The Butcher (Cold Hollow Mysteries Book 5) Read online

  Delilah stood at the edge of the grave with a satisfied grin on her face, looked at Myrna’s shocked expression, and wagged the gun downward at Corrine. “I heard she stole a blouse. She needed to learn that crime doesn’t pay.”

  She spat on the corpse below her and shouted, “Matriarch, my ass. Father didn’t love you. He loved the game.” From her parka pockets she began pulling microcassettes she had pilfered from Corinne’s room early in the morning as Corrine had showered. She unraveled them and tossed the debris atop Corrine’s lifeless body. She looked at the group as she pointed downward. “Meet Betsy Whittier, the last of the children. Crazy bitch came up here the minute her brother notified her about Patricia’s death in December. She was an actress for a living, and Corrine Butler was her stage name. Old Lady Whittier had an affair, and Betsy was the result. The old man tossed her into the foster system and told customers the baby was dead. Hence the gravesite in New York.”

  Adam asked, “How the hell did you find all of this out?”

  She smiled. “Daddy did a background check on Corrine Butler and left it for me. He knew all along and was keeping her busy and distracted while we tried to handle Samuel.” She sighed and shook her head in sadness. “Daddy despised being left out of the game.” Her eyes watered as she continued on, “He was and will forever be the master of the game. The Maestro.”

  Myrna glanced up at Tom for an explanation, and he gave her one. “Calm down, Myrna. Father told me the moment they wheeled him out of the ambulance at the hospital. Delilah is right, and he wanted Delilah to have one last hoorah before putting her dark side to rest.”

  Myrna asked, “Do you think it worked?”

  Tom puffed out his chest. “I was instructed to ‘let her do her thing’ and not interfere.” He took a deep, satisfying breath and added, “Personally, I couldn’t be prouder of her.” He then tapped the recording device Delilah had tossed to her, and they listened to what was on the handheld recorder. Myrna’s face flushed red with anger and hatred; Corrine had recorded all of them, even the chief, planning Samuel’s demise. Corrine was planning to turn all of them in to the authorities. She didn’t seem to care her only brother had died. She probably thought she would be free to inherit the successful butcher shop she was exiled from since birth. The family was full of moneymongers. She tossed the recorder and final cassette at Delilah. “Throw it in with the rest.”

  Delilah unraveled the final cassette and removed the batteries from the device. She tossed the mess in beside Corrine’s corpse. After pulling Corrine’s cell phone out of her pocket, she scrolled through the contacts. Just as she suspected, she saw the butcher shop’s number and an undeleted text from Samuel. She crushed it beneath her boot and tossed it in the grave as well.

  Adam’s face was contorted in confusion. “I got a question, Delilah. If she was related to Samuel, how come he didn’t recognize her in town?”

  She replied, “He hadn’t seen her since she was born. Judging by the cell phone information, he tracked her down and contacted her on the day of Patricia’s death, and that was it. Old Man Whittier probably kept the information from foster care locked up at the shop. If Father found out about her, why couldn’t he? But he wouldn’t recognize her after forty-plus years apart. In the text message she stored, he called her a half breed. Besides, she wasn’t his primary target. He was too focused on revenge.”

  Adam rubbed his face. “Makes sense.”

  She then looked around at the henchmen and yelled, “Well, what the hell are you waiting for? Let’s get this filled in before Liam gets back. Then we can plant some flowers and have a drink in honor of Big Lou and Maurice. Don’t forget to break through the frost line again farther away and dig small holes for Liam’s apple trees!” She pointed at all of them and raised her voice. “Don’t you dare make me come over there!”

  The men hustled and got the excavator running again; before long, the tomb was covered and level with the existing flatland. When Liam and Hugo returned, Delilah walked back and forth to one of the trucks, retrieving a sack of bulbs, wrapped apple tree saplings, and multiple hand shovels. The family gathered atop the grave and began planting bulbs in an intricate design. Delilah glanced at Liam as he worked. “Plant them deep. In the early spring, when they are due to bloom, we’ll take a helicopter ride and see the design from the sky.”

  Adam dug and asked, “Delilah, what about a headstone?”

  “Tom and I have one being made for them. It’s huge. The helicopter will lift it up here in the spring when we go for our ride.”

  “Good, I hope it’s nice.”

  Delilah replied, “You’re going to love it.”

  After multiple photos were taken atop the overhang on the ledge above the caves, the group gathered and began the trek home. The family walked behind the trucks, a safety precaution in case the trucks lost traction and began sliding.

  As they hiked down, Liam looked around and asked, “Hey, Auntie, where is Corrine?”

  Delilah displayed a crooked grin and waved her hand through the air. “She unexpectedly moved on ahead of us, sweetheart.”

  Adam turned to the boss of the construction crew on the way down. “You guys ever decide to mess with my business in New York, I’m not gonna do a damn thing about it.”

