The Book of Death (Bourbon Kid 4)

crusty brown
cover of the book on her desk was soon a jet-black colour, unrecognisable from
what it had been before. When she was satisfied that there was no brown showing
through on the cover, she stood the book upright on her desk in front of a
dusty old desk fan in the hope it would dry out quickly. As she watched the
desk fan blow gently onto the book’s cover she considered the risks of her plan
to confront Jessica. It would definitely be easier if she could avoid the
confrontation altogether.
    She flicked through the menus on
her cell phone. She had no missed calls or text messages. She took a deep
breath and hoped for the best as she dialled Sanchez’s number again. This time
it didn’t even ring. It went straight to a recorded message. A woman’s voice
spoke this time.
    The number you are calling is
either switched off or unavailable. Please try again later.
    Flake ended the call before the
message repeated itself. ‘Casa De Ville here I come,’ she said aloud, slipping
the cell phone back in the front pocket on her pants.
    She had been so preoccupied with
planning her rescue mission for Sanchez that she hadn’t noticed a new arrival
in the station. A man had entered quietly via the front doors. And now his
large shadow loomed over her desk. She looked up slowly and saw a figure
dressed all in black with a hood pulled up over his head, concealing most of
his face. She swallowed hard. She knew who this man was. It was the Bourbon
Kid, the man who frequently dropped by the police station and killed all the
cops, and usually also the receptionist. The memorial plaques in the staff room
for previous receptionists Amy Webster and Francis Bloem were evidence of that.
    ‘Can I help you?’ she asked
nervously.
    The Kid responded in a gravelly
voice that came straight from the depths of hell. ‘I’m looking for a brown book
that was left in the locker room downstairs. You know anything about it?’ he
asked.
    Flake felt very nervous. The
book he was referring to was on the desk right in front of his eyes. Only now
it was black instead of brown. As she considered her response, the Kid reached
inside his coat and pulled out a sawn off shotgun. He pointed it at her
forehead.
    ‘If you lie to me, I’ll know,’
he said. ‘Choose your words carefully.’
    She knew that he would kill her
without thinking twice about it. She needed to give him a reason notto
kill her before she gave him the answer he wanted.
    She took a deep breath. ‘I used
the book to kill a vampire in the locker room yesterday morning.’
    ‘Where is it now?’
    ‘I was about to take it to…’
    ‘WHERE IS IT NOW?’
    Flake felt her legs go weak.
This guy wasn’t going to let her talk her way into his favour before she told
him where the book was. She pointed at the black book that was standing upright
on her desk.
    ‘It’s there,’ she mumbled
nervously, fearing a gunshot would follow the revelation.
    The Bourbon Kid lowered his gun
and looked down at the book on the desk. He picked it up with his free hand and
laid it open on the table in order to get a look at the pages. He flicked
through a few before closing it and staring at its new black cover. He ran his
index finger lightly across the newly sprayed cover and then inspected his
fingertip. Flake waited for his next move. For a few moments he looked around
at the other items on her desk. The desk fan was buzzing gently and next to it
was the black spray can. After staring at them for a short time, he looked back
at Flake, his shadowed face revealing a look of puzzlement.
    ‘Why did you spray it black?’ he
asked.
    ‘I was trying to pass it off as
The Book of Death. I was going to take it to the Casa De Ville to kill the
vampire Jessica.’
    ‘Why would you do that?’
    ‘To save my friend Sanchez. He’s
gone there now with the real Book of Death. But he doesn’t know that Jessica is
a vampire.’
    The Kid’s shadowed face revealed
nothing. ‘I wouldn’t worry about Sanchez,’ he said. ‘He’s probably dead
already.’
    ‘But he might not be there yet,’
said Flake, desperation creeping into her voice.
    The Kid raised his gun again and
aimed it at the end of Flake’s nose. ‘Close your eyes,’ he growled.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because this is gonna sting.’
    Flake did as she was told. Maybe
he was kidding around?
    BANG!
    Maybe not.

 
    Thirty-Nine

 
    Jessica stood at the front
entrance to the Casa de Ville and looked out into the courtyard. Everything was
in