Page 126 of Brutal Game

And then he was up out of his chair and standing in front of me. I didn’t know how he’d moved so fast.

“Give me your phone.”

“Go to hell.”

He reached for me. My heart sped up. I tried the door again behind me, but it was still locked. I tried to duck past him—even though I had no idea where to go—but he caught me by the wrist and dragged me forward. Sliding his hand into my pocket, he pulled out my phone, dangling it infront of my face; a taunt. “I’ll be taking this with me. You, however, are staying.”

I fought him. I really did. I scratched and clawed. He slapped my face, punched me in the stomach. I doubled over in his arms, but I wasn’t losing that easily. I bit his ear, tasting blood.

Angrily, he tossed me across the room, and my head smacked against one of the nearly-empty bookshelves. A book toppled and fell on top of me, and, dazed, I was bemused to realize it wasThe Art of War.

As my ears rang, he approached me, dragged me across the floor, and then he was tying my arms together and looping the rope around one of the feet of the huge, mahogany desk. I struggled weakly but it was no use, I wasn’t going anywhere.

Oh god.

What was he going to do to me.

Jack,I thought.I need you.

But Jack didn’t come.

“What are you doing?” I managed to croak, although part of me knew.

Jensen confirmed it when he began pouring a bottle of whiskey on the floor, around me, all over his office. The whiskey made my clothes stick to my skin, a tease of future horrors.

“Why? Why do this?” I managed to croak. Speaking felt like chewing on sawdust. “Why hurt me? It’s one thing to be convicted of sexual assault, another of murder”

I thought I saw him shrug. “I have your phone. I’ll use it to send a suicide email. You were so distraught over learning your brother’s lies, you decided to burn down the building, and got caught in the flames. I’m a leader in this community; no one will suspect me.”

Oh god.

He continued to pour out the whiskey as he talked. “It wouldn’t have come to this if you had only let this go. But you were too committed to your little crusade. Tried to ruin not only my life, but Jack’s and my team’s as well. I refuse to let you hurt those boys—or me. They’re too important. Their futures are too important—especially Jack’s.”

“You don’t care about them,” I told him angrily. “You don’t care abouthim.If you did?—”

“People are complex, Ms. Gold,” he said. “It’s something you would have learned as you grew older—unfortunately, you aren’t going to get that chance.”

“Jack won’t believe you,” I said desperately. “He’ll get justice for me. He?—”

“Jack’s young,” he interrupted calmly. “Still malleable. I’ve been the most important person in his life for years, he’ll listen to me. You’re so hellbent on your so-called justice, you think everyone else will be, too. But people aren’t as pure of heart as you think they are. I know Jack, I know what matters to him. It’s hockey. Not some girl he liked to fuck.”

But he didn’t know Jack, not really.

I did.

“You’re crazy if you really think that will happen.”

He chuckled. “Maybe I am.”

He moved toward the door and opened it, pulling something out of his pocket. “Have a nice life, Aviva. For however short it is.”

There was that macabre smile again. True evil.

I heard a click. Through my blurry vision, I thought I saw a lighter. Flame. Thought I saw him drop it on the ground.

The door opened and shut.

The flame burst out on the wooden floor, grew, and spread. Heat surrounded me as the fire spread, and I could barely see through the smoke.

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