Page 54 of Outlaw Xmas
The chime of his cell phone sounded distant, like it was from a different place and time. It kept ringing, dragging him out of the past. Sweeping his palms over his eyes, he inhaled through his nose. The ringing stopped. Picking up his phone, he saw his wife’s name and threw the phone on the floor mat. The pictures from the past fled to the dark recesses of his mind. Spite resurfaced, pushing all other emotions into his soul’s dark hole.
Coughing, he straightened in his seat and grabbed the list beside him.Tomorrow night I’ll hit the Montoya and Duggan houses.Christmas was the one holiday he hated the most. All the yuletide and joyful feelings made him want to fucking puke. The look of anticipation on the children’s faces when they went to see Santa or looked at their wrapped gifts under the tree made his skin crawl and his blood boil.
“Fucking brats,” he muttered under his breath as he switched the defroster on high, grabbed the snow brush, and exited the car. Stretching gloves over his hands, he frowned at the multicolored lights twinkling through the white mist. Several inflatable angels and snowmen lay on their sides, having been blown over by the icy wind.
He’d come up with the idea to stamp out Christmas one inflatable at a time when he’d turned sixteen. With money earned from his part-time job at the hardware store, he’d bought a BB gun and snuck out of the house at night, canvassing the neighborhood and shooting inflated snowmen, penguins, snow globes, and nutcrackers. He’d hated them with a passion, and his mission was to rid his small Illinois town of all inflatables. On one of his nightly excursions, a policeman had caught him in the act, and he’d pled guilty to criminal mischief. Afterward, he’d made sure he was smarter and more alert the next time.
And there’d been years of next times as he moved around the country for his employment. He’d always been so meticulous with his hits, but the day at the outlaw biker’s house, he’d lost his cool. He’d let a pretty woman turn his head. He didn’t know what he was thinking by waiting in the house for her and Paisley. Not thinking he’d have the nerve to do it, he’d begun to leave when he heard the garage door open. If it’d been the Neanderthal, he’d have slipped out the first chance he had, but she and her daughter had come in and a rush of adrenaline shot through him.
In all the years he’d been stamping out Christmas, he’d never confronted the people in the houses he destroyed. He didn’t want to; there was no fun in it. The pretty woman made him stay, of course, but it was the rush of knowing the house belonged to an Insurgent. He couldn’t stand how they walked around town acting like they owned it, like they were hot stuff. In his opinion, they were nothing more than criminals and hoodlums, yet women flocked to them and the town tolerated them.
The bikers tried to act like they were good guys, putting on stupid toy drives, but in his eyes, they were a bunch of nobodies. So he’d enjoyed the rush of adrenaline as he destroyed property that belonged to one of them, and scared the shit out of the biker’s wife.
Slipping back into the car, he banged the snow brush on the chrome door frame and then closed the door. Inside, it was toasty and the defroster had melted all the ice on the windshield. He shook his head; he hadn’t planned on the pretty blonde to be a fighter.I underestimated her. I should’ve figured the lowlifes would teach their women to defend themselves. But I bet their children can’t fight me.An evil smile began to slowly spread across his face.What better way to ruin Christmas than to have your child snatched?
A streak of excitement rode up his spine. If he could pull it off, it would be the best holiday season ever, but he couldn’t rush into it. Making a mistake would be deadly, he was sure of that. He’d have to plan out all the details, though he didn’t have much time. Christmas was only two weeks away.
Humming and tapping his fingers on the dashboard, he pulled away from the curb and drove down the quiet streets.
The phone rang again and he stopped abruptly, the back tires sliding. Looking down at the phone on the floor mat, his wife’s name flashed on the screen. He pounded his fist on the dashboard. “What does that fucking cow want?” he yelled out. He knew it wasn’t him. They’d stopped caring about each other years back.Probably wants me to pick up something sweet for her at the convenience store. Well, fuck you, bitch. You can forget that.
As he drove home, his wife’s face filled his mind.How did I ever think she was right for me?The truth was, he’d never loved her; she was just there when he reached the decision to marry. They had similar backgrounds and they both liked traveling, but as the years rolled by, she’d become nothing but a nuisance in his life. She was like a gnat that just wouldn’t go away, always buzzing around.
His fucking father had always called him a coward. If the bastard were still living, he wouldn’t call him that if he knew what he was planning to do for his Christmas finale. Once he proved he could brazenly go after the Insurgents’ kids, his next project would be getting rid of his wife. He was sick of her insults and sarcasm.
It’s time to shut you up once and for all, you stupid cow.
The garage door closed and he went into the house.
Chapter Seventeen
Belle
“Istill can’tbelieve Dale wants to be Santa at the fundraiser on Saturday. I was preparing for a huge argument, and he just said ‘yes.’ Just like that. ‘Yes.’ Amazing,” Lindi said as she placed the pens and papers into a briefcase.
“I’m so glad he’s doing it. Mitch didn’t even answer me when I asked. His eyes just bugged out, he wrinkled his nose, and then went back to his crossword puzzle,” Torey said.
Joseph rose from his chair. “I’m just happy I don’t have to do it. Tell Dale thanks from me.”
“And me,” Evan chimed in.
“I asked Banger to do it, and he said he would as long as he could wear his cut and jeans. I didn’t think he’d be a very approachable Santa Claus.” Belle laughed.
“There’s no way I was going to ask Rock. Can you imagine it?” Clotille said.
“Or Throttle,” Kimber added.
“Or Axe.” Baylee sniggered.
“Frankly, I can’t picture any of the Insurgents down with playing Santa, so it’s a good thing Dale volunteered.” Glancing at his watch, Joseph gathered his laptop and file. “We all done here?” Everyone nodded. “Then I’ll see you ladies on Saturday night.”
Belle went over to the back table and put several of the mini Italian sandwiches Cara had made on a plate. Banger just loved the sandwiches Cara made, and he’d instructed Belle before she left that morning to make sure she brought some home for him.
“Take the whole tray,” Cara said behind her.
“Hawk doesn’t want any?”
“I probably won’t see Hawk.”
