Page 111 of Broken Skulls

“Damn. I was sure she was going to run. I was kind of looking forward to chasing her down,” he tells Jacob as he takes the beer from my hand.

I dart away and go back to sitting on the floor beside the bed.

Jacob gives me a look of disappointment. “Goddammit, Elizabeth,” he says quietly.

“Elizabeth,” his father says thoughtfully, relaxing in his chair. “Nice to meet you, Elizabeth. You can call me Daddy.”

Jacob’s head snaps toward his father, and he pulls at his binds. “Leave her out of this. What the fuck are you doing here? What do you want?”

His dad presses his hand on his chest. “What kind of welcome is that? I just wanted to stop in and see what you were up to.” He leans forward, the beer dangling precariously between his legs. “You know, I never got a chance to thank you.”

The two men stare at each other.

Slowly, I slide my hand under Jacob’s jeans and wrap my hand around his knife.

“I mean, you did your old man a solid by keeping your mouth shut about what you saw that night.”

The tension in the room is stifling.

“If it wasn’t for you, son, I wouldn’t be here at all. They would have fried me in the chair. I always wondered why you didn’t say anything, but then I remembered your mom babied the fuck out of you. She pussified you, boy.”

My heart breaks for Jacob, and tears begin to sting my eyes.

His dad taps his beer on his knee, turning to look at me. “You know, I couldn’t help but notice the sink full of dirty dishes. I could teach her a few lessons for you. You know, since your tied up and all.”

He laughs, and I realize he’s just like Mr. Baxter. Handsome on the outside but completely hideous on the inside.

“If you touch one hair on her head, I’ll rip your fucking heart out,” Jacob seethes.

His dad chuckles, motioning toward Jacob’s binds with his beer. “I don’t think you’ll be able to stop me, but then again, I don’t think you’d have the balls to even if you weren’t tied up.”

I grip the knife tight in my palm. I’d like to kill this fucker myself, but it needs to be Jacob who does it.

“Do you want to know why I didn’t tell the authorities I saw you kill mom that night?” Jacob asks him.

“Sure.” His dad relaxes back in his chair, kicking his ankle over his knee.

“Because I wanted you to live. So when you got out, I could kill you myself.”

This makes his father laugh uncontrollably, throwing him into a coughing fit.

“Never surrender,”I hear Jesse say in my head.

I take the opportunity and jump to my feet, throwing myself on top of Jacob. “I love you,” I say, quickly slipping his knife into his hand. I hear his dad stand up behind us, and I grasp for the end of the tie on his bind as I slide off the other side of the bed, running for the door.

His dad follows me just like I’d anticipated. I hope I got Jacob’s hand loose, but I don’t think I did.

Fuck.

“Where do you think you’re going?” his father yells after me.

I run into the room with Jacob’s plants, quickly slamming the door, but his father shoves his boot against the jamb before I get it closed.

We struggle for a few seconds before he shoves so hard, I fall on my ass. For an older man, he’s insanely strong and muscular. I guess prison will do that to you.

I crawl backward as he makes his way toward me.

He stops by one of Jacob’s plants, plucking the memorial card out of it. His gaze scans the words of comfort written there. It makes him laugh harshly. “That kid of mine is more of a pussy than I thought. Filling this house full of all her old crap. What a fucking momma’s boy.”

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