He hesitated. “You’re in my room. I’m already with you.” Was she completely stupid?
“Not here, you imbecile. I need you with me.” What was he supposed to do? Guess randomly out of the mil ions of different locations in the greater New Orleans area? “Where are you?”
“The St. Louis Cemetery.”
Oh yeah, right. He wasn’t brain damaged enough to think it’d be that easy to get his mom back. If he showed up there, he’d have no leverage and the old ghost woman could do what she wanted to with both him and his mom.
Even Ian.
“You’l kil me if I do that.”
The smal woman laughed evil y. “I’l kil them if you don’t.” Madaug wanted to slam his hand down on the table and squash her like a roach. But he knew it would only hurt him if he tried. She wasn’t real. Just a ghost image with no real form or body. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“You’re the one meddling with things you shouldn’t have.
Didn’t you know that when you tamper with human wil , dreadful things happen?”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. That was never my intent. I just wanted them to leave me alone.”
The woman shrugged. “Intentions don’t matter. It’s the end result we’re al judged by. Evil in the name of good is stil evil.
And when you dance with the devil you seldom get to pick the tune.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means the countdown on their lives is speeding up and the longer you delay, the more likely they are to die.”
“Don’t hurt them. I’m coming.”
“You better be alone, mon petit, and bring your Zombie Hunter game program or else. … You have thirty minutes to get here.” She faded into nothing.
Madaug bit his lip as he cracked open the blinds to see his yard crawling with police. How could he get to the cemetery without being seen or fol owed?
There was no way he could walk there in that amount of time.
What was he going to do?
Starting to sweat, he went down the back stairs that led to the kitchen. He froze as he saw his brother and crew with Bubba, Mark, Nick, and Simi.
“I’l leave Mark here,” Bubba said to Eric. “He can help out while I go drop Cherise and Nick at Kyrian’s. Then I’l be back.
”
Eric nodded. “Just be careful.”
“Wil do.”
Madaug slid out the back door while they were facing away from him and made his way through the shadows to the shed where his dad kept the lawnmower. It was also where Eric’s old Honda scooter was kept. He’d always cal ed it the nerdmobile and now he was going to be forced to ride on it.
Gah, how awful.
But for his mom’s life, he was wil ing to look like a total goober. He opened the door careful y so it wouldn’t squeak and draw attention to him, then slipped inside the smal wood shed.
As quietly as he could he made his way to the scooter and opened the gas cap. Just as he suspected, no gas.
Dang it. Eric? Couldn’t you do anything right?
It’s all right. You have a 160 IQ. You can think of something. He forced himself to calm down so that he could postulate options. As his gaze danced around the darkened room, an idea formed.
Grabbing the hedge clippers, he cut a piece of hose to make a siphon, then drained the riding mower and poured the gas into the scooter.
As soon as it was gassed up, he grabbed the keys off the wal hanger, the helmet that was covered in cobwebs, and pushed the scooter away from the house. His heart pounded with every step he made. Any minute he expected to be caught.
But luckily, no one saw him. The police were too busy dusting for prints, talking to people, and standing around chatting to notice a kid rol ing a bright red scooter across his backyard.
Actual y, that was a scary thought. How oblivious could the trained experts be? If he didn’t need them to be inattentive, it would horrify him. And later, when he looked back on this, he would be horrified. But right now, he kept his thoughts focused on his mom and brother.
With a relieved breath as soon as he was a block away, he got on the scooter and started it. It roared to life and shot down the street at a speed a rusted-out tanker would envy, but at least it was faster than walking.
And it would get him to the cemetery in time.
“I’m coming, Mom.” He wasn’t about to let anything happen to her, or even his brother. Ian might make him insane, but Madaug was the older brother and it was his job to protect Ian.
Even from brain-eating zombies.
? ? ?
Nick paused as a tingle went down his spine, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
There was something …
He saw an image in his mind of Madaug, looking real y goofy with a red Power Rangers helmet on his head while riding a red scooter, sneaking away from the house. He didn’t know where it came from, but it was there as crystal clear as Bubba who was standing next to him.
“I think Madaug’s doing something stupid.” Bubba scoffed. “And that would be different from normal, how?”
“Police! Stop!”