The Book of Death (Bourbon Kid 4)

sneaking out with if he could make it out in one piece. Right now
though the best thing about this room (in Sanchez’s opinion) was the fact that
it was empty. The revelation that Jessica was a vampire and that she had an
undead army lurking outside in the courtyard had come as a real shock. And the
way she had spoken about him suggested she didn’t care for him in the
slightest, other than maybe as a potential snack. He needed help, big time. He
pulled his cell phone from his pocket and switched it on. He had two missed
calls. Both from Flake. She had also left him a message. He pressed for voicemail
and listened to it –
    “Sanchez, it’s Flake. Don’t go
to the Casa De Ville. Your friend Jessica is a vampire. It says so in The Book
With No Name. I think she’ll kill you as soon as she has The Book of Death.
Call me as soon as you get this!”
    Dammit!
    Why hadn’t he listened to her
before? Flake was so smart. And he was so stupid—not the other way around
as he had foolishly believed earlier. Some kind of apology might be in order,
eventually. For now, Flake was most definitely the first port of call to get
him out of this mess. He had to call her back, and quick . He pressed
dial and put the phone to his ear. The dialling tone that followed went on for
what seemed like an eternity before the call was answered. Flake’s voice came
through loud and clear.
    “Hi this is Flake. I’m not
available to take your call right now. Please leave a message after the tone.
Or beep. I’m not sure whether it’s a tone or a beep. Is a beep considered a
tone? Oh well, just leave a message anyway. After the tone.”
    Okay, so maybe she was a bit stupid.
But Sanchez left a message for her anyway. He spoke in a hushed voice in case
anyone was within hearing distance outside of the room. ‘Hi Flake, it’s
Sanchez. I just got your message. You were totally right. I’m really sorry I doubted
you. Thing is, I’m stuck in a dining room at the Casa De Ville. There’s
vampires and werewolves everywhere. I still have The Book of Death with me, but
I can’t get out of here. See if you can get the cops to send everyone here.
There’s something big about to go down. So, if you get this message, give me a
call, or see if you can work out a way to get me out of here. Um,’ he realised
he was babbling and wasn’t exactly sure what he was trying to say, but he
wanted to make sure he got his message across clearly. ‘If you do come here
yourself, watch out for all the vampires and werewolves in the courtyard. I
think they’re after the Bourbon Kid. He’s around here somewhere too. If you see
him, steer clear. He’s dangerous and would kill you just for fun. I really hope
you get this message. Miss you. Bye.’
    Sanchez considered what he’d
just said. Not only had he apologised for doubting Flake, he’d also warned her
to steer clear of the courtyard, and then told her he missed her.That last
part was particularly alarming. Probably because it was genuinely true. He
really did miss hanging out with Flake when she wasn’t around. Who knew how
that had come to happen? All the time he’d been obsessing about Jessica, Flake
had been like a rock for him. Hell, the woman had saved his ass when Ulrika
Price tried to kill him, then she’d come to his rescue when the Sunflower Girls
had been chasing him, baying for blood. And most important of all, she knew how
he liked his sausage cooked. Right now, given the choice of hanging out with
Jessica or Flake, he’d pick Flake any day of the week. Of course, there was no
guarantee that she would want to hang out with him right now. He’d been a bit
of a shit to her of late, what with blaming her for the mess The Book of Death
was in after she’d hit it with the car. He promised himself if Flake could get
him out of this latest scrape, he’d even stop tipping her with fake one dollar
bills when she waited on him in the Ole Au Lait.
    He slipped his phone back into the
hip pocket on his pants and considered his options. He needed to find somewhere
to hide.
    But where?
    There was nowhere suitable
within the dining room, other than maybe under the table. At the far end of the
room was a large black door with a shiny brass doorknob on it. Hopefully it
would lead to an exit of some kind, or at least a bathroom with a lock on the
door. If he could find a bathroom he might be able to lock himself in it and
wait for Flake to call back.
    He quickstepped over to the
large black door and