The Book of Death (Bourbon Kid 4)

Bourbon
Kid.
    He raised his arms in surrender.
The Kid never looked anything other than murderous, so Sanchez hoped his lucky
streak of surviving unscathed every time the pair of them met would continue.
The Kid’s face showed some genuine anger. Maybe he lived here? If so, Sanchez
hoped that he wouldn’t notice a small patch of piss on the floor where he’d
missed the toilet at one point. All it would take was one squeeze of the
trigger on the gun, (which was inconveniently pointed at his face) and
Sanchez’s time would be at an end.
    The Kid spoke first. ‘Where’s
Beth? What the fuck has happened here?’ He looked Sanchez up and down, then
added. ‘And why the fuck are you wearing a gay cop outfit?’
    Sanchez was somewhat baffled by
the questions. Clearly the Kid must know more about what had happened in this
apartment than him? After all, he must have done the killing , right?
    ‘Why are you asking me?’ he
asked. ‘I mean, I’m guessing you killed all of those people out there? And
Jessica too? What have you done with her?’
    The Kid looked confused. ‘What?’
    ‘Jessica. Where is she? She came
up here before me, but when I got here she was gone and there were all those
dead people on the floor. What have you done with her? And why do you keep
trying to kill her?’
    The Kid lowered his gun.
‘Jessica was here?’ he said.
    ‘Well, yeah. Didn’t you see
her?’
    ‘I killed her during the eclipse
last year. She’s dead.’
    ‘No,’ Sanchez protested. ‘I
nursed her back to health after you shot her. She’s okay now. Or, at least, she
was. Can’t find her now though. She must be here somewhere.’
    The Kid raised his gun again,
pointing it at the end of Sanchez’s nose. ‘Where the fuck is Beth?’
    ‘Mental Beth?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Beth Lansbury.’
    ‘Yeah, Beth Lansbury. Where is
she?’
    Sanchez shrugged. ‘I dunno. She
wasn’t here when I got here.’
    The Kid lowered the gun again
and walked back out of the bathroom. He headed for the bedroom at the end of
the hall.
    ‘There’s nothing in there,’
Sanchez called out. ‘I just checked.’
    He heard the Kid open the
bedroom door to take a look for himself. Sanchez lowered his arms and walked to
the door. He peered around it to see what the Kid was doing. A second later the
Kid reappeared from inside the bedroom and came storming back down the corridor
towards him. Sanchez retreated back into the bathroom. The Kid rushed past the
door and back into the living room area. Fortunately it looked as if killing
Sanchez wasn’t high on his list of priorities. And it also seemed as though the
Kid had no idea about what had happened to Jessica. Sanchez could only guess
that she had seen the Kid and escaped through the open window.
    Watching his step, he crept back
into the living room, making sure he made no sudden movements. The Bourbon Kid
was at the window, peering out into the snow-covered streets below. He turned
around and looked at Sanchez.
    ‘Did you open this window?’ he
asked.
    ‘No,’ Sanchez replied, raising
his hands in surrender again. ‘It was already open when I got up here. Anything
out there?’
    ‘Just some footprints in the
snow.’
    ‘I guess Jessica got away from
you again.’
    The Kid shook his head. ‘And
she’s got Beth with her.’
    ‘They both escaped, huh?’
    The Kid pointed at the bodies
strewn across the floor. ‘Who d’ya think killed all these fuckers?’ he asked.
    Sanchez wondered if it was a
trick question. ‘I’m guessing you did?’ he ventured.
    ‘How fuckin’ dumb are you?
Jessica will have killed them all.’
    ‘That’s ridiculous.’
    ‘No it ain’t.’
    ‘Okay.’
    The Kid peered out of the window
again at the streets below and reached into a pocket on his jeans. He pulled
out a cell phone and dialled a number. This was just the opportunity Sanchez
needed. There was still a second dead cop on the floor, one who might have a
gun somewhere about his person. With the Kid distracted and staring out of the
window, Sanchez crept over to the body and reached down to see if he could pick
the guy’s gun out of his holster without drawing attention to himself. An
almighty loud clap of thunder from outside startled him. It was followed by a
flash of lightning and the sound of hailstones landing on the metal stairs
outside the window. The Kid remained unfazed by it as he stared out of the
window with his phone pressed against his ear.
    Sanchez reached down to the
pistol in the