Chapter 30

“Wait!” Tom yelled.

James had the blade at the base of Tim’s thumb and held it there perilously. Looking up at Tom, he said, “Yes, Watkins?”

Tim sat sobbing, acutely aware of the coldness of the blade against his skin.

“What are you doing? Stop!”

“You’re not exactly in the position to make demands, Watkins,” James said. “We gave you a choice. I told you, if you left it up to me, Bailey would suffer. You made your choice.”

“What’s the other option?” Tom asked.

“There is one bullet in that gun,” James said.

Tom stared at James for a long while until Tim’s scream pierced through his daze.

“Okay!” Tom said.

“Good,” James said, getting up from his position near Tim. “There is one bullet in this gun,” James repeated. “If you try anything, I will cut Bailey up piece by piece and make him eat every piece while he’s bleeding out. Do you understand?”