idea he could do that. Something else he’s been hiding along with all the other information he’s locked away? I start to say something. When he looks down his eyes go wide. He screams and starts to fall. I throw up the shield I used earlier in the room. Kasabian is right over the Dumpster, so I vault the side and catch him when he bounces off the shield. He yells, “Get out! Get out now!” “Calm down. You’ve been in plenty of dirtier places than this.” “Look down, asshole.” I move Kasabian’s deck to the side and look at my feet. At the bottom of the Dumpster, on a pile of JD bottles, boxes, and worn-out DVD cases is a man’s hand. There’s a few inches of bone sticking out past the torn and ragged wrist. It looks like rats have been having a Sunday buffet. “Please take me back inside.” “What are you so upset about? It’s not yours.” I get out of the Dumpster and set him on the ground. “Sorry. I can’t go carrying you through there naked again. You’re wearing a disguise this time.” There’s a Disney box lying on top of the Dumpster junk. I grab it, drop it on top of Kasabian, and carry him inside and up to the room. I punch the power on his monitor and set him down in front of it. Black Sunday is still playing. He stares at it for a moment like he’s never seen a movie before, and then turns it off. “Is there any beer left?” he asks. “I think so.” I take one from the minifridge, pop the top, and slide his bucket under him. Kasabian is still staring at the blank monitor screen. “Did you see that fucking thing?” “It was pretty much on my foot.” “Where do you think it came from?” “A guy’s arm.” “I mean did you recognize it. Did it look familiar?” “It looked like a hand. You want to be Sherlock Holmes? I’ll drop you back down there and you can play patty- cake with it all day.” “Body parts lying around. That’s a bad omen for me. I can’t afford to lose anything else.” “That’s right. The universe stopped by our trash to personally deliver you a message from the great beyond. Get a grip. Some wino probably died in the neighborhood and the dogs got at him. Or there’s medical trash on the beach again and kids are leaving legs and eyeballs all over town.” “What a waste. A perfectly good hand like that.” “I’ll look for the other one. You can wear ’em like angel wings.” “I’ll never have one again. Lucifer’ll never let that happen.” “You mean a body.” “It’s humiliating, you know. This whole situation. I’m not even a dog. I’m half a dog. On top of that I got you and Lucifer surrounding me, gnawing my ass like it’s filet mignon. You both want information and I know someday I’m going to tell one of you something you don’t like and you’re going to throw me into the wood chipper without a second thought.” “I can’t help you get a body. The black blade is a mean Hellion hex machine. Whatever it cuts stays cut and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t, you know.”
Вы читаете Kill the Dead
