A Devilish Christmas (The Marchesi Family)

I sent up a prayer as I raised my hand and knocked against the rough wooden door.

Seconds later, I heard movement inside and a muffled voice. I waited, and the world seemed to narrow to what was right in front of me, but I knew my husband and his friends were there, and they would play their roles perfectly.

“Hey Donaldson,” I called. “You want me, right? I’m here, ready to bargain with you.”

A few moments passed in silence, then I heard his scratchy voice. “That’s good because I have something to trade.”

He wrenched the door open, and I took a step back. He had a gun to the head of the girl who’d sold us our wreath. She looked terrified and even younger than she had the day before. I smiled at her, wanting to communicate that I had friends with me and she would be all right. The thought that she would have been his next victim if we hadn’t made our move today had bile rising in my throat.

I raced through scenarios in my head. We hadn’t expected Donaldson to have a hostage. All my evidence said he killed his victims immediately rather than keeping them captive. I’d intended to lure him out to where Giorgio had a clear shot, but with Donaldson holding the girl at gunpoint, Giorgio couldn’t risk it. Donaldson could kill the girl before he went down himself. We needed to get her away from him.

“It’s good to see you, Detective Daniels.” Donaldson’s smile sent a chill through me.

“It’s Marchesi now, and I’m no longer a cop.”

“I heard that. So you’ve decided following the law isn’t for you after all?”

“I’ve decided justice doesn’t get served when I’m forced to follow rules.”

He nodded, his expression sympathetic. “People can be a bit lax in their jobs and also easily bribed.”

“Did you bribe someone to help you escape?” I needed to keep him talking while I pondered my next move.

“That makes it sound so simple. It was more complicated than that, but essentially yes.”

“Let her go.” I tilted my head toward the girl.

“You know it’s not going to work like that. Come inside. We’ll sit down and have a chat.”

If I stepped through the door, I was dead and so was the girl. “I’m not here to play games.”

“Really? What else did you think would happen if you sought me out?”

“Let her go and take me instead.” Devil appeared at my side. What the fuck was he doing? I was the one who was taking the lead. I would’ve traded myself for her. He was supposed to stay hidden.

Donaldson looked back and forth between the two of us.

“Just think,” Devil said. “You want to hurt Joe. What better way than taking his husband? Let her go, and I’m yours.”

I turned toward Devil. My stomach churned, and my body was covered in cold sweat. This was not how things were supposed to go.

“No.” I focused on Donaldson again. “You can have me. Everybody else walks away. I’m the one you followed. I’m the one you want.”

“No.” Devil stepped in front of me, and I tried to push him out of the way.

Donaldson turned his weapon on us. “Stop talking, both of you.”

A shot rang out and Donaldson fell to the ground with a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead.

The girl stood there staring at us as stunned as I was.

“I needed to distract him,” Devil said. “All Giorgio needed was a second that the gun wasn’t turned on this young woman.”

“Miriam,” she said. “That’s my name.”

I hurried over to her. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

She shook her head as tears began to run down her face. “I’m fine. I… Thank you.” She looked at Donaldson’s body, then toward the trees, then back to me. “What happened?”

“We had a sniper friend in the trees.”

She made a sound that was a combination of a laugh and a sob. “I guess that’s a good friend to have sometimes.”

“You’re right about that.”

Oren had already joined us, and Giorgio appeared a moment later.

Devil crouched down so Miriam didn’t have to look up at him. “Can you tell us how you ended up here?”

She nodded. “Yes, but… what about…” She pointed to Donaldson’s body.

“We’ll take care of it,” Giorgio assured her.

“You’re not calling the police?”

Devil shook his head. “We don’t need to involve them.”

“Who are you?”

Devil gave her a very abbreviated answer, but when he told her who Donaldson was and why she shouldn’t worry about how we were handling it, color drained from her face, and I helped ease her to the ground.

“He was a serial killer?”

I nodded. “Yes. I used to be a cop, and I helped put him in jail, but he escaped.”

She took a long, slow breath then explained that she’d been setting up her booth, and he’d acted like he was dependent on a cane and asked her to help him by carrying a wreath to his van. He pulled a gun on her when they reached the vehicle and forced her in. Then he kept her at his cabin, telling her he’d let her go, but he needed her to get revenge on someone. He was never going to let her go, and she knew it.