Facade of Love (Yvette Scott and Idris Young) novel Chapter 420

I scowled, a chill running down my spine. Inch's gun-waving was just a bluff, a show to keep the old man from thinking he could ever escape.

The guards hauled the man back from the field. Previously, I had not gotten a good look at the old man, but now his face seemed eerily familiar. He was a patchwork of fresh and old wounds, a testament to the horrors he had endured here. His legs were impaled with the teeth of the traps, a gruesome souvenir from his failed escape.

As they dragged him off, Inch followed.

I could not help but ask Rebecca, "Why are they doing this to an old man?"

She bit her lip, hesitating. "I'm not sure. Word is he was sent over by Kenneth to be kept under our boss's thumb. The boss was not keen on roughing him up at first, but the old guy kept trying to bolt, and it ticked the boss off. So, he decided to teach him a lesson. The old timer's tough as nails, though. No matter what's done to him, he's always looking for a chance to break free as soon as he can stand."

She glanced at me, a hint of accusation in her eyes. "He was supposed to be too weak to run, but you had Inch patch him up last time. That's why he had the strength to try again today. But after today's ordeal, he's not going anywhere anytime soon."

I bit my lip, a crease forming between my eyebrows as I spoke, "The guy's already half-dead. Why doesn't Lucas just finish him off?"

In the dimness of that room, I could not help but wonder. An old man, barely clinging to life, was there, with Lucas wasting time and effort on torture instead of just ending it. He even let the guy try to escape over and over, like some twisted game of cat and mouse. What was he playing at?

Rebecca gave a small shake of her head, "I'm not too sure myself. Rumor has it the old guy was a cop. Years back, he was deep undercover, collecting dirt on Kenneth's crimes. When Kenneth caught on, he was marked for death. For some reason, however, Kenneth shipped him off to our boss instead. The boss, on the other hand, did not kill him either. Just kept him alive. Weird, right?"

I frowned, trying to piece it together. An undercover cop, left alive just to be tormented?

Maybe this old timer had really ticked off Kun, who wanted him to suffer a fate worse than death. So he handed him over to Lucas, with instructions not to kill, just to keep up the torment?