Hold Me Closer, Necromancer - Lish McBride [8]
He laughed, but I kept kicking.
Then I heard Ramon yell, “Duck!” I did my best, but with his meaty paws around my throat, it was more of a leaning motion.
There was an unholy cracking noise as Ramon whacked him in the head with a skateboard, breaking it in two. The guy’s hold loosened as he turned to evaluate the new threat, and I pushed away from him with all I had. For the second time in as many minutes, I hit pavement.
I heard a car engine and turned to see Frank backing up his beat-up Jetta and coming right at us. I rolled out of the way. The man didn’t move as Frank drove at him, just cocked back his fist and punched the rear of the car. With his freaking fist. And he stopped the Jetta cold. While he turned his scary grin on Frank, I got to my feet and grabbed for the door. I slid in at the same time as Ramon.
Frank froze, staring at the back of his car.
Ramon slapped him to get his attention. “Drive!”
Frank slammed his foot down on the pedal. There was a screech and a jerk, but then we were driving over a small concrete divider and pulling onto the empty street. I kept my eyes on the man who now held Frank’s rusty bumper in his hands as we drove away. I watched him toss it over his shoulder like it was made of paper.
“Seat belts!” Frank’s voice held an edge of hysteria.
I stopped watching the man and curled into my seat, grabbing the seat belt and slipping it on. The motion made damn near every muscle and joint in my body scream, and I had to arch so my back wouldn’t touch the seat.
Ramon turned as he clicked his own belt and eyed me. “You okay, Sammy?”
“What the hell is going on, Ramon? Did someone paint a target on me at work?”
“Right now I’m kind of worried about that freaked-out dude back there. You think he was all jacked up on PCP or something? I mean, he tore off Frank’s damn bumper!”
“Rust problem? Adrenaline rush?” I threw out the ideas, though I didn’t really believe any of them. That didn’t keep my brain from searching for some kind of explanation.
“I don’t know,” he said, “but whatever it is, I don’t think it’s over.”
“Me either.” I closed my eyes and tried to find a somewhat comfortable position to hold myself in, only to realize that there wasn’t one. Frank would need a new bumper and Ramon a new skateboard. I’d have to assess my damages when I got home. At least Brooke had left before anything had happened to her.
3
These Are a Few of My Favorite Things
Douglas shifted to the left, delighting in the warmth of the soft leather. Few things on this earth were as heavenly as leather seats. If that kind of luxury was a sin, he’d happily dance his way into hell.
He looked out through the dark in front of the house, letting his eyes get accustomed to the lack of light. The Beetle he’d been following idled in the driveway, and he watched as the girl got out. She pulled out two bags of groceries, balancing one of them on her hip as she shut the door. He would let her enter the house, get settled. It gave him time to prepare. His phone beeped as he turned it off. After Michael’s failure with Sam, he would know better than to call Douglas again. Still, he didn’t want his phone to ring at an inopportune time.
Michael would have been a better choice for this mission. But since he’d botched the earlier assignment—and a simple messenger job at that—Douglas decided to handle the matter on his own. If he couldn’t trust Michael to put the fear of God into that boy Sam, he couldn’t trust him with this. A delicate touch would be needed to sort this mess out.
Douglas sighed. The adage was true: It was so hard to find good help these days. Not that he cared about Michael smacking the boy around. Violence certainly didn’t bother Douglas. No, what bothered him was Michael’s lack of finesse. He’d simply escalated the violence too quickly. Douglas had meant to try to woo the boy first, lull him into complacency. Then, if Sam didn’t come around, well, time for plan B. But he hated having his hand forced.
He also hated surprises. Douglas chewed absently on a thumbnail. How could he have