“Watch.” There’s no emotion on his face as he pulls me into his arms, holding me so that I’m facing the TV. “I want you to learn once and for all that actions have consequences.”
On the screen, the masked henchman suddenly reaches for Jake—
“No!”
—and hits him hard across the face with the handle of the gun. Jake stumbles backward, blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth.
“Please, no!” I’m sobbing and struggling in his iron grip, my eyes glued to the violent scene taking place thousands of miles away.
Jake’s attacker is relentless, hitting him over and over. I scream, feeling each blow inside my heart. Every brutal strike against Jake’s body is killing something inside me, some belief in a brighter future that has held me together thus far.
When Jake falls to his knees, the ma
