The Guest House Hauntings Boxset by Hazel Holmes (novel books to read txt) 📕

her head, and then with one final push, it ended. Brent settled behind the wheel, and Bell faded into the rearview mirror.

Head throbbing, Sarah gently sat back in the seat. The GTO’s engine hummed loudly, the pistons firing on all cylinders as the muscle car’s tires chewed up the road ahead on their way back to New York City.

“I won’t make it,” Sarah said, her head gently swaying left and right with the curves of the highway. She stared at the exit for Redford, watching the sign grow smaller in the rearview mirror until it was completely gone.

“Bit of a pessimistic outlook, don’t you think?” Brent asked, smiling. “I’m not gonna kill you, Sarah. If I wanted to that, I would have just done it back in town.” He shook his head. “No, I need you alive to take the fall for me.”

“I’m not going to do that,” Sarah said.

“If you want what’s left of your friends in New York to survive, you will,” Brent replied, his tongue sharp and forceful. “How many deaths do you want on your conscience, huh? Three? Four?” He shook his head. “I can keep piling them up for you, Sarah. Stack ’em as high as the fuckin’ Empire State Building.”

Sarah’s eyes watered as she wondered who he’d already killed. At least half a dozen names scrolled through her mind, all of them good people. She had no doubt that he’d killed at least one of them, probably Moss or Cassie. She hoped they hadn’t suffered.

When the first tear fell, Sarah turned her face away so Brent wouldn’t see, but she couldn’t hide her reflection in the mirror.

Brent started laughing. “Oh, don’t be sad, sweetheart. Listen, I’ll tell you what.” He inched closer, keeping his left hand on the wheel while he rested his elbow on the center console. “When we get back to the city, I’ll arrange a quick little meet for you at the graveyard so you can say your goodbyes before they lock you away and throw away the key.”

More gut-bursting laughter rolled off of Brent’s tongue, lashing her ears with a wicked laugh that echoed through her mind. But the laughter faded, and Sarah’s stomach churned sourly. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead. It was happening.

Sarah flung her back against the car seat and shut her eyes, her muscles starting to tremble as she gritted her teeth in pain. “GRAAAHHHHH!”

“Hey!” Brent said, ending his laughter and leaning away from Sarah. “Knock it off!” He placed one hand on his pistol. “I said—”

But Sarah thrashed back and forth, the pain reemerging in her leg as she reached for her jeans with her bound hands. The burning sensation crawled up her thigh, the pain growing more intense with every passing second.

“Calm down!” Brent backhanded Sarah once more, this time striking the center of her nose.

The force of the blow should have knocked her into unconsciousness, but the pain crawling up her leg made the blow feel like nothing more than a light breeze against her cheek.

In retaliation, Sarah flung herself into Brent, grabbing hold of the wheel and turning it hard.

The world immediately spun, tires screeching, and centrifugal force flung Sarah back into her seat. She cracked her head against the glass, which shattered, and the last thing that Sarah remembered before she blacked out was watching the road pass beneath her, the world upside down, and a loud crunch when the car rolled into the ditch on the side of the road.

73

The moment Dell was out of Bell, he floored the gas pedal. The cruiser sped down the two-lane highway, lights flashing red and blue against the backdrop of the forest.

Dell gripped the steering wheel tightly, his vision focused on only the road ahead. A sense of urgency flooded through him, and while the consequences of failing to obtain a cure for Sarah had gone unsaid, he understood them perfectly clear. If the doctor couldn’t cure her, she’d die. But when that would happen and how long it would take, Dell had no idea.

And what was more was how the idea of Sarah’s death affected him. It was a thought he refused to let fester in his consciousness. But despite his efforts, he couldn’t shake it. And he wasn’t sure what to make of that.

Sarah wasn’t exactly his type. She was pretty, of course, but there was a reckless danger to her that clashed against his own ideals. Not to mention she was stubborn and seemed to find trouble wherever she went. Not exactly a “bring her home to Mom” kind of girl.

And still, Dell couldn’t get her out of his mind.

Once he was west of Redford and onto the mountainous dirt roads, Dell’s GPS lost its signal. Luckily, he had a vague remembrance of the doctor’s location. There was a lookout point in the same area where high school kids would go on dates. It was a popular destination for kids to lose their virginity. It was where Dell had taken his high school girlfriend. He was sixteen and she was fifteen. It was hard to believe he was ever that young. And even harder to believe he was ever that scared.

Maybe it was the fact that he was returning to a place where innocence was lost, but those same nerves returned to him on the dirt road, and it didn’t take long for a layer of cold sweat to accumulate beneath his uniform.

The cruiser’s shocks were tested on the rocky road, and Dell was tossed left and right behind the wheel like a rag doll as he kept his eyes peeled for any sudden turns. Northern Maine’s back roads had claimed more tourists than Dell could count, and a few drunk locals. The moon and stars being covered by a thick blanket of clouds only made the night darker.

Headlights flashed on a small road sign, barely two feet off the ground, and Dell slammed on his brakes, the cruiser sliding forward in the gravel. Dell leaned