Shadow Deal by Michael La Ronn

Author:Michael La Ronn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Author Level Up LLC

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I wove through traffic as fast as I could. Cars honked at me left and right.

Bo, in his new body, held on to the passenger side handle as if it were the only thing keeping him in the car.

The flesh around my knuckles stretched tight as I careened through a right turn.

All the while, The Cluster’s warnings kept sounding in my mind, each alarm a near-panic attack that spread through every area of my body, stopping and starting over and over again.

Whoever was trespassing on my property was still there. As long as they were, I would continue to feel anxious. Sensations like this could drive a man insane.

“You sure know how to drive,” Bo said. “I don't know how we haven't crashed into something or somebody yet.”

Bo’s suit fit one size too big, a mound of fabric on his large frame. The top three buttons on his white dress shirt were undone, exposing chest hair.

I caught a whiff of…rotting corpse mixed with fabric. I rolled down the window.

“You better enjoy the ride,” I said. “After this, you'll be driving from now on. I expect no less than reckless driving from you when I need it.”

I sped through a yellow light just before it turned red, and I braked, narrowly avoiding a rear-end collision.

Bo admired his hands.

“You know what this is like?” he asked. “Like cataract surgery. Suddenly, you can see again, and it's beautiful.”

“I wouldn't know,” I said.

“Me either,” Bo said. “But it isn't every day you come back to life in a body that isn't yours.”

I cut off a minivan and it honked at me.

“I think I'll play basketball,” Bo said. “With a body like this, I could Shaq the hell out of somebody.”

“I don't play basketball,” I said, “and I don't recommend you do either.”

Bo’s face went long. “What? Why not?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Get a whiff of yourself and you'll understand.”

Bo sniffed his armpit. “Oh. Damn. I smell like a zoo.”

He burst out laughing.

We turned onto Page Boulevard, speeding past endless strip malls, unnamed gas stations, and an occasional row of three-story brick houses. I always knew I was close to home when I was swerving around potholes the size of my head.

Only a few blocks away now.

I turned into my neighborhood. Had to slow down.

At an intersection of two streets, I negotiated around giant concrete planters with grass growing on the top. The city installed them a while back to stop drag racing.

My street was one block away. I eased the car to a stop near the sidewalk in front of a brick barber shop whose windows were shuttered.

I cut the engine and felt inside my coat pocket to make sure the gun was still there.

“We walk,” I said, cannoning out of the car.

I was halfway down the street before Bo realized what was happening and followed me.

“Shouldn't we come up with a plan?” he asked, catching up.

“We plan when the perp is staring down the barrel of my gun,” I said.

“I picked the wrong day to wear wingtips, then,” Bo said.

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.