Page 36 of Slay Bells Ring

I find a phone in one of the hitmen’s vehicles, and it takes a little guesswork to figure out which one it belongs to. I have to hold it in front of their faces outside to unlock the damned phone, and when I do, I hastily go through it once I’m back inside the cabin, warming up by the fire.

While I was busy outside, Holly got everything ready inside. Everything we’re taking with us is packed and waiting near the door. Some belongings will be left here to make it look somewhat believable. I don’t know if Howard will fall for this, but it’s the best plan we have.

Let’s just say this particular cabin won’t be seeing Christmas tomorrow.

I find a contact simply labeled as Boss Man, and I assume it must be either Howard himself or a middleman. Regardless, I send a text to the number, saying simply,It’s done. Gonna clean up the cabin.

I don’t get any texts back, but I figure we’ll keep the phone until we hit whatever city comes first, then we’ll ditch it. Holly and I will have to lay low for a while together to make sure our bait is taken. You don’t start reeling in a fish until you’re sure that hook is set nicely.

By the time we’re ready to go, it’s late afternoon. I carry the bags of food, water, and blankets to my car, which I then turn on and warm up. Holly bundles herself up and claims she doesn’t need my help getting to the car, but once she sticks her feet in those boots, it’s obvious they do nothing but cause her feet pain when she walks in them, so I heave her up into my arms and carry her to the car, too—much to her chagrin, I should add.

As Holly huffs and puffs, I get her situated in the car and ignore the salty looks she throws my way. She wasutterly delusional to believe she could take me. She’s no scarier than an angry kitten.

The final thing I need to position are the bodies behind the cabin. I lug them back around and drop them inside near the fireplace. Want to be sure the bodies are so unrecognizable that immediate identification is out of the question. I can’t say whether their dental records will be pulled, but we don’t have time to worry about that right now. Besides, if Howard thinks he’s in the clear, he’ll use his ill-gotten fortune to push everything under the rug.

Once the bodies are set in the cabin, I light a candle we found, and then I leave the burning match on the sofa bed. It’ll catch and spread. The candle I bring to the kitchen and set on the counter, near the oven.

What’s the plan? Oh, no biggie. Just setting the scene, laying the groundwork so the big boom can happen while Holly and I are driving away.

I turn on all the burners but don’t catch the igniters so the thing simply leaks gas, and then I hurry out of the house, slamming the cabin door behind me. I’m in the car, ready to go in less than thirty seconds, and soon after that, we get going.

Don’t want to stick around, for obvious reasons. Holly and I need to be long gone by the time the authorities get here. I’m never one to put anything to chance, but given the circumstance, it’s pretty much our only option.

We’re about halfway down the long driveway when we hear a loud explosion behind us as the cabin gives way to the colliding of fire and gas.

Here goes nothing.

Chapter Seventeen – Holly

It takes us hours to reach the nearest city. Four to five hours in the car that really should’ve been less than one, if the roads were clear. He drives slow but steady, and though I started out this whole thing intending to kill him, I have to say, I am thankful he stopped me.

I… I don’t know what I’d do if I was alone.

No, wait. I do know. I wouldn’t do anything, because I’d be dead. Howard’s assassins would have killed me by now, and I’d be nothing more than a body. A cold corpse.

It’s silly. Even though we got vocal confirmation from the last assassin, a part of me still doesn’t want to believe Howard is capable of something like this. Everything the last thirteen years would’ve been a lie, and I was too dumb to even think he could be at the root of my parents’ murder.

Considering it’s Christmas Eve, you’d think most of the shops in town would be closed. It’s one of those old-timey towns, however, and you can tell Christmas is big here. The streetlights have wreaths and lights wrappedaround them all the way up. Every single business on their main street has decorations and Christmas trees filling their front windows. People walk on the sidewalk, bundled up. Some hold onto a warm drink with their mittens, while others keep their hands stuffed in their pockets.

It’s almost like a Hallmark town. Makes me sick.

“Here, a bed and breakfast. Let’s see if they have any room.” Kane pulls us into a small parking lot nestled between two buildings. “Wait here.”

I roll my eyes. “Right. Because I totally planned on making a run for it.”

The sound that rumbles from his chest makes me catch my breath. He leans closer to me and whispers, “No need to be a brat, little killer.” The way he says it, it’s like he murmurs it directly into my ear and breathes down my neck at the same time, and my body reacts accordingly.

God. I need to get a grip. This guy’s not my friend, and he’s definitely not my boyfriend or my lover or anything like that. I still hate him for what he did. My body just needs to get the memo.

Kane gets out of the car after that, and I spend my time alone quietly fuming and hating myself. Assuming this plan works and we both get out of this alive, it won’t change the past. Giving me everything to start a new life somewhere doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to start a new life.

The only thing I want is the life I can never have thanks to Kane and Howard.

Minutes pass before Kane returns with good news. We got the last room at the inn late on Christmas Eve. He helps me out of the car and is my support as he brings methrough the side door of the inn. His large body blocks out the old lady at the front desk, and I do my best not to limp like a motherfucker as we head up the stairs to our room.

It’s like a house. An old house with a lot of rooms, and every inch of it is decked out in Christmas decor. It’s enough to make me want to barf.

Our room is the farthest room on the third floor, with a window overlooking the street. The walls are a dark maroon color, the bed made of bright red sheets with trappings of silver. It has its own small Christmas tree in the corner, just next to the dresser with the TV.

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