Keo was watching Davis closely for a reaction, but he had to admit he wasn’t quite ready for the grin that broke out across Davis’s face.
“That’s an interesting response,” Keo said.
“You’re one of them. Collaborators.”
Keo shook his head. “No.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I couldn’t begin to tell you how little that means to me.”
Davis snorted. “Then why do you want to kill Mercer?”
“Personal reasons.”
The man leaned slightly forward, as if to get a better angle on Keo’s face. After the almost hour they had spent together, Keo thought that was another very interesting move from his hostage. At the moment, Davis looked more curious than he was afraid, which wasn’t quite what Keo was going for.
“What?” Keo said.
“I’m just trying to see if you look familiar.” Davis finally shook his head and sat back. “No. I don’t know you. I’d remember that face.”
“Scars give a man character.”
“So I hear.” He paused, then, “What’s wrong with your leg?”
“There’s nothing wrong with my leg.”
“Oh, I don’t believe that. You’re clearly favoring one side. Old wound?”
Not old enough, Keo thought, but said, “Where’s Mercer?”
“I told you, I don’t know where he is. The last time I saw him was back at The Ranch.”
“And you’re not going to tell me where this ranch is?”
“Nope,” Davis said, and grinned back at him.
Keo sighed and took his hand away from the gun. He snapped open one of the pockets along his pant leg and pulled something out.
“What the hell is that?” Davis asked, narrowing his eyes at the titanium eating utensil in Keo’s hand.
“Spork,” Keo said. “Though technically, it’s a scork.”
“Scork?”
“Spoon, fork, and cork. Get it?”
“Ah,” Davis said, though his eyes (or, at least, the good one) never left the object in Keo’s hand.
“But the word ‘scork’ makes me queasy,” Keo said. “So I prefer to call it a spork anyway and ignore the whole ‘cork’ part. Even though, obviously, it’s incorrect.”
“You’re a man of eccentricities.”
“No one’s ever called me that before.”
“So, what are you going to do with that…spork?”
“I’m going to see how much pain you can take.” Keo twirled the utensil between his fingers. “I would have used the Ka-Bar, but it wouldn’t hurt nearly as much and you might bleed out too soon. I can’t risk that.”
Davis stared at the spork, as if mesmerized by its movements. “And that’s…not risky?”
“It’s a lot harder to cut an artery with this.”
Davis swallowed. “I won’t tell you where he is.”
“You said you didn’t know where he is.”
“I don’t. Not at this very moment.”
Keo stopped twirling the spork and pressed his forefinger against the metallic tines. “They’re pretty sharp. Not that sharp, but pretty sharp. It’ll puncture skin, and even bone, if you push hard enough. I saw it go through a forehead once…”
Davis didn’t have to say anything, because his tensing body gave it away. The man looked as if he was mentally and physically preparing to spring up to defend himself, but either his bound arms and legs prevented him from taking action at the moment, or he knew it wouldn’t do any good. Instead, he remained nervously perched on the bale of hay.
“Tell me where to find Mercer,” Keo said. “Is he in Lochlyn?”
“No,” Davis said. “I told you. The last time I saw him was back at The Ranch, before all of this. I don’t know where he is now.”
“And you won’t tell me where this Ranch is…”
“No.”
Keo sighed and lowered his hand. “All right. This is getting ridiculous. I’m running out of sunlight, and you’re just pissing me off now.”
He began walking toward Davis.
The man pushed himself up from the haystack and attempted to move toward the stairs, but he predictably tripped on his bound legs and fell with a thump! to the debris-strewn floor on his face. He tried to roll over onto his back, but by the time he finally managed it, Keo was already standing over him. Even in this shadowy part of the barn, Keo swore the eating utensil actually gleamed.
“One last chance,” Keo said. “Tell me where to find Mercer.”
“Jesus, please,” Davis said.
Keo grinned. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but I have to admit I’ve never been mistaken for our Lord and Savior before. You a religious man, Davis?”
“Yes…”
“Me, I’ve never had much use for it. More of a hassle in my old line of work. So tell me, Davis. What did you used to do before all of this?”
“I was a teacher…”
“Cool. I killed a teacher once.” Keo sat down on Davis’s chest, put his hand on the man’s forehead, and easily pushed Davis’s head back against the rotten floor despite his attempt at resistance. “He screamed and screamed…”
“Oh, God…”
“It took a while, and it was messy…”
“Lochlyn,” Davis said, almost spitting the word out.
Keo sat back a bit. “Lochlyn?”
“You can find Mercer through Lochlyn.”
“You said he wasn’t there.”
“He’s not, but you can find him through there.”
Keo let go of Davis’s forehead. “Go on…”
“We’re using Lochlyn as an FOB. You know—”
“Yeah, I know what FOBs are. Go on.”
“The last flight out is tomorrow. Everyone involved in this area is supposed to be back by then. Including Butch and me.”
“What were you and the other guy doing out here, anyway?”
“Perimeter security. In case of collaborator counter-attacks.”
“What happens when you don’t come back?”
“I guess they’ll know something happened. They’ll be ready for you,” Davis said, and Keo thought the other man wanted badly to smile but was doing everything possible to swallow the urge.
“Where’s it going?” Keo asked. “The flight?”
“The Ranch. If you want Mercer, he’s probably going to be there.”
“Probably?”
“I’m a small cog in the machine. I’m not privy to all his movements. But it’s your best bet.” Davis let out a heavy sigh and closed his one good eye for a moment before opening it again. “If you’re going to kill me, just make it fast. I’d like to skip the prolonged pain part if at all possible.”
Keo stood up and put the spork away. “See, that wasn’t so hard. I knew you’d come around.”
“Fuck you.”
“Not right now; we both have headaches.”
Davis struggled to sit up, pushing against the floor using his elbows. Somehow, he managed it after a few tries.
“I’m curious,” Keo said. “What makes someone follow a man like Mercer?”
“You want the truth?”
“That would be nice.”
“There are three types of people running around out here. The true believers, the nonbelievers, and everyone else in the middle.”
“Which one are you?”
“Everyone else.”
“So why do the nonbelievers follow Mercer if they don’t buy what he’s selling? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s dangerous out there.”
Davis shrugged and looked toward the barn doors, as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear what he was about to say next. “He saved our lives. Most of us wouldn’t be here if not for him. That’s the kind of thing that buys a lot of loyalty.”
“But you don’t believe in his war.”
“What we’re doing out here…” He focused on Keo again. “You know? About the attacks on the towns?”