Sandman Slim (Sandman Slim 1)

"Then you have every reason to want some payback, too."

"Don't you think I would have if I could? Look at me! I even had to steal this stupid store just to earn a living. Then a dead guy comes in and cuts off my head. Yeah, I'm the one who's going to put down Mason Faim."

"No, I am. You just point me at him."

"I told you, I don't know where he is. He's gone. He's Kayzer Soze."

"What about the others?"

"You're asking a lot, man."

"No. I'm asking for exactly what I'm owed." I take a smoke again. I don't want to get into the next thing. "Tell me, Kas, like your life depended on it. Who killed Alice?"

Kasabian's eyes dart back and forth in his head like they're looking for the eject button. I recognize the look of panic. It almost feels like I can hear his heart speed up. But he doesn't have a body, though maybe he's still somehow connected to it.

"You know about that? All the way down there and you know about that?"

"Talk to me, Kas. The coyotes are calling."

I look at the floor, but I don't move. If I move, I'm going to break like glass. I can't stand talking about her. I raise my gaze to meet Kasabian's. If he had a body, he would have bolted.

"I don't know much. It's not like Mason or anyone stops by to talk over old times. I get the same rumors as everybody else. I heard Parker did it."

"Mason sent him?"

"Parker doesn't shit unless Mason tells him it's okay, so yeah, Mason must have told him to do it."

"Why? After all these years, why would he do that?"

"I don't known, man. Seriously."

I stare into Kasabian's eyes and know he isn't lying. He's absolutely panicked as I come over to him. When I take the burning cigarette out of the ashtray and let him finish it, he looks so relieved I think he's going to cry.

My Alice is dead and I'm alone.

"Tell me about the store," I say. "How many employees are there?"

"Four or five. College kids. They come and go. It changes with classes and holidays. Allegra is the only one with any brains."

"Who's she?"

"She manages the place. I don't like being down there with the customers."

"She runs the place so you can stay up here and bootleg movies."

"We do what we have to do to get by. I bet you did some dirty trick or two when you were in Hell."

"You have no idea," I tell him. "What time do you open in the morning? Does Allegra open the place?"

"Ten. Yeah, she does."

There's a closet behind the door to the stairs. I push the stairs door closed and open the closet. It's mostly empty, except for waist-high metal storage shelves. I drag the body into the back of the closet, then bring in Kasabian's head. I set him on top of the shelves. He says, "I'm a little claustrophobic."

I look around the room. He can't stay out in the open, in case someone comes up here. There's a small bathroom, but there's no way that I'm having Kasabian share my morning pee. Sitting on the bottom of one of the shelves is a small portable TV. I plug it in and turn it on while fiddling with its old-fashioned rabbit-ear antenna. A local news show comes on and I put the set on the shelf with Kasabian.

"Maybe this'll ease your pain."

Kasabian frowns. "You're a real prick, Jimmy."