Page 64 of Silver Hills' Christmas Miracle

“No, no, I’m fine, but Kitty didn’t turn up to our Christmas dinner even though she’d texted me yesterday to say that she was looking forward to it, depending on how her meeting went with you. I called and called but I got no answer. I waited an hour and when I heard nothing—fuck.” Melanie wheezed desperately as she spoke.

I stood and flipped on the light, then scanned around for my clothes. I didn’t like where this was going.

“So I drove to her house, and the gate guard wasn’t there, so I had to get out and walk up that long ass driveway. I knocked and someone answered, but it wasn’t someone I’ve ever seen before.”

I dressed at record speed and sprinted from my room.

“He wasn’t like any doorman I’ve ever seen there, but everyone’s cars were in the driveway so I don’t know, Rook. I don’t know what’s going on in that house, but something isn’t right!”

27

KITTY

“Idon’t know why you’re doing this!”

Using all my strength, I shoved Anton the moment he unbound my hands, but all it earned me was a slap to the face that sent me reeling back into the wall.

“One more word out of you and the next time you beg to go to the bathroom, I’ll ignore you and you can use the trash can in the room.”

The urge to argue back rose like the blood spilling across my tongue from where my teeth caught on my cheek, but I resisted. Partly because I was bursting to relieve myself, and partly because I didn’t doubt Anton in his threat.

“Fine.” I turned and strode into the bathroom, but when I expected Anton to close the door, he didn’t. He stood there, watching me with narrowed eyes, and I paused at the toilet.

“Some privacy, please?”

“Nope.”

“Can you at least turn around, or are you some kind of pervert?”

Anton rolled his eyes, then he slowly turned around. It wasn’t ideal, but my bladder was so full that I didn’t care at this point.I kept my skirt bunched around my waist and huddled over the toilet to pee.

“You could at least tell me why you’re doing this,” I said tightly, trying to distract myself from the noise. “You forced your way in here last night and then just locked us up. Why? What’s your goal here?”

“My goal?”

“Yes. I told you there was nothing you could do about the deal until after Christmas, and this isn’t a protest. This is a crime! And another thing, the people you brought with you? Who even are they?”

“They come from out of town.”

“Out of… why are there people from out of town here? What do they even care?”

“Everyone cares, Kitty,” Anton sighed, exasperated. “People like your father that think they can just carve up the land for their next deal as if this world belongs to them. We might not be from here, but we give Mother Nature a voice. We are her destructive voice, and when the easy tactics don’t work, we take it to the next level.”

I cleaned myself up quickly and washed my hands. “And the next level is hostage taking?”

As I finished, I scooped some of the liquid soap into my hand and turned slowly toward Anton.

“Is it really hostage taking when you’re on our side?” Anton turned around and faced me with a smirk. “Or do your parents still not know about your role in this?”

“I have no role,” I hissed. “This? This is too far. You’ve hurt people, Anton. I saw what your people did to the gate guard. We heard the gunshots. This isinsanity. Do you really think kidnapping the mayor does any good for the cause?”

Anton shrugged. “It’s pretty fucking badass, though.”

“Is thatallyou care about?”

Anton smirked and grabbed my arm. “Tree hugging gets boring. We prefer a more aggressive way to negotiate the downfall of corporate greed.”

As Anton walked forward, pulling me with him, I quickly raised my hand and slapped my soap-filled palm into his eyes. Anton yelled and stumbled backward, releasing my arm. I moved with him, shoving as much of the soap into his eyes as I could, then I turned around and sprinted down the hallway toward the kitchen. The front door was a no-go, but if I could make it out onto the patio, then I stood a chance.

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