How the Hitman Stole Christmas - Sam Mariano Page 0,16

response.

She doesn’t give me one, either.

I drive down to our motel room on the end. The rooms next to it look to be empty. That’s quite a relief as well.

I would’ve cut her loose right away, but I told her there’d be consequences for disobeying me and she did it anyway, so I leave her ass in the car and go unlock the door by myself.

The room is small and dumpy with stained carpet and garish pink bedding that looks paper thin. The heater must not work well, because the room is cold. I’m not looking forward to freezing my ass off in that bed tonight, that’s for sure.

Then again, maybe I won’t be so cold. We have a double bed, and I’m not a scrawny man. I’m not bulky, but I do have a broad build. I’ll probably take up more than my half. Maybe we’ll share body heat and keep warm that way. I’ve gotta keep the girl close, anyway. Clearly, I can’t trust her yet.

We’re gonna have to address this tonight. When I take her home to meet my family tomorrow, I can’t have her acting this way. They won’t turn me in, but it’s unlikely they’ll be comfortable either, and I don’t want to ruin anybody’s holidays.

We’ll figure it out. For now I give the room one more look and then go back out to the car to get my bags out of the trunk.

Even though there was a body in it not too long ago, my trunk is clean. I keep it lined with cheap plastic that way when I have to transport a body, the clean-up is much easier.

Autumn glares at me from the passenger seat as I walk right past and take my things inside, knowing her bladder is full and she desperately needs to relieve herself.

Serves her ass right for not listening.

The room is sparsely furnished, but there’s a microwave and a mini fridge, so I can buy stuff for a makeshift breakfast in the morning. This is definitely not the type of motel that does a continental breakfast. At best, they may have a month-old stash of honey buns behind the counter for any clueless traveler who happens to ask for one.

I’m gonna pass on that. I spotted a travel plaza on the way to this motel, so once I get the girl settled in and I feel comfortable going that far away and leaving her here, I’ll make a gas run and grab us some snacks and drinks.

First, I have to handle the girl.

Without letting her get out and go inside to pee first, I lock up the room and get back in the car. I feel her eyes on me, but she doesn’t break her silence until I fire up the engine.

“What are you doing?”

I don’t answer her.

She asks again, her voice softer and dripping with nervousness, when I pull up in front of the adult store. “Jasper, what are you doing?”

I kill the engine and look over at her. “I’m gonna go into this store and buy a few things. I would highly suggest you listen to me this time and don’t scream when I open the door. See, I’m going to tell anyone who looks at me twice that you and I are into kinky shit and we’re roleplaying right now. I’m gonna tell them you’re an exhibitionist and you like for strangers to look at you. You’ve got some shame about it though, so you like to be tied up first, you like to pretend it’s against your will.”

She stares back at me with abject horror, but I’m not done.

“And then I’m gonna tell them about our little game and the signal my adventurous girlfriend and I came up with, how when you’re wanting some attention and you see someone you want to share your body with, you call out to them for help. I’m a good liar when I need to be, so I’ll be convincing. I’ll draw that unwitting stranger right into our twisted little game, and when they hear you screaming and come out to see what’s going on, they’re gonna see how pretty you are. They’ll take one look at those big blue eyes and those lips that look to be made just for sucking cock, and who do you think they’ll want to believe, Autumn? You or me? If they believe you, they’re in the presence of a dangerous man, a killer. They’re in a moral predicament with a potentially scary