  The boss chuckled and said, “No? That’s awful nice of you, Adam.”

  Adam smirked. “I’m just gonna send Delilah to handle matters.”

  ***

  Commissioner Jones sat at the head of the boardroom table. The group watched the latest “goings-on” in Cold Hollow via recorded satellite feed. At the end of the feed, he sighed and addressed the other board members. “Well, the experiment could have gone a great deal better. It also could have been a complete disaster. Overall, those with tendencies toward violence and crime were either eliminated or cured. Personally, I think we can call this a successful business venture.” He paused to review the numbers the accountant had slipped him before the meeting and ran his eyes over the totals. “The cost of caring for an inmate for the longevity of their sentence in prison is astounding. In comparison, the Cold Hollow program saved the government a bundle of cash, and that’s including the yearly bump the town received for the financial fund. This was not only a successful business venture but a lucrative one.” He paused a moment before continuing and looked at each member around the table. “A vote must be taken. Do we reach for the stars and try again with another town, or do we search for other profitable investments?”

  The vote was unanimous.

  EPILOGUE

  When tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and apple blossoms were set to bloom, the monument arrived for Big Lou and Maurice’s burial site. As promised, Delilah, Liam, Timmy, and Adam took a flight in the helicopter after the lifting straps were applied to the large statue. The flight was short, and they were there in minutes. Adam disengaged the straps when the pilot had the monument exactly where Delilah wanted it. When the group looked down, the flowers were in bloom, and red tulips were blossoming in the shape of a heart. The surrounding assorted flowers were in full bloom as well. The apple trees had tiny blossoms on their branches.

  The helicopter landed, the pilot cut the engine, and they disembarked so Delilah could take pictures for those who couldn’t attend. The monument was a statue of Big Lou and Maurice, each dressed to the nines and holding a handgun. Big Lou was even wearing a fedora. There were the typical inscriptions of devotion at the large base. As they stood admiring the statue, two ravens alighted upon each man’s shoulder. Adam puffed his chest out and nodded. “It’s perfect.”

  ***

  In May of that year, Myrna gave birth to an eight-pound baby girl with a mop of red hair. Liam suggested they call her “Lily” because Grandpa Maurice told him to, and her hair was the color of the tiger lily. Liam doted over her and taught her many things because he was going to be the best big brother in the universe. He insisted on playing the DVDs of Maurice when he’d lived in Durham so Lily would know his voice whe
n she heard him. Myrna and Tom didn’t discourage this at all. The baby cooed and smiled each time. As Lily grew into a toddler, she developed an infinite love for spiders and their webs.

  The following year, as predicted, the town became independent of government funding and inspections.

  Two years blew past, and eventually there were three weddings in town. Adam Petrone and Frances O’Connor were wed, as well as Delilah Gillette and Timmy Two Toes, and Artie Lavoie and Amanda Borges. Artie tripped all over the dance floor at their reception.

  Not long after, an unexpected delivery arrived in the shape of another bouncing baby girl with curly red hair. Fran and Adam named her “Louisa Petrone” in honor of Big Lou. Adam and Fran were out of their minds with happiness and showed her off at every opportunity to the townsfolk.

  Before long, Delilah gave birth to a boy with dirty-blond hair. They named him Maurice Gillette-Laurenzo in honor of the Maestro.

  Ivan Pavlotskaya and his father took over the town farm at Fran’s insistence. She helped them understand the animal’s routines, breeding, deliveries, and products for order, while Myrna received a great deal of help from the grade school and high school teachers where Ivan’s education was concerned. It wasn’t long before he obtained his GED and was reading novels.

  The town grew and prospered. Robert Collins’s daughters were married and settled. They even saw to setting him up with a single tourist who resembled their birth mother. There was love in the air again in Cold Hollow.

  Hugo Morrissey developed inoperable cancer and passed away one evening in his cabin in the woods, the place he held dear. Liam and Myrna were by his side. Before he passed, Liam swore oath he would take over as the town ranger when he was old enough. Hugo left his possessions, including his cabin, to Liam. Liam and Tom visited it regularly to camp out and make repairs and/or improvements. Liam made a plaque to hang above the door that read, “Hugo’s Hideaway.”

  Dom the locksmith dropped dead while eating what he loved most…apple pie, just like his mother used to make.

  Car Hop Harry, the town mechanic, died tragically when a car lift malfunctioned and landed atop him as he worked. He died with a wrench in his hand.

  Bertrand Sweeney took a job at the hospital as an orderly and did so well, he was soon contemplating nursing school. He kept his promise and saw the psychiatrist on a regular basis. So far, his dark side was content, and he no longer had the impulse to burn buildings down.

  Wally and Alice Dumont continued to care for the town’s children at their day care. Their home was filled with framed photographs of all the children of Cold Hollow.

