a chained heart

2 | safe

David tried to tear it open as Ron watched him fail, "Hey, glass-half full," he mocked him, "it's fucking locked. L-O-C-K-E-D. Locked–"

"You know what?" David's last straw was pulled. He stopped pulling at the door to shove Ron, "You're friend didn't make Adam up. I can feel it."

David was seething now, "If my best friend wanted me to find someone? I wouldn't give up." He stopped to catch his breath then leaned in closer, "You're a coward." Letting go and looking back at the door he continued, "Now I'm ninety-nine percent sure there's someone trapped in here. And you can either show some compassion, or just go."

Ron stayed still as stone in his place.

"Right," David sized him up. "Do you have a phone?"

Ron didn't budge.

Snapping his fingers, David probed, "Hello? A phone. Do you have one?"

"Uhhh– yeah. A phone? Yes," Ron fumbled, patting his pockets awkwardly. David motioned for him to hand it over and immediately swiped it from him, dialing 911.

"Hello? Yes. I think I've found a possible victim of the Jigsaw case."

Ron stared at David in confusion, still listening, but not understanding what was going on.

"I'm very sure."

Pause.

"Yes, there's blood–a lot."

Pause.

David was beginning to look stressed, "Address? Shit. Ummm. We're in a—warehouse looking building? on 143 Greenway Street. Oh, and bring tools. Like, to unlock stuff."

Ron squinted his eyes at David, mocking his choice of words.

"Yeah, you'll need like, chain cutters and things?" David continued, scratching his head. "Okay, yes. We'll stay put and wait here for the officers. Thank you, sir." David finished off and hung up.

"What the hell was that?" Ron squinted at him.

"What do you mean."

"The Jigsaw Case," he air-quoted. "What are you, some kind of detective?"

"No, I just—watch the news."

"Well, I don't. What is it?"

David chose his words carefully, "He's—this guy who sets traps."

"Traps? You mean like for rats?"

"No," David sighed. "He likes to kidnap people. People who—people who he thinks have done wrong in some way or another." He paused, seeing if Ron was following. "Then, he puts those people through tests. Games. Most people don't survive."

"But Lawrence did..." Ron breathed in disbelief.

"Yeah, just barely," David looked down at the blood trail. "Do you think you know why he was put in there? What he did wrong?"

Ron was blunt about it, "He cheated on his wife."

"Wow," David whistled. "Jigsaw's tough."

"No one's tougher than Larry. The dude's got an iron heart."

"Clearly.." David nodded in agreement sadly, "But not so much Adam I guess."

"Nope," Ron started up at the ceiling. "I guess not."

***

Cops were pouring into the building. There were too many to count. Ron and David were dumbfounded. They didn't know the Jigsaw case was taken this seriously.