The Book of Death (Bourbon Kid 4)

probably do the
report. I’ll do one if Captain Harker asks me to, but it’s an open and shut case.
The Bourbon Kid killed everyone there and fucked off out the window when I
arrived. I scared him off I think.’
    ‘Wow,’ Flake gasped. ‘You’re
having quite a day!’
    ‘Much the same as any other,’
said Sanchez nonchalantly.
    Flake slipped a thin black leather
bookmark onto the page she was reading and closed the book in order to give him
her full attention. ‘So what happened to Jessica? How did you lose her?’
    ‘She’d gone on ahead of me. She
must have seen the Kid and made a break for it in case he tried to kill her
again.’
    ‘Do you think she’s okay?’
    ‘I’m guessing she’s headed back
home to the Casa de Ville.’
    ‘You’re not going to go over
there tonight are you? What with the Bourbon Kid being on the loose again. And
the vampires!’
    Sanchez shook his head. ‘No, not
tonight. I’ll get The Book of Death for her first. It’ll cheer her up if I turn
up there tomorrow with the book she’s been looking for.’
    Flake looked unconvinced. ‘Do
you think you’ll be able to find it?’
    ‘I had it this morning.’
    Flake laughed. ‘You’re so
funny.’
    ‘No, seriously. I borrowed it
from the library,’ he paused and looked around to check if anyone was nearby,
before adding, ‘without actually checking it out.’
    Flake gasped. ‘Oh my God. You’re
the one who stole it!’
    ‘Shhh,’ said Sanchez looking
around again. ‘I gave it to Rick to take back to the library this morning, just
before you made my breakfast.’
    ‘Why give it to Rick?’
    ‘So I didn’t have to face the
wrath of that librarian bitch Ulrika. Why d’ya think?’
    ‘Oh, of course.’
    Flake took in a deep breath
through gritted teeth, in the manner of a mechanic who was about to give a
quote for some new brakes. ‘I’d be wary about being seen with that Book of
Death if I was you,’ she warned.
    ‘What do you mean?’
    She pointed at the thick
hardback book that she had been so engrossed in reading when he entered. ‘I’ve
been reading this book,’ she said. ‘And it’s got a bit in it about a book
called The Book of Death.’
    ‘Really? What does it say?’
    She opened the book and began
flicking back through the pages. ‘It says it’s an ancient Egyptian book that
was used to record the names of the dead,’ she said, struggling to find the
page she was looking for. ‘It also says that there was an ancient ruler of
Egypt who dabbled in the dark arts. Apparently he found a way to write the
names of the dead in it before they actually died.’
    Sanchez slid off the desk and
stood beside Flake, peering over her shoulder at the book. ‘How could he do
that?’ he asked.
    Flake continued to flick through
the pages until she eventually found the passage she was looking for. ‘Look
here,’ she said pointing at a short paragraph at the beginning of one of the
chapters. ‘It says here that he used to write the names of his enemies in The
Book of Death. According to this, his enemies would then be cursed to die on
the date specified on the page in the book.’
    Sanchez scratched his chin and
thought about what Flake was saying. ‘The Book of Death that I gave to Rick was
full of names, and there were dates on the top of each page, but they were all
in roman numerals or something. I couldn’t work them out.’
    Flake shook her head. ‘Don’t you
think a book like that should be destroyed?’
    ‘I dunno,’ said Sanchez. He
nodded at the book on the desk. ‘What’s this one you’re reading anyway?’
    ‘It’s that one I used to kill
the librarian.’
    ‘What’s it called again?’
    ‘It’s doesn’t have a name.’
    Sanchez stepped back from the
desk. ‘Oh my God! You’re reading The Book With No Name?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘Fuck! You never told me earlier
that it was The Book With No Name.’
    ‘Why? What difference does it
make?’
    ‘That book was mentioned in the
news a while back. Everyone who ever read it died. The cops never figured out
why. I was looking for a copy of it at the library yesterday when I picked up
The Book of Death instead.’
    ‘I’ve read about a hundred pages
of it now,’ said Flake. ‘Does that mean I’m going to die?’
    ‘It might. I don’t know.’
    ‘Weird, isn’t it?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘There’s two books that seem to
be causing people to die.’
    Sanchez thought about it for a
few seconds. ‘I suppose,’ he agreed