Page 198 of Brutal Savage

It flashes before me, and tears start to fall.

Drop by drop, like all the days we’ll no longer have.

Jerry nudges the barrel deeper, and just when I think he’s going to pull the trigger, a door creaks from somewhere in the house.

“Now, now, Jerry. We didn’t agree to that.”

My eyes widen in horror.

Heartbeats batter painfully in my chest.

“G-G-Gran?” My pulse hammers, confusion causing my brain to fog. “But you… I—I don’t understand…”

My throat’s closing in. Oh, God, I can’t breathe. I don’t yet see her, though it was her voice. I know it was. It wasn’t a hallucination.

Did she escape? Did she agree with Jerry to let me go?

That has to be it. Gran came to save me.

But in the back of my head, this feeling—this sinister feeling—just won’t go away.

Her soft footfalls draw nearer.

Jerry sighs dramatically, dropping his gun to his side. “Nice of you to finally show up.”

Then she’s right there in front of me.

My gran.

And her fingers?

They’re all intact.

Every last one of them.

Her ring is still there too.

“Oh my God,” I sob as she advances forward. “Gran? Gran, please, what’s happening?”

I gasp for air, needing her to tell me she’s here to save me. That she has a plan. Yet that doesn’t make sense either.

Not anymore.

“Your finger. He…he told me to come here to save you.”

She nods, her face softening. “I know, sweetheart. You must be so confused. I’m sorry about that.” She glares at Jerry. “Why the hell did you tie her up? I told your father to treat her well. This is not what I had in mind.”

“And what did you expect? For us to all sit around a table and chat about long-lost times?” he scoffs. “Get lost, lady. You have her. It’s what you wanted, right?”

What? What does that even mean?

“Gran, please tell me what’s happening. What are you involved in?”

I can’t even fathom my grandma being involved in anything with Jerry or his family.

She sighs, grabbing a chair and settling into it. “This is gonna shock you, but just hear me out, okay?”

My unsteady pulse ricochets in my ears, and with shaky breaths I nod, needing answers.

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