“You see it yet?”
I didn't until it moved. Then the red dot, like something from a laser pointer, except dime sized, crawled across the toy jumbo jet on the ground next to Alex's little thigh. It crept across the floor slowly, about as slow as my eyes bugged out of my head, stopping just short of landing on my son.
“What you're looking at, bitch, because I know you're too fuckin' dumb to know, is the laser attached to the gun that puts your kid in pieces right in front of you.”
“No...” I barely made a sound, shaking my head, not sure whether I should throw myself over it or try to grab Alex and run.
“I know you're getting restless. I know you're thinking about taking off on me, running before you've done the job we sent you up there to do. I know your panties are filling up with shit right now, wondering what the fuck I'm gonna do.” He paused. “Believe it or not, I don't wanna fuckin' kill you, or the brat. I want you to shut up, get with Joker, and do whatever the fuck it takes to stop me from telling my man to pull the trigger. Sooner you figure out you don't have a choice, we're all better off.”
The bastard was right. I really didn't.
He was one, two, maybe five steps ahead of me.
Always, god damn it. Always.
There wasn't any running while he had this man following us, ready to shoot whenever Hatch told him to.
“Okay,” I said, feeling myself floating above my body the instant I said it. I'd come uncoupled, the only thing I could do to survive the horror. “I'll try again.”
“Yeah, you will. You'll try harder. Because if you don't...” He stopped, inhaling a deep breath. “Bam!”
I winced. The red dot on the floor flashed one more time, and then disappeared.
“You've got two more days, Summer-Bummer. Corner him, fuck him, show up at his doorstep asking to borrow a cup of sugar. Whatever the fuck you have to do to get good with him, you fuckin' do it. Nothing less. You get close enough to count how many fuckin' hairs he's got on his balls. Close enough to ask him anything, and jump when we say go.”
The line went dead. So did my soul.
“Mama?” Alex looked at me, a tiny frown on his face. He couldn't understand any of this, and thank god for that.
I walked over, scooped him up, and held him tighter than I had since before all this began. We sat on the bed while he lazily played with my hair.
Tomorrow, another level of hell waited. Tomorrow, I had to do anything and everything I could think of to save his life.
Mine didn't matter anymore.
The biggest mistake of my life wasn't the demon who kept calling and threatening me. I'd already made it six years ago, when I'd let myself fall for the rough, dirty boy who'd given me a ride home.
It wasn't Hatch's fault. It wasn't mine.
Goddamn it, this was Joker's fault. If he hadn't gotten so close, given me this kid I loved, driving me to my wit's end...
Closing my eyes, I sat there holding my baby boy, just reflecting. No, maybe I'd been too harsh. Too crazed.
Whatever mistakes I'd made, Alex hadn't been one of them. He was the only good thing that ever happened to me.
I had to keep him alive and smiling. Fucking had to.
He gripped my hand, his eyelids drooping in that sleepy, lovable way they always did when he got tired. I rocked him gently, hoping he'd go to sleep.
Hoped even more I'd force a miracle. There had to be some combination of words and actions on this earth I could use to get close to Joker.
Didn't stop my poor, savaged brain from drawing a complete blank. I was still struggling to fight through it, kicking myself, drowning in my frustration when I heard the motorcycle growl in the parking lot outside.
Alex woke up, jerked in my arms, and a man screamed outside. I held my baby tighter, standing up, trying to see what was happening out there.
Then all hell broke off its chain and came flying through the window.
6
Restless (Joker)
Several Hours Earlier
I fuckin' lied to her face, lied to myself, and even lied in front of my dog.
When I put my lips on Summer's, I'd been more at peace than when I cracked a hundred skulls. She brought me back to the time before Freddy died, before things went to shit.
The past was supposed to be dead. Gone. Standing next to her, it sure as hell wasn't.
That freaked me the fuck out.
I had to keep her away. Had to tell her I was as dead as I pretended, before she got her hooks into me. Had to avenge my brother, the only fuckin' thing that mattered, and I couldn't handle any goddamned distractions right now.
Soon as I pulled outta the parking lot, I headed for the Ruby Heel. Twenty minutes later, I had a mug of beer in my hand and I sat under Honey-Bee, watching her snow queen act.
She swung across the stage on a high swing, wearing those heels I wanted stabbing my ass, blowing handfuls of fake snow across the tiny crowd. From the corner of my eye, I saw two old ladies staring at me with sour puss frowns on their faces.