[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Then he remembered the redhead and her boy.If he got hauled to jail, that poor mother was probably going to be killed.The boy would grow up without her.Joey recalled how much he’d missed his own mom, and she’d been a piece of crap.The woman hadn’t even cared if they took a bath! He couldn’t fathom how much a boy would miss the kind of mom who made sure he had toys by the bathtub.He felt for his gun and wondered if he could get away without hurting the cop.While he wasn’t really a religious man, he considered sending up a prayer—not so much for himself, but wasn’t helping the kid a worthy cause? He could sure use a little help.The flashing light caught his attention again, and letting go of a sigh he moved his hand from the gun.He couldn’t shoot a cop.Nope, he might be able to kill a bad guy, but not a cop.He pulled off to a side street, expecting the police car with its flashing lights and siren to follow.Expecting that in a few minutes he’d be handcuffed and sitting in the back of the police cruiser.But the craziest thing happened: the cop didn’t turn.Joey pulled over to the side of the road and sat in his car, studying the rearview mirror and listening as the police siren grew weaker.Joey didn’t shift his gaze.Had the cop simply missed the turn? Would he swing around and come blaring back after him? Obviously not, he decided after a moment.“Well, shit,” he said, and the tightness in his chest faded.He released a deep laugh.He turned and eyed Donald.“Looks like it might be my lucky day.Not so much yours, though.” The bluish tint to the man’s skin had gotten worse.Scanning the side of the road, Joey considered what he needed to do next.He glanced again in the backseat.“What do you think? This place okay for your final resting spot?”He’d just put his hand on the door latch when he heard another engine.A truck turned down the road, and Joey faced forward and started his car, but before he pulled back on the road, the truck took another left and vanished.But it still made him reconsider his plan to dump the body.He should probably wait until night.He spotted Donald’s cap in the front seat.The man had bought it at a service station that morning.Joey picked it up and laughed as he read the words printed across the top: SHIT HAPPENS AND THEN YOU DIE.“I guess you saw it coming,” he muttered.He looked at Donald, considered putting him in the trunk.But the memory of Freddy’s body gave him pause.That’s when he remembered Bernie.From the movie.He’d loved that movie.A smile curled Joey’s lips.He might be stuck hauling Donald’s dead ass around, but perhaps he could make him look…a little less dead.He put the car in park, got out and limped to open the back door.Damn, if his toe still didn’t hurt.He grabbed Donald by the shoulders and sat the man upright.“You getting a little stiff, are you?” he asked.Then, setting the cap on Donald’s coarse, gray hair, he tilted the brim downward to hide the man’s bluish tint.“You just nap away,” he muttered, and couldn’t help snickering.“I’ll bet you saw that movie, too, didn’t you?”Reaching around Donald, Joey pulled the seat belt over the big man’s barrel chest and secured it.While fixing his collar, Joey laughed again.“I know you hate to be belted in, but it really might have saved your ass.” His smile faded.“Your sorry ass.“Damn, you really shouldn’t have offed Freddy,” he continued.“I know the boss told you to, but…I saw you two the night before, laughing and sharing stories about some gal you both knew.You seemed to like Freddy.How could you just go and kill him like that?” Letting go of a deep breath, Joey straightened the other man’s jacket, pulled the sunglasses from his pocket and fitted them on the nose.“How did you do it?” Joey asked, as if the dead man might respond.“How did you live with it? Or did you die with it?” He shook his head.“Guess I might be finding out soon, huh? I might not kill a cop, but I will kill Pablo or Corky if I have to.Not for me, but for that kid.”Joey hesitated, shaking his head.“I’d have killed you, too, if you’d gone after that pregnant blonde.Does that make me as bad as you? Maybe,” he muttered in answer to his own question.“But some people just don’t deserve to die.”Joey got out and crawled back into the driver’s seat.He shifted the rearview mirror so he could see Donald.With sunglasses on, the man looked…well, alive.“You ready?” Joey asked.“Let’s go rescue us a redhead.Maybe by the grace of God you’ll get some brownie points for being present—in body, at least, if not in spirit.”He pulled out his phone and made sure it was on; Lorenzo’s contact should be calling soon.After securing his own seat belt, Joey drove out onto the road and headed toward the location where the van was found.Glancing in the rearview mirror, he watched Donald’s head bounce slightly with the car’s movement.It looked like the corpse was nodding to some unheard music, chilled out and agreeable [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]