Page 16 of My Violent Valentine

“Guns. Obviously. We need appropriate holsters, ammunition… give us all 9mm. And silencers. Knives and holsters also.”

“Throwing stars,” Mina interjects.

She loves her throwing stars.

“Knives and stars I’ll have to sell you. We don’t like our merchandise returned bloody. And of course the ammo.”

“Of course,” I say. It’s not as though you can rent ammunition. And knives and stars often get left behind on kill sites anyway depending on the situation. If we do body disposal, we keep and sterilize them, but otherwise they just stay where they’re planted.

Gremlin loads us up with the requested weapons, I pay the man, and we grab the bags.

“See, Killer? Easy peasy, lemon squeezy,” I say as we walk out the front door.

Mina just laughs.

9

MINA

We’re sitting in the rental car just outside the Nolan estate. The entire inside of the car is lined in plastic. I think it’s excessive personally, but this is a rental, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. The last thing we need is blood and fibers linking us to local deaths. I have no idea what his plan was if we got pulled over for something. This isn’t exactly the most inconspicuous way to travel, even after dark.

Brian used a credit card linked to a dummy shell corporation and a fake ID to rent the car. Still, I almost think it would have been less risk and trouble to steal one. I reach around the plastic to open my door when Brian’s hand on my arm stops me.

“Wait, open this first.” He puts a black box wrapped in a gold ribbon on my lap. And a red envelope. He got me a card, too? I wasn’t expecting that.

“I didn’t get you a card,” I say. “And your gift is at the motel.”

“It’s okay.”

He looks a little nervous which is a weird look on Brian’s face. I open the envelope. The card is two skeletons holding hands inside a big red heart with blood dripping down the sides. The text on the front reads: “You and me, We got this.”

“Where did you get this?”

“A gothic shop while you were sleeping in yesterday. They had a Valentine’s weekend special.”

I open it to find a handwritten message: “I like killing people with you. Brian.”

I bust out laughing. “Romantic.”

“You haven’t even gotten to the best part.” He nods to the box. “Open it.”

“Is it Snow White’s heart?”

“Just open it.”

I untie the ribbon and carefully open the box. I gasp as I take in the exquisite knife resting inside black velvet. It’s obviously handcrafted—the kind of knife that lasts a lifetime. It has a red ivory handle with what looks like a fierce warrior goddess carved into it. An intricate flame design runs the length of the blade, and at the base of the steel are the words: “Brian and Mina” inside a heart.

“Do you like it?” He produces the sheath and holster for it from inside his jacket.

“It’s gorgeous.” I lift the knife out of the box turning it over. “And the weight is fucking perfect.” I start to put it back, but Brian’s hand closes over mine.

“Bring it. For luck.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in luck.” But I trade it out for one of my knives from Gremlin.

“How are we going to get it back home. Ship it?”

He shakes his head. “Nah, we can travel with it. I highly doubt anybody will think it’s a murder weapon. It obviously came came from an artisan. And it’s one knife, not an arsenal.”

---