  Eddie Brewster continued working at the police station long after his penance was up. He stated more than once that after high school he was going to attend the police academy in the neighboring state. Officers Ted Cutler and Sylvia Rossini encouraged him daily.

  Gillette Distributing continued to prosper under the keen eyes of Delilah and Adam. They procured a helicopter and pilot, and once a month flew to Durham to check on the company. Otherwise, they managed it remotely.

  Fran and Adam ran “Big Lou’s Cinema” and lived on the second floor of the massive home with their daughter.

  Timmy and Delilah lived above the Cold Hollow Tavern with their son.

  Big Lou’s business in New York was run by his lawyer, but proceeds were sent to Adam and Timmy on a timely basis. If trouble arose, Adam and Timmy would drive to New York and settle it nice and quick, just like Big Lou would have wanted. If it was a tricky situation, Delilah went with them.

  Myrna remained the mayor of the town. The inhabitants refused to vote her out of office. Tom became chief of staff at the hospital. The moment Tom’s file was stamped “Parole Completed,” the entire extended family went to the Gillette beach house in North Carolina for a month to celebrate.

  After Big Lou’s and Maurice’s deaths, each time the mountain mists drifted into the town in massive cloud-like waves, the town bell would softly ring, and the echo of their voices could be heard. They were seen and heard conversing while strolling down Main Street. Robert Collins had dedicated a table to the two men in his restaurant, and no one ever sat at it. It was said, on some nights, that two glasses of wine would sit there, and if you blinked, they would be empty. Robert made sure to keep the glasses filled. He frequently left platters of various appetizers on the table as well, only to find them empty at the end of the evening.

  During these times, Delilah reserved Big Lou’s seat as well as Maurice’s in the poker room. She poured their bourbon and refilled it as necessary. Cards would shuffle and be dealt of their own volition as everyone sat in wonder. A red rose was left on Delilah’s pillow each night.

  Adam would stare in awe as the broken movie marquee at Big Lou’s cinema would light up on its own. Occasionally, Adam would feel a slap upside his head, spin on his heels, and find no one there. He would grin, knowing it was his Uncle Lou reminding him not to be a dipshit.

  The children would sometimes hear their loved ones’ whisper, “You did good, kid,” or “Please be so kind as to kiss your Mama and Papa for me.”

  During these times, Wanda the Witch was jubilant, and the town didn’t complain. She doled out foretelling of good fortune each time Maurice’s and Big Lou’s voices were heard.

  Chief Hanover kept finding his medal of valor on his desk and would jam it back in the drawer. He thought Myrna was doing it as a joke, but she swore she had pinned it on Maurice and it was him doing it.

  One evening, Tom and Myrna climbed the stairs to bed and could hear Liam and Lily in a fit of laughter. They stood at the door eavesdropping and heard Maurice’s voice as he recited his twisted nursery rhymes. Tom shouted, “Father! What did I tell you about those rhymes!” He and Myrna smiled as they heard Maurice’s bold, ghostly laughter.

  Cold Hollow had prospered in leaps and bounds since the days of Nazar, when innocent people were killed and the townsfolk lived in fear. The violent loss of beloved individuals, such as Sophia, Layla, and Angus Barner, along with Carla Macy were memorialized at the town beach where a plaque was placed in their honor. By no means was Cold Hollow straight laced, but it remained just as Chief Hanover liked it: a pleasantly corrupt town.

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Emilie Howard lives among the wildlife and forests of northern Rhode Island with her family and furry companions. Here, she taps away at her keyboard, hoping to give her readers a chance at escape from the norm, an adventure into unknown realms, or a fright. After publishing her first novel, she will hardly budge from her post at the desk, except at night when the wolves are howling…

  If you happen to visit her and cannot find her at the desk, you just may find her in the woods with her favorite companion by her side, feeding the deer. Emilie is infatuated with wildlife and often captures some amazing photographs. Her surroundings have become the inspiration for some of her novels.

  Visit her website at www.emiliejhoward-author.com and subscribe to her fan mailing list. To reach the author by e-mail: [email protected]

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  The author will appreciate it immensely. If you enjoyed reading or listening to this book, please be kind and give it a review and rating. Your opinions are extremely important to authors and narrators.

  OTHER TITLES BY THIS AUTHOR

  Fantasy/Paranormal

  Faolan: Book One of the Conri Clan Series

  The Shield Maiden: Book Two of the Conri Clan Series

  The Chosen Ones: Book Three of the Conri Clan Series

  Fire and Ice: Book Four of the Conri Clan Series

  Battle of Destiny: Book Five of
the Conri Clan Series

  Mystery/Thriller/Suspense

  Depravity

  Cold Hollow

  Weaving the Web: A Cold Hollow Mystery

  The Maestro: A Cold Hollow Mystery

  Vengeance: A Cold Hollow Mystery

  The Butcher: A Cold Hollow Mystery

  Cover credit

  www.selfpubbookcovers.com/Saphira