Page 69 of Safe
She didn’t speak for a minute, but I could tell there was something she wanted to say. If she had any fucking brains, she would keep it to herself.
“My brother is a detective. You are a criminal. Are you seriously this fucking stupid? How long did you think we were going to last?” Danielle had a look in her eyes like she was purposely trying to hurt me mentally since she couldn’t physically.
“Besides,” she said, curling her face into a smug look, “why would I want to be with someone who never once put me first?”
“You just don’t fucking learn, do you?”
I hit Danielle in the face again and felt the crack of her nose underneath my knuckles. This time, she screamed louder than I’ve ever heard her scream. She started trying her damnedest to get out of the chair, almost to the point of knocking it over. She managed to flail around hard enough that I could hear the ties starting to tear. Before I could stop her, she got an arm free. I tried to grab it and tie her back up, but before I could, she clawed at my face, scratching up anything she could get her hand on.
In the midst of Danielle trying to gouge my eyes out, I realized I had a clear shot of the cut on her arm, so I took it. I stuck my fingers in the cut as deep and as hard as I could until she let go of me. The more she screamed for me to stop, the harder I pressed into her arm.
It’s time for her to go.
I couldn’t take listening to her anymore, and I couldn’t risk her getting loose again. In her pain, Danielle stopped trying to fight me, so I seized the moment to tie her arm back up. Once I was sure she couldn’t get loose again, I took the knife back out of my pocket and held it up to her throat. She let out a scream as I started to cut into her neck from her ear down, but before I could shut her up for good, someone broke through the cellar door.
35. CODY
I watched as Alex barreled through the door as if it were made of paper. The sound of Danielle's screams burned into my memory, destined to stay there forever.
As we maneuvered through the hallways, trying to pinpoint where they were and how we could enter with the advantage, all I could do was hope we weren't too late.
I stayed close behind Alex despite the fact that my impatience was about to battle his methodical pace. His patience far exceeded mine, but with no weapon of my own, there was nothing safe or effective I could contribute by rushing ahead. The closer we got, the louder her screams became, and I knew we were close.
Alex froze mid-step.
“Stay here,” he whispered.
“What the fuck? No way.”
“You have no gun, and by now, Landon knows we’re here. I can’t risk you too.”
“Fuck that and fuck you. I’m going.”
Alex didn’t argue. He knew I wasn’t staying behind.
Despite our proximity, I had an uneasy feeling. If Landon knew we were there, why hadn't he made a move against us? He had to have heard Alex bust the door down. A sneaking suspicion that we were walking into a trap settled in my gut. It took three more steps for the fear to be confirmed.
We turned the corner—and it happened in a blink.
A crack of gunfire.
Alex’s body jolted back like an invisible hook had yanked him. He hit the ground hard, a groan escaping his mouth as he clutched his shoulder. My scream got caught in my throat.
His hand twitched toward his gun, and he managed to raise it just a few inches—then a sharp click. A dry, useless click. The gun jammed, and Alex let out a strangled noise of frustration, collapsing back with a curse as he struggled to muster the strength to fix it.
Landon was there, crouched behind Danielle, who was bloodied and bound to a chair. He held her in front of him like a human shield, gun still raised, chest heaving like he was high on the chaos. Danielle whimpered as Landon dragged her forward, positioning her between us like a human shield.
I had no gun.
I couldn’t even move.
Alex’s blood was pooling beneath him, and Danielle’s body blocked any clean shot I might have had. My brain tried to work through the angles, but it was overwhelmed by static, and Danielle’s jagged cries.
I knew trying to reason with Landon would be pointless, and the sight of Alex bleeding out left no good outcomes in the mix.
My mind was unfocused chaos, bouncing between the present situation and flashing back to the last time I saw Danielle, seconds away from proposing as she stormed out on me.
Not even remotely the time for it, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she was still upset with me; if she was sitting there wondering why I bothered to come, or if she was relieved that I was there.
