fist position to prevent any funny business where they couldn't be seen. They removed their bags only after that.
"Wake up," Valkyrie commanded, patting Lilo's face none-too-kindly. "Time to give up your secrets."
Smith started to frown before Lilo. Valkyrie went to her and patted her cheek too and her eyes opened quickly. "What–?" She started, looking around with wide eyes before suddenly glaring. "Aw, man."
"Anti Smith," Valkyrie started, towering over her. Smith looked up from beneath her eyelashes to glare. She was a good looking woman but her glare wasn't pretty. "You are under arrest for multiple homicides as well as working for high profile criminal organisations, and for kidnap, property damage and aiding in the kidnap of an infant. We are willing to bargain for information on Samuel Grievers criminal organisation as well as any high profile or lucrative criminals you know the whereabouts of that lead to an arrest, and more importantly, we would like to know more about any Children of the Spiders in America at this time. Are you willing to cooperate?"
Smith looked at her for a moment and then went to spit. Valkyrie slapped her, hard, before she got the chance to. By this point, Marvin and Lilo were starting to wake so she roused them and repeated herself for them.
"No way!" Marvin said immediately. "I'm not getting bossed about by some stupid, entitled, Irish kid! You don't have any authority over me!"
"Would you rather I make Anton stand up just for you? He would be pretty angry if he had to do that. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed today and hasn't had lunch yet," Valkyrie told him, raising an eyebrow. "We're only bargaining because there's a slim chance you can help us with bigger things. The moment you become useless to us we'll treat you that way. If you think that you and Smith will get away with helping Mr Quanta take over Grievers mantel then you're sorely mistaken."
Marvin wet his lips and glance behind Valkyrie towards where her family were sitting on benches waiting for results.
Valkyrie turned to Lilo. "Well?"
He was definitely the brains of the bunch. He glared at her but sat as high as he could in his restraints. "People are expecting us. When they realise we aren't coming, they'll come looking."
"Look where? At a small mortal worksite with, oh, no wreckage or cars at all? They'll look where you were when we started tailing you in town, or perhaps at any point over the last six days? How long do you think it'll take them to find you? By the time they work out that the Dead Men are even in the area, we'll have already left and you'll be rotting in prison. The question is, do you want a reduced sentence or not? Any one of your friends would rat you out in a heartbeat to help themselves."
"I don't name names," Lilo sneered.
Valkyrie punched him. His lip spit and he blinked a few times. "I think it's time we split you up and started our interrogations if you're not going to play nicely. Tanith?"
Tanith got up and practically skipped over to drag Smith from behind by her chair out of the main area and into one of the bare basement rooms. Anton also got up and took Marvin off since he seemed easily scared by the large man, and he'd have the patience to get around all his idiocy. Dexter and Saracen would be helping her. Tanith had already requested to be alone with Smith and they didn't ask questions.
"Let's start small," Valkyrie said, sitting in the chair Dexter brought her to be eye level with Lilo. "How did you meet Grievers?"
Lilo contemplated for a moment and then answered. "I met him at Grievers Down some twenty years ago in Thailand. It was brief."
"What led you to work for him?"
"A loyal client hired me," he said carefully, his eyes narrowed on her. "He owed Grievers a favour and was repaying him by paying me to do what Grievers wanted. It wasn't until a few years later that Grievers came to me with the work I did for him recently."
Valkyrie nodded. "How many people did you kill for him?"
"I'm not going to answer a question like that."
"We already have a large number of bodies tied to you, Lilo," Valkyrie told him calmly. "You use three different techniques to throw off investigators, but I worked out that it's all linked. It won't take long for the Sanctuary to keep adding to your pile simply based on that information, and then the psychics come in. You know they send in less damaging Sensitives to the criminals that cooperate, right? You may as well just help yourself."
He sighed and grit his teeth. "Over twenty, less than thirty. I didn't keep track. He mostly had me killing other criminals causing him and his employees' trouble or people that owed him money. Not civilians. No children."
"How long have you been working for him?"
"About two and a half years," he said.
"You worked alone for that time?"
"He paired me with Marvin infrequently. I met Smith three months ago."
"Why did you decide to keep them around after Grievers died?"
"Smith used to be used as bait to get patrons to talk. She was Grievers' spy. She knew everyone that went in and out of that place. Marvin isn't smart, but he's a good fighter, so I kept him too," he admitted through gritted teeth. "I thought it would help me."
"Help you take Grievers Down for your own."
He paused for a few moments. Valkyrie raised one brow and when he decided to arch one back instead of answering her, Saracen took a step and punched him in the nose. It audibly broke and he moaned. He was given a moment to adjust to the pain and then punched again. Valkyrie repeated her question.
"Yes," he moaned.
"You haven't been quiet. We've been intercepting and arresting almost everyone that's come your way this last week. You've been like a little criminal magnet. Still, we don't have many of the high up people. You will be helping us."
"I thought you Irish people only wanted to dance with Spider's nowadays," he said, trying a bloody smirk. They all heard Smith scream long and painful for a long moment before it was abruptly cut off. The sound bounced off the bare bone basement.
"Don't get cocky," she told him coldly, rubbing her knuckles like she planned on using them soon. "The Spider's are our primary concern but we've also been tasked with finishing the takedown of Grievers' organisation. But, as you said, Smith knows all about Grievers clientele. So perhaps you should start with the Spiders. I think Tanith has Smith under control."
