Kip had returned to Marion and confessed to the crime without hesitation or remorse. The next psychiatrist noted how much the bastard loved talking about the murders. It was like a badge of honor to him, a way of proving how superior he was to everyone around him.
He was then moved to a high-security prison, which it turned out had been by his design to end up there. He’d forged some records that weren’t found out until later. Even without access to computers, cell phones, or anything else and with only an hour a day out of his cell, he’d figured a way around the system. Kip had gotten one of his cronies hired on at the new prison as a guard six months before his arrival. With the help of his plant, in no time, Kip was the kingpin of the inmates. Unlike before, Kip only left that prison one time, killing two more people—his mother and father.
His final confession might’ve been the worst of the lot. “You can’t imagine how satisfying it was to see their eyes wide with shock when their loving and brilliant son slit their wrinkled throats.”
That was eighteen months ago. The warden at this prison was taking no chances with Kip, the reason for the unique cell.
“How’s your brother?” Kip asked behind the thick Plexiglas wall.
“I’m not here to get reacquainted. I’m here to ask you some questions.” Keeping his rage in check was proving difficult.
Megan had been conned into marrying Kip. If the fucker hadn’t been arrested soon after, Kip might’ve hurt or even killed her. Thank God the bastard would spend the rest of his miserable life in this tiny cell.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a motherboard on you, Scott? An old friend could sure use some help right now.”
“We’re not friends.”
“We were once.”
“I was a friend to you. You used Eric and me. You were never a real friend.”
“I’m sorry you see it that way, Scott. I see it entirely from a different vantage point, a more enlightened vantage point, I might add.”
God, Scott had forgotten how arrogant the bastard could be. “The clock is ticking and I have a few questions.”
“It’s ticking for you, Scott. Not me. I remember how you and Eric always liked making the big deals. Here’s my offer, take it or leave it. Twenty questions each where only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is the answer. I go. Then you go. And so on. Do we have a deal?”
“Like the kids’ game?”
Breaking the rules and beating the odds had always been Kip’s fascination. Nothing had changed. It had only gotten worse.
“You’re right. We’re not kids anymore. We’re all grown up. Seven questions then. Do we have a deal?”
Fuck! The creep was enjoying this. Getting what he’d come for would be difficult with the limitations Kip had set up.
As tough as it might be, he would have to try. “Yes. But that was your first question.”
Kip laughed. “Bingo. Now you.”
Scott took a deep breath, trying to formulate the right first question. Kip surely couldn’t be the one getting in the back door of TBK’s network. But what if he was? Best to start with the obvious. “Are you the one hacking into TBK’s network?”
“No. Now, my turn. Are you fucking my wife?”
Scott’s blood boiled to blistering hot. He’d made it a point not to mention Megan. He didn’t want Kip to have any clue about her. “What do you know about Megan?”
Kip made a buzzing sound like heard on TV game shows when someone gives a wrong answer. “You just lost two questions, one for not answering my question and one for asking a question that couldn’t be answered by ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ You’re down to four. But as a courtesy, I’ll answer what I know. I married Megan because she was pretty and gullible.”
Scott would love nothing more than to get on the other side of that glass and make the world a better place by executing the psycho with his bare hands. “Stop playing games with me, Kip.”
“The poor thing holds a special place in my heart, Scott. She kept trying to find me in the prison system after my arrest. I’m sure she wanted to sue me for divorce, but I wasn’t having any of that. It was easy for me to manipulate the prison records and send her on wild-goose chases.”
“I know where you are now and she will be divorcing you.”
Kip shrugged. “Okay. I was bored with that little game a long time ago. When can I expect to see my wife with the divorce papers?”
Scott pounded on the Plexiglas. “Never. Answer my questions and I’ll leave you alone.”
“What makes you think I want to be alone?”