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“That gives us an entry point.” Malone relayed the information to his crew. “We’ll be there soon. Brody, do you have a vest?”

“Not on me.”

“I’ll lend you one. No one goes in without a vest or helmet. My gut tells me there’s going to be a battle.”

Jenna trembled next to Gram, fear rising inside her chest. Matt stormed around the room, fists raised and shaking, his face red with rage. He ranted and raved. She could see it.

But she couldn’t hear all of it. She only caught about half of what he said.

Even if she could lipread, the skill would do her no good here. His face was turned away from her as much as it was pointed in her direction.

He yelled at Gram. Beside her, the older woman trembled, but her back remained ramrod straight, her regal bearing never failed.

If Jenna hadn’t been sitting so close, she might have believed Gram was as confident as she appeared. However, she saw Gram’s lips tremble a moment before she pressed them together.

Every time he turned away, she twisted her hands behind her back. The ties used to bind them were slowly loosening. When he started pivoting back, she ceased moving them. She didn’t want to clue him in and have her hands tied tighter.

Suddenly, Matt stopped in front of Jenna. He stooped close and pushed his face too close to her. So close, she smelled the odor of coffee mingled with onion when he breathed in her face.

Her stomach churned. She gagged. But she couldn’t look down. Any chance she had on surviving this nightmare depended on her ability to understand him.

He shouted. “Where….them?”

“Where what?” she asked. His face purpled. “My hearing aids were left in the hotel. You know that Matt. I can’t read your lips and you are speaking so fast, I can’t catch all of your words.”

His deep voice was the one saving grace. His pitch alone allowed her to hear some of his words.

He knew this.

Disgust twisted the features she’d once thought to be fatherly, almost like an honorary uncle. Now, she understood he was a monster.

He fumed and stormed out of the room. Where were they? She focused on her hands. A few minutes later, one of them slipped free. She shook off the ties, ignoring the prickles running through her hands.

Zip ties. She curled her lips. Then shook her head and motioned for Gram to turn. When the older woman complied, she hastily freed her, as well.

Gram kissed her cheek, then stood and walked calmly to a table on the other side of the room. She opened it as if she knew it and removed a pad of paper and a pen. Sitting back down next to Jenna, she began to write. Jenna read the note as she wrote it out in a light, feminine script.

It was a good thing her mom insisted on teaching her cursive.

This is my house, the house I lived in with your grandfather. Matt says it should be his, even though he never lived here. His mother’s family was disinherited because of what her father did. He had you kidnapped, and once he realized you didn’t die, decided to keep you alive so he could use you to access your trust fund. He intends to take everything. He wants you to make him your beneficiary.

Jenna snorted. She wasn’t stupid. The moment she did that, both she and her grandmother would have tragic accidental deaths.

Matt had never spoken of his family. Now she knew why.

Outside in the hall, Matt shouted. She couldn’t make out the words, but they sounded angry. His footsteps pounded across the floor. She felt the vibrations under her feet.

Jenna bent over the paper. She scratched another question.

What does he want from us?

Gram’s hand shook as she wrote.

He believes there is something hidden here. Your great-grandfather’s will. Financial records. Something proving his mother’s family should have inherited this property and money.

Jenna looked around. If he’d been disinherited, would such a document still exist?

She wrote that question on the paper.