He grunted and looked down for a moment. "What type of sympathy will I be getting for helping you?"
"We can get you a reduced sentence based on how many other criminals tied to Grievers you can give us that leads to an arrest, and anything that proves you actually didn't do something," she said, sitting back and crossing one leg. "We will actively help you as the Sanctuary convicts you if you can help us with finding and taking down the Spiders. They owe us at the moment, and like you said, it's no secret we're interested in finding the American lot. Bear in mind, before you try to be a big, hard man, that you're looking at one hundred and fifty years right now. And counting."
He wet his lips now. "In Nevada, on the edge of Utah. There's a clan of Spiders there, well into the desert. Last I heard, old war criminals were heading that way from all over the country. I've been keeping out of it."
"We'll need a better address," she told him. She wanted to get excited but it would be more than easy for him to lie – she didn't want to get her hopes up. "Did you ever see who this Spider was that Grievers was talking with?"
"No, but he had a Spanish accent. Was well-spoken. I only heard from outside of the room," he admitted.
She nodded. He gave a vague but good enough address for them. She asked more questions along the lines of Spider information but he, unfortunately, didn't know much, nor of any other Spider hideouts. He was able to tell them of a few criminal hideouts outside of that which they could pass onto the Sanctuary, most of them dealing in drugs and illicit Signal work but not much else. They re-bagged him and when the others had given up everything, they were also bagged and all three shipped off with Anton and Erskine to visit Aurora and a psychic friend whom they could trust to verify all the information before Aurora would take them to the Sanctuary. They were lucky though – Smith told Tanith about the same Spider den, although she had been less forthcoming in her address and seemed to have gained some mysterious bruises all over her face. And a long cut along her forearm. Tanith simply said it had "mysteriously appeared" when Smith commented on her baby-weight.
"I think that was a success," Dexter said, stretching out over the sofa and both Saracen and Valkyrie. Laila was on his chest, doing some bonding tummy time. She was attempting to look up at Dexter but wasn't quite there yet, although it should be coming soon at almost three months old. Valkyrie stroked her head, shoving her elbow in Dexter's face.
"I think so too. We have a lot of work to do over the next month," she sighed.
"It'll be okay," he reassured her as he grinned at Laila and squidged her sides.
"I was impressed Lilo told us so much," Saracen said, sitting back and rubbing Dexter's feet. "I suppose he was glad to get himself out of a longer sentence."
"He's been locked up before," Valkyrie told him. "He apparently had a bad experience that led to him being given an early release as an apology. I guess he got scared."
"Well, whatever works. You are so cute!" Dexter said, making Laila squeal loud enough to make her and Saracen wince. Dexter laughed.
"Are you guys ready for dinner?" Nadia called from the kitchen.
"Yeah!" Valkyrie called back.
"Set the table!"
Being stuck, the table was left to Ghastly and Tanith, who were getting on much better since Valkyrie and Nadia got back. Tanith had told her, between her crazy wedding obsession that she claimed was driven entirely by hormones and no girlish fantasies, that she had spoken to Ghastly over the course of a few days and they had worked out a better way to get on. They both still had similar goals, likes and wants that had brought them together in the first place, even if their relationship was over. They wanted to live with Valkyrie and the others, they wanted to co-raise Laila, they wanted to help with the war and keep their family safe at the same time. Talking about their similarities had helped them both, and Valkyrie was happy for them.
Nadia came into the small living room, giving Valkyrie a smile. Life was still good.
I'm still kicking guys! This was a fun chapter to write, but maybe not as satisfying as a fight. I'm just no good at those chapters! But they did give up information and Smith got her face smooshed so that's fun. Wedding fail update in Lord Ducks comment below :)
Demise Rim: I really badly want to write a Val/Dexter story but any time I start something like that I always accidently turn them into more of a half flirty, half protective brother/sister pair. But I will make it one day, around all the other ships I say I'll do. A school fic is coming at some stage, maybe I'll make two? Who knows? Depends if I ever finish this monstrosity of a fanfiction. I have so many wedding ideas, it's going to be amazing!
Baron Remus 'Cryptid' Crux: Can you make your name any longer? I just figure she's a billionaire or something because this shit isn't cheap. I know for realism she isn't so I guess I picture that she has several businesses and all her investment stuff right? A lot of it is more of a breakeven with super good favours because of her what her Uncle went into, but some of these businesses are actually successful. On top of that, she works full time in one of the hardest jobs in the world (or she did) and as the best detective in the world and then she receives her Dead Man striped on top which must be hefty. All the others have their jobs plus stipends. I think that would lead to a few million. How it's staying there with her spending I'm not sure but her starting amount must have been plentiful.
Lord Duck the Second: Thank you, it's not long now! I'm glad you like the wedding updates, it keeps me going through uni. I sort of accidently bought some bridesmaids dresses and didn't read the returns correctly and thought I could send them back within seven days when actually I can only essentially petition to send them back if something is incorrect so I will now have to sell 3-4 dresses (I may yet like one of them and keep it which would be good!). Until that's decided I've basically thrown £300 down the drain. They're all nice dresses so, hopefully, the colours come out nice and they'll be an easy sell. I just wanted 4 to compare the champaign, daffodil yellow and gold! If they come ugly I'll be mad. Also glad you like the chapter haha! :D