Our Lady Chaos by Erik Henry Vick

Author:Erik Henry Vick [Vick, Erik Henry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ratatoskr Publishing
Published: 2019-12-05T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

2010

1

LaBouche groaned at the fire burning in his chest and rolled to his side. He hawked and spat clotted blood from deep in his throat, wincing at the pain the motion evoked. His face throbbed and burned, and he lifted a hand to explore the damage. “Hamburger,” he mumbled. He tried to open his eyes, then let his fingers explore further. “Popped my eyes, did he?” he muttered.

“You’ll heal,” said Toby Burton. “We need to understand why, LaBouche.”

“Why? Isn’t it obvious? I’m changing sides.”

“The fuck you are!” bellowed Scott.

LaBouche shook his head and winced at the pounding in his head that accompanied the movement. “Scotty, I‍—‍”

Three quick steps approached and something cold and hard pressed under his jaw. “Call me that again,” Lewis hissed.

LaBouche sighed and let his shoulders slump. “I deserve that.”

“I don’t know what game you’re playing‍—‍”

“Is that you, Chief Richards?”

“Chief no longer.”

“Sure. Police chiefs in Oneka Falls tend to die.” He snapped his mouth shut against the heartbreak that threatened to choke him. “I… Trooper Lewis, I understand, now, what I did to you. I understand it in a way I never could have before. Brigitta… See, I mated with Nicole Conrau, and she quickened. Got pregnant. Brigitta had someone kill her, and my offspring died with her. I understand what‍—‍”

The cold, hard metal pressed into his throat. “You should stop now,” Scott said in a flat, horrible voice. “Stop or by God, Lee, I’ll splatter your brains on the grass behind you.”

LaBouche leaned forward, pressing the gun into his throat. “If only that would kill me, Scott, I’d beg you to do it.”

The meadow fell silent, but Scott pulled the gun away. LaBouche’s breath trickled out of him, and a dark depression wheezed into him.

“What do you want, LaBouche?” asked Toby.

“Same thing Scotty does.” Lewis growled, and LaBouche lifted his hands in surrender. “Sorry, sorry.”

“Quit fucking around. What do you want?”

“Vengeance,” he said. “I’ll help you beat the demons in Oneka Falls. I’ll give you Brigitta gift wrapped and wearing a bow. Anything you want. All I want in return is help killing Brigitta and the one who took my Nicole from me.”

“And who would that be?” asked Mike.

“Sally McBride.”

“Sally?” That came from mousey Shannon Bertram, though by all reports, she’d outgrown her shyness.

“That’s not her real name, of course. Can’t be,” said LaBouche. He gasped as a splitting, burning pain stabbed through his left eye socket. “Christ that stings.”

“Poor baby,” sneered Scott.

“What is your real name, LaBouche,” asked a man he didn’t recognize.

“I don’t want to tell you that yet. But there’s one more promise I need from you.”

“Promise?”

“Why should we‍—‍”

“Enough!” roared LaBouche. “I will tell you my real name when the time comes. After we’ve dealt with Brigitta and McBride—probably a jinn, if the legends about Brigitta’s mother are true—then I want you to kill me.”

“Wait…jinn?” asked the unfamiliar voice.

“I’ll kill you every single day for the rest of my life, LaBouche,” growled Scott.

“That’s it?” asked Toby. “After we ‘help’ send Brigitta and this McBride home, you want us to send you home?”

“No.

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