Chapter 69: Friends 4
His question was never completed. Adam’s hand moved in a hazy blur. His fingers dug into the soft flesh as he took the man by the throat. The man’s eyes widened in fear. Adam pushed him back into the tiny toilet stall after spinning him around. He slammed the door and ushered them into the small, dark room.
The man began to struggle as he tried to scratch the hand that was choking him to death.
Adam pressed his lips to the man’s ear as he leaned in close. "If you wish to survive," he said in a chilly, poisonous hiss. "You will tell me everything you know." Concerning The Byrd. regarding your work. Everything.
The man’s eyes got even bigger. He got it. He made an effort to nod in agreement. Adam relaxed his hold just enough to allow the man to breathe so he could speak after sensing the desperate attempt at communication.
The man gasped in a ragged whisper, "I am just a small-time operator."
"My job is just to keep an eye on a target in a specific area. I don’t know who runs things. I don’t even know who gives me the instructions. I just get paid for it. The money shows up on my phone."
Adam heard the man’s frantic admission. He was honest, and he knew it. This man was a tiny, inconsequential cog in a huge machine, a pawn. There was no use pressuring him for more details.
He had none. What to do with him was the question now. He might murder him. It would be simple. It would end with a swift snap of the neck.
Adam, however, paused. In the bloody sand of his new reality, he had a rule and a line that he had drawn for himself. Only those who had raised a weapon against him were killed by him. This man was not a murderer; he was a spy. Adam still possessed enough humanity to make that distinction significant.
He let go. To give the man room to breathe, he took a step back. His eyes were hard and cold as he gazed at him. "If you report this incident," he said in a low, menacing murmur. "I will find you if you tell anyone what happened here." I remember faces quite well. I am also really good at finding people. You are aware that I have a bounty on my head. You ought to know what that implies.