Page 42 of Slay Bells Ring

Hearing him say it makes everything in me buzz with a strange mix of emotions, and I find myself taking a step back from Howard as a result.

Maybe I’m not a killer after all.

Howard’s gaze flicks between us, and he scoffs as it dawns on him. “You… oh, my. Well, I can honestly say I didn’t expect this. The two of you not only in cahoots, but together? Miss Cooper, what would your parents think?”

Or maybe I am.

His smugness, the glimmer of dark amusement in his brown gaze, fills me with incandescent rage. I slip the knife into my pocket before I reach a hand out toward Kane. “Give me the gun.”

Kane hands it over, and something on Howard’s face changes. Perhaps he knows he said the wrong thing, mocked me one too many times. Bringing up my parents… how dare this man? He has absolutely no right to ever speak of them, let alone think of them.

The gun feels heavy in my hand, and I take another step away from Howard as I drop my gaze to study the weapon. All of the doubt inside me, all of the hesitation; it fades, disappears only to be replaced by something else.

Certainty. Finality. Decision.

I meet Howard’s gaze for the final time as I lift the gun and point it at his head. We’re close; two, maybe three feet. Close enough there’s no possible way I’ll miss. My finger curls on the trigger, and Howard decides venom will be his final tactic.

“You kill me, you won’t get away with it. You’ll be a wanted woman. With the way you’ve lived, there’s no way you’ll ever survive on your own.”

With a quick glimpse at Kane, I note his expression. Dark and murderous, but not toward me. When the man looks at me, everything about him softens. I know he’ll gladly kill Howard if I ask him to. He offered me his vengeance, his skills as an assassin, and he offered me his stash—enough money to start a life somewhere new, somewhere far away from this place and the memories I’d leave behind.

“Wrong again,” I say, slow to look back at Howard. “I won’t be alone.” A muscle on his face twitches as I add, “Goodbye, Howard.” And then, without waiting a second longer, I pull the trigger.

Being on the other side of a gun, it’s way different than hearing it from another room. Even though the gun is silenced, it still makes a sound as it fires. A sound softer than it typically would, but still a sound. The bullet finds its mark instantly, and just like that, Howard’s face is no more.

The bullet lands square in the center of his face, right on his nose, and it tears through him like his head is nothing more than a melon that gives way to the force of the bullet. Howard’s head rocks back and his body collapses backward onto the desk thanks to the force of the bullet, and he slumps and slides off the desk seconds later as blood oozes from the mess that is his skull.

I watch it happen without blinking, and only after his body falls to the floor do I let out the breath I was holding. I take a few steps back from the body, unable to look away. No panic attack this time. Only relief.

Howard Giles, the man responsible for the murder of my parents, has now gotten what he deserves.

His death should’ve lasted longer, honestly. With the lies he fed me these last thirteen years, I should’ve tortured the fuck out of him. But, maybe, it’s good to simply get it done so I can walk away from it.

Done with the vengeance. Done with cold, hard justice. Done with it all.

I turn away from Howard’s corpse and hand Kane’s gun back to him. “We should go,” I whisper. Howard wasn’t lying when he said our faces were caught by a few cameras. We need to get a head start before the authorities start looking for us, grab Kane’s stash, wherever it is, and get the hell out of dodge.

Kane takes the gun and stashes it away beneath his shirt, and while he does that, I put my hat back on. “Yes, we should,” he agrees, and he takes my hand and tugs me along. I don’t know if he thinks I’m in a daze or what, but I let him lead me out of Howard’s office, through the hall, and to the elevator. We abandon the cleaning cart, leaving it in the office, along with the corpse.

Since it’s so late and the building is next to empty, the elevator is waiting for us the moment Kane hits the down button. We step onto it, still hand in hand, and Kane presses the ground floor button. The doors close, and we start the journey downward.

I stare at the elevator doors for a few seconds, but I feel Kane’s heavy gaze on me. It’s not something I can ignore, so I find myself angling my body towards his and leaning my head back to stare up into his blue eyes.

“What?” I ask, the word sounding heavier than it has any right to be.

Kane’s hand squeezes mine. “You did good, little killer. I’m proud of you.”

Him being proud of me should mean absolutely nothing. I shouldn’t care. Hearing him say that shouldn’t make me feel a single thing, and yet, it’s quite the opposite. Something swells inside me as a result of his praise, and I find myself saying something I never in a million years thought I would.

“Will you stay with me?”

He smirks down at me, his hand letting go of mine only so he can use his wide frame to push me against the elevator’s wall. He grabs me by the hips and hoists me up so my face is level with his, and he leans his forehead against mine, breathing me in once before he murmurs, “You don’t even have to ask.”

And then his lips meet mine, and it’s over.

It’s over, yes, but really, our story is just beginning.

Three Years Later– Kane

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