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Back Brutal Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. BRUTAL
  3. Dedication page
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. Prologue
  6. PART ONE
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. PART TWO
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. PART THREE
  50. 42
  51. 43
  52. 44
  53. 45
  54. Epilogue
  55. BRUTAL
  56. By Mandasue Heller

In the bathroom a few seconds later, he closed the door and leaned heavily against the sink. Someone had smashed the mirror, and numerous weary eyes looked back at him when he stared into it, each of them surrounded by a deep, dark hollow. His skin was grey, and the peppery half-beard he was sporting made him look like his father.

Squeezing his eyes shut when the image of Evan, shackled and beaten, flashed into his mind, he shook his head slowly. He wasn’t a violent man by nature, but these people were evil, and if he survived this, he would make it his life’s mission to kill each and every one of them for what they had done to his son.

But who was he kidding? There was only one way this was going to end, and it didn’t involve him walking away. As Karel had said, he would already be dead if they didn’t need him, and it was only a matter of time before he’d served his purpose and they disposed of him.

He opened his eyes and stared at the jagged shards of mirror-glass. Maybe he should do the job for them and put an end to this, he mused. If he cut his wrist or throat deeply enough, they would never be able to stem the bleeding, and when he was dead they would be forced to abandon their plans and leave.

Really? an internal voice argued. You really think they’d give up just because you’re dead?

He shook his head in reply. Of course they wouldn’t. They were too smart for that. They had been planning this for months, and they wouldn’t throw it away because of a minor inconvenience like Frank dying earlier than he was supposed to. If anything, they would probably go ahead with the wedding using one of Karel’s men as a stand-in, safe in the knowledge that nobody who knew the real Frank would be present to out the man as an imposter.

That was certainly do-able, but would Karel take that risk when he’d not long been released from jail, knowing that, if it went wrong, he’d have the police crawling all over him? No, he wouldn’t, Frank decided. He was going to do this exactly as he’d planned, and that was why he’d taken Evan hostage: to ensure that Frank didn’t do anything to fuck it up for him.