Page 19 of Harvest Maze

“Preboha!” I hissed, leaning back on my haunches.

The Ravellos were hitmen, mercenaries for hire. They had a training facility back in the woods. Their operations spanned every continent. I was a one-man act, but these were organized hits on a much larger scale. Their tactical abilities could take out an entire government.

“I wonder if they need an instructor.” I chuckled to myself as I drug the groaning mafioso into the corn. He would bleed out. His body would rot until the combine came through to chop it to pieces when the corn was harvested.

But I decided against offering the Ravello Famiglia my services. I would pretend to be a contractor or some equally boring profession. These killers would never find out that I was like one of their own. So long as Lucian and his detestable brother never crossed the line with my girl, they could keep breathing. Otherwise, I would give these assassins a taste of their own medicine.

“You said you’d make my death quick,” Tommaso protested, wheezing through the pain.

I gazed down at him between the skeletal stalks. “You left a body on Ivry’s porch.”

“It was a joke!” he sobbed. “She hates Halloween. But that’s the best part of fall.”

I shook my head. “There are other parts of autumn, and Ivry loves those.”

The cozy things, the comfort of the cooler season. Not the macabre. My girl was too sweet for that.

Ignoring his cries and pleas, I moved through the shivering corn. When I reached my rental car, I picked up my tools before sliding behind the wheel. There was a text message waiting on my phone.

Ivry: Hey! We’re going to the corn maze tonight. Just a group of us. I’d love to introduce you to my friends.

I contemplated that as I started my car and slowly backed out of my hiding place.

Ivry: If you don’t want to, no pressure!

Something she’d said at the café flickered in the back of my mind, and I decided to turn the haunted maze into something she would enjoy.

Chapter 10 – Ivry

As predicted, my friends wanted to go to the haunted maze. It was opening week, which meant the tourists would flood the venue this weekend, so the sooner we went the more we could enjoy the space.

The ticket line wound back along the parking lot. The crowd buzzed with excitement, and spooky trap music boomed over the speakers. I thanked the attendant, wandering under the dome of pumpkins and into the staging area. Maria posed for her social media account, and Carmela made fun of her.

During the day, there was a corn pit, where kids could crawl around on dried kernels. Now the adults were jumping into the pile with gusto. It looked like fun, but my eye was also drawn to the gigantic hay pile, where several groups of teens raced up to reach the top first. There were other games and amusement beckoning souls to spend their money. It would be fun to bring a family here. The paths out of the staging area led to a pumpkin patch or veered off to the haunted farmhouse.

And the best part, Sara Caputo was here. While she was quite a few years younger than me, I loved this girl like a sister. She lived in New York City, and rarely came back to the Cove. But she was here now, hanging out like old time.

Grabbing her hand, I laughed and made a beeline to the maze cue, dragging my friends along. My belly was full of the burger, fries, and pumpkin milkshake from the diner on the country road. There were twenty of us, and the sooner we made our trek through several miles of twisted paths and spooky thrills the better. The non-haunted mazes were closed for the night. I wished it was daylight, and we were going down one of those.

From inside the corn maze, a woman screamed.

The crowd shook with excitement, and my stomach churned.

“I heard someone died in here last year,” Giosuè quipped. He wore a Batman costume, complete with a voice changer.

“No, that was just a heart attack victim.” Sara pushed her glasses up her nose. Always the studious, calculated thing. I didn’t know how she wrote rom coms for a living when her brain was so freaking logical. “The article was tagged with the event opening, reminding people with preexisting conditions—”

“Oh, who cares, Sara,” Maria droned. Her fake blonde pigtails and a skimpy bubblegum pink dress were fun. I wished I had the legs to pull off a costume like that.

She was going to freeze her tits off.

Which was a small consolation.

Something brushed against my arm. I shivered and stepped away from the edge of the corn. We couldn’t get through the maze fast enough. My obligation would be complete, and I could avoid another trip through the ghastly maze. I just wanted my blankets, my spiced cider, and a treat.

And the next-door neighbor, who I hadn’t seen yet today.

Maybe he could be my treat. I shifted, and my fishnet stockings rubbed together. Yes, my cozy cottage and Demyan were exactly what I needed right now. He hadn’t been freaked out when I suggested he stay in town. I still couldn’t believe I had the balls to ask him.