Drea yelped as he used her hair to force her head to the side, jamming the gun under her jaw.“That’s why I like insurance.So you and your friend breathe a word to anyone about this and I’ll go find Rosa.”His roughened voice was tinged with something incongruent to his words.Sadness maybe.Weariness.It didn’t make sense.
“And those bills of yours will go unpaid when your brains are plastered all over that pretty little house you both live at.And you don’t want to know what I’ll do to your precious little cousin, Milo.”
Drea’s eyes opened wide.How could Snake have found out all that extra information?
“And you.”Snake turned the gun on Cujo, who continued to foolishly stare the guy down.The comments that had reduced Drea to fits of uncontrolled shaking seemed to have little or no effect on him at all.“I am assuming you like this girl’s head on her shoulders.”
“Fuck you.”
“Hmm.So bold.”Snake put the gun to Cujo’s temple, pulled back the trigger, the click echoing.
“So”—his voice turned friendly again—“do we understand each other, Andrea?”
She nodded, unable to speak.The intruder smiled.
“Very good, sweet pea.”He gripped her shoulder.“Because I would hate to ruin that beautiful face.”
Drea watched as he walked down the hall, waited for the reassuring click of the rear door closing shut.She slumped against Cujo; his lips brushed the top of her head.
“Fuck, Shortcake.”
“Yeah.Fuck.”Her heart stuttered in her chest.
Cujo pushed himself to his feet and clumsily helped Drea stand.She went to the kitchen.What was she meant to be getting?Oh, right.She retrieved a pair of scissors and handed them to Cujo.
“You sure you can do this without severing an artery?”She stared at the blades between her trembling wrists.
“We’ll know in roughly thirty seconds.”His hands seemed steadier than hers as he cut through the plastic.
Blood rushed into her hands, and she shook them in a feeble attempt to encourage circulation.She took the scissors from Cujo.With a concerted effort, she was able to cut the plastic without injuring his wrists farther.
Quickly, she placed the scissors down on the counter and wrapped her arms around herself.
Cujo pulled out his phone and dialed.
“Don’t.”Drea grabbed his phone and hung up.
“Don’t what?I was just calling the police.”Confusion etched his features.
“I know… but do we need… I mean, should we?You heard what he said.And he knows all this stuff about me now.”
Gently, Cujo took his phone back from her.“I heard, Shortcake.But my guess is you defied him already, and the police are already looking for him, right?They aren’t going to stop.This might give them more answers.”
Coño.He was right.But the idea of forgetting she ever saw Snake gained root.“He didn’t tell us anything else.We didn’t learn anything new.”
“We did, Drea.He believes the woman he chased left something here.”
What to do?She had no clue.What if Snake followed through and hurt Milo?
If it just involved her, she could brush it under the table and move on.But the fact Snake knew details about her family freaked her out.There was no way she could look after them all.
While everything cried out to not call the police, Cujo was right.She could only look after her family with their help.
“Okay,” she said to Cujo and watched as he dialed.She stood, shaking, as she listened numbly to Cujo’s answers.
Within minutes, the police were on their way.
Cujo leaned against the counter and pulled her into his arms.They didn’t say another word until the flashing lights of the police car pulled up outside the store.Until then, Drea stood in Cujo’s arms, listening to the slow beat of his heart, allowing it to steady her own.
