SWNOVELS Brutal Savage: Chapter 5
After dropping her off, I continue to follow her, trailing behind her in my SUV.
I’ve been following Ms. Hill for a few weeks now. Tailed her to the café too. Ran into her on purpose. Even went to her place once while she was sleeping, just to see if I could find anything when she was at her most vulnerable.
I need to know who’s teaching Brody. If he’s safe around her. I’m still unsure. Neither my brothers nor I could find shit on her. She’s like a ghost, and that doesn’t smell right.
Hate that I’ve become a man who follows a woman around. I have people for that. Yet with her, I need to do it myself. I don’t know why, but the thought of one of my men following her made me lose it.
I’ve been to her place when she wasn’t home too. Saw the gun she keeps hidden in her nightstand.
And sure, that alone wouldn’t mean much, but I’ve noticed the way she’s always looking over her shoulder, like someone’s after her.
She was afraid of me too.
I saw it in her eyes.
I can’t lie and say it doesn’t excite me.
Though what excited me most was that she wanted me. I could practically feel her shiver the closer I got. Almost heard her moan in the car when I touched her.
But she’s guarded. And I need to know why.
What could a woman like that be hiding?
When I asked if she was dangerous, I noticed the jolt in her body. The way her eyes expanded for a brief second.
Why would she consider herself a danger? What has she done? And to whom?
She arrives at her grandma’s house, helping her into the white sedan she drives. I like that she cares about her grandparents. It shows who she really is.
And everything I’ve learned so far points to her being a good teacher too. Don’t want to lose her to whatever brought her here in the first place.
I know enough about people to know when they’re running, and Elara Hill? She’s running from something…or someone.
I need to find her ex-fiancé and figure out if he needs to be eliminated. Maybe he’s hurt her and that’s why she ran.
The thought of her being smacked around has my hands balling, heart fucking racing like I’ve gone mad.
I hope it’s not true. He won’t survive the day if I find him and learn he did something to her.
From the corner of the road, where she can’t see me, I watch her as she smiles at her grandma.
And I wonder what it’d feel like to have her smile at me like that.
ELARA
We arrive at Grandpa’s home and check in at the front.
“Hi, Nora. Elara,” the nurse greets us as we walk into his room.
“Hey, Paige.” I hand her a box of candy I picked up at the store.
She treats my grandpa nicely, and I like doing little things for her to show I appreciate it.
“Oh, you’re so sweet.” She takes the box from me.
My attention jumps to my grandpa, who sits in a chair, staring out the window. Gran heads toward him, settling across and fighting her emotions as he stares at her blankly.
“I don’t want a bath today,” he tells her.
“Alright, Aaron. No bath, it is.”
That makes him smile. I miss his smiles.
My face falls, and when Paige notices, she gives me a sympathetic look.
“He’s actually doing better today. He knew who I was.”
I let out a sigh. “Thanks, Paige.”
Though we both know with Grandpa’s dementia, things can change from hour to hour.
It breaks my heart to see him this way. He was fine when we first moved here six months ago. But soon after, Gran and I realized something was wrong.
Then he got his diagnosis.
Gran was able to take care of him at first. Until it got harder and we had no choice except to put him in a home. I wish I didn’t have to, but I can’t afford a live-in aide. I can barely afford to pay for the home.
So I have to keep my job. I can’t let anyone find out I’m a fraud.
“I’ll be right outside if you need me.” Paige squeezes my hand before heading out, giving us privacy.
“Hi, Grandpa. It’s me, Evelyn.” I move toward him cautiously so as not to overwhelm him. Grabbing a chair, I sit beside Gran.
His mouth thins, and for a moment, he looks at me as though he knows me. Hope springs in my heart.
“Paige?”
Instantly, I deflate, and Gran’s eyes shine with moisture. I take her hand in mine.
“It’s Evelyn, remember? I’m your granddaughter. And this is Judith, your wife.”
His brows knit, and he looks between us, panic setting in his eyes. “I—I…”
“It’s okay.” I fight my emotions. “It’s okay. Just rest.”
He nods, swallowing hard as he leans into the brown leather armchair. Lifting up his throw blanket, I tuck it around him.
“Paige?” he calls to me, and I blink back tears.
“Yes?”
“Could you get me some orange juice? I would really like some orange juice.”
“Mm-hmm. Sure.”
Tears roll down my cheeks, but I brush them away as I give him my back, heading for the fridge in his room. Grabbing the juice I bought for him last week, I pour some into a plastic cup.
How can life be so unfair? He was always strong and capable; now he’s a shell of a man.
It feels like I’m losing everyone. Who’s next?
My mind drifts to the happier moments from my past, when my friend Kennedy and I would go to the beach, laughing as the waves rolled over our heads. Meeting her was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
Yet also one of the worst.
Because we were both victims. Both used and abused and made to do awful things. But we had each other.
Until we didn’t.
I press my eyes closed, my pulse speeding up as I recall her last few moments. The final time I saw her alive.
“Hurry up!” I scream from the back seat. “She’s losing too much blood!”
Kennedy’s in my lap, blood leaking out of her stomach even through my torn t-shirt tied around her.
“Come on, stay with me! Don’t close your eyes. Please!” I wail, as the car honks, zooming past other vehicles.
“We’re gonna drop her off at the hospital. You can’t go with her. You hear?”
I make eye contact with Jerry through the mirror, and my anger simmers. “Fuck you! You did this to her.”
