Kings of Ruin by Sam Cameron

Author:Sam Cameron [Cameron, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781602829039
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2013-01-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-one

Officer Jennifer McCoy of the Piedmont Police Department came on duty Saturday afternoon at three o’clock. Everyone at the precinct was talking about those two teenagers killed at the train crossing. Such a shame, they said. Most cops couldn’t afford tuition at Piedmont Prep and didn’t know Ryan or Jackie, but it was a tragedy for any teenager to die so senselessly.

“Did he try to get around the gate?” McCoy asked her boss, Sergeant Ross.

Ross shook his head. “There was footage from a garage just up the street. Looks like the brakes weren’t working.”

McCoy checked out her gear and attended the afternoon briefing. A lot of tourists were in town for the Country Harvest musical fair. It was just her bad luck to be scheduled to work until midnight. Lots of visitors meant lots of traffic control and the increased risk of drunk drivers. Good chance of overtime pay, though. After the briefing, McCoy went down to the garage and got her assigned patrol vehicle, number twelve, which was a six-year-old Crown Victoria that smelled like old cheeseburgers.

She didn’t know that it had last been used on the night shift.

In fact, patrol car number twelve had been first on the scene to the train crash tragedy. The officer driving it had been too busy with the wreck to notice the blue lights seeping out of the woods and into his vehicle.

King #5 had found himself a new home.

The King liked police cars, even when they weren’t brand-new. He especially liked the sirens and warning lights. He felt Officer McCoy’s weight settle into the seat and waited a few minutes for the engine to warm up before he turned the siren on. The bright, sharp wail made him happy. Officer McCoy slapped at the switch quickly and he shut it off, but only for a moment. The next blast made him even happier. She slapped again, cursed. He liked it when drivers grew frustrated with him.

Better not to spoil all the fun too quickly, though. The King shut the siren down. He could sense Officer McCoy’s confusion and relief. For a few minutes, he was inactive while they cruised around downtown Piedmont. He saw it only in terms of steel and engines, flesh and non-flesh. His kind were frequent. Small but common, some of them growing bigger, but never as big as he was.

He turned on the strobe lights. Flicked on the siren.

“What’s going on?” McCoy demanded. “Stupid car.”

They always blamed the car, never seeing beyond steel to him. Never sensing that he was the one in charge.

He didn’t want to be returned to the garage and didn’t feel like jumping yet. Instead, he quieted down. Bided his time. When McCoy pulled over a speeder and got out of him to investigate, he followed an inch or two. Then an inch or two more. He liked the gold-colored Volvo in front of him, even if it was too old for his tastes.

He nudged up against the Volvo’s bumper, then eased back again.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.