The Getaway God (Sandman Slim 6)
Page 160
“This might be a good moment to leave,” says Samael.
“Hold on a second. I have an idea.”
I grab the Hellion hog and roll it off the street, hiding it in a flooded restaurant, between the broken furniture and the islands of rotting arugula.
“Come on,” I say. “And grab her.”
Samael frowns.
“Where are we going and who is this?”
“Just grab her.”
I head for where the cops went down. There’s no trace of them and no keys in the car. I pull out the black blade and jam it into the ignition. Turn it hard. The engine revs loud and strong.
Samael trots to the car with the woman’s body in his arms. I open the passenger door.
“I don’t have a key to the backseat.”
“Please,” he says, a little disgusted.
He touches the door and it pops open. Right. Locks. An easy trick for angels. He tosses the chop-shop body into the back and settles on the passenger seat.
“This is fun,” he says. “Are we on a scavenger hunt?”
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I throw the car into reverse and floor it. Water geysers on both sides as I twist the car into the clumsiest one-eighty in the history of car theft, pop it into drive, and head back across town. Ruach and Shaky are still throwing kaiju kung fu in the rearview mirror as I break every speed law in L.A. county.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” says Samael.
“You’re about to save the world. But give me a minute, I have to make a call.”
I get out my phone and thumb Candy’s number.
“Hey. Where are you?” she says.
“How are you feeling?”
“A lot better. Is anything wrong? You sound out of breath.”
“Everything’s fine. I just wanted to check in on you.”
“That’s sweet. Do you have my ice cream?”
“Not exactly. But I have a corpse and a few hundred hellhounds. And I stole a cop car.”
“That’s fun. Pick me