He laughs humorlessly. “The bitch did this to herself.”
“Don’t fucking talk about her like that!”
Kennedy groans. “I…I’m cold. Just wanna sleep.”
“No. No, please stay awake. We’re almost there.” Tears bathe my eyes until I’m one with them, my heart aching.
I can’t lose her. I just can’t.
“Remember the time we went to Joe’s Pizza and found the spider in your drink?” A mournful smile slips out of me. “The way you screamed and jumped out of your chair, almost knocking into the waiter?”
She tries to laugh, her eyes on mine as I stare down at her. “You—you…”
“Don’t try to talk. It’s okay.” I slide my hand down the top of her head, trying not to sob.
There’s so much blood. I don’t know how much more she can lose before she’s gone.
“Hurry up!” I scream out at Jerry.
“Shut up. Going as fast as I can. Unless you want the cops to stop us. Is that your plan? To get me in trouble?” he seethes. “Remember, I can get you in worse trouble.”
How could I forget?
“Asshole.”
“What was that, bitch?”
I hate him. The only reason we’re still engaged is because of the blackmail. I have to find a way to get the proof and destroy it. But he always has his men around. No way I could break into his house and take his laptop. That’s where he keeps it.
Kennedy starts to cough, gagging on her blood.
“Oh my God!” I cry. “Nono! Please, don’t die!”
“She’s not gonna make it. We’ve gotta leave her in the woods.”
“What? No! I won’t let you do that to her.”
Tires screech as he stops the car on the side of an empty road.
“Get her out,” he tells Fred, one of his many henchmen.
Kennedy’s skin grows cold. I won’t let her die alone like garbage.
“Please, Jerry! Don’t do this!” I plead with every ounce of my being. “We can help her. We can—”
Fred opens the back of the SUV and roughly grabs her, lifting her in his arms.
“No! Don’t touch her!”
Jerry jumps out of the car, rushing for me, holding me down as I fight him while Fred carries Kennedy out into the woods.
“Let me go! I need to be with her. I can’t let her die alone!”
“There’s nothing you can do for her. Now get the fuck back inside so we can get you cleaned up.”
“Get your filthy hands off of me!”
He grunts, and in a snap, he grabs a chunk of my hair. “Now, is that a way to treat your fiancé? Your father wouldn’t be too happy to see you behaving this way. Remember…I own you.”
“Fuck you! He isn’t here. Whatever deal you made with him no longer exists.”
He chuckles, turning me around as his hand painfully grips my jaw, his face nearing mine. “That’s not how it works. He gave you to me as payment. So now you’re mine. That will never change. You’ll never get rid of me.” His mouth stretches into a sinister smile. “When I say jump, you jump. Do we understand each other?”
With rage seeping through my veins, I fling his hand off me, and he lets me go just as Fred returns empty-handed.
A sob wracks me. I can’t leave her here.
Jerry lifts me up and throws me onto the back seat. And her blood? It’s everywhere.
They start the car as my body shakes, my soul in pieces as my friend is there, dying alone.
The car speeds further away, and before I can think better of it, I open the door and jump out, my body rolling onto the side of the road and hitting a tree.
“Ow, fuck!” I wince, just as tires shriek.
I jump to my feet and look back at the car, expecting Fred to chase me. Instead, Jerry stares with dark, soulless eyes and laughs before the vehicle speeds away.
With relief, I rush for Kennedy. My one friend in the world. And when I find her, I drop to my knees.
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry! I can get you help.”
I swipe under my lower lashes, hoping to find a car and ask the driver to take us to the hospital. Or even call the cops. I don’t care what happens to me. I just need to save her.
I touch her skin…her cold, pale skin. And when I press two fingers into her pulse, I find it still. No life inside her.
“NO!” I wail. “No! You can’t be gone!” My snivels choke out of me as I scoop her up into my lap and rock her. “Please come back. Please!”
But she never does.
I remain there, holding her for hours until the darkness calls.
And I fall asleep beside her, wishing like hell I could undo it all.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” my grandma’s voice calls to me.
I gasp, jumping back, and the cup of orange juice spills all over. “Ugh. Yeah, sorry. I’m fine.”
“Didn’t seem like it to me.”
I ignore the concern in her voice, hurrying off to grab some napkins. “Just worried about Grandpa, that’s all.”
I wipe my white tank top, now stained. Fabulous.
“He had a good life,” she muses, tentatively patting his hand. “He would hate to live like this.” Emotions hit her tone.
I know she’s right. What else can we do for him, though?
“I’ll stay with him for a little while. You go, sweetheart.”
“Are you sure? How will you get back?”
“I’ll call Lucy and she’ll pick me up.” She waves off my concern. “She wanted to get some lunch anyway.”
“Alright.” I nod, knowing Gran likes to have her time alone with Grandpa. I understand completely. “If you need me to come back and pick you up, please call, okay?”
“Of course I will. But I’ll be fine.” She grabs the remote and turns on the game show network.
“Oh, Family Feud. I like Family Feud.” Grandpa smiles, and my grandmother’s face brightens.
“We’ll be fine, sweetie. You go. Maybe meet a nice man, hmm?”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, no. I’m good.”
“Can’t be alone forever, darling.”
“Watch me.” I wink. “I love you.”
“Love you more.” She tsks as I head out. “Those young people,” she says to Grandpa. “They think they know everything.”
I definitely don’t.
Though I know one thing: I don’t need a man in my life.
Especially not someone like the handsome stranger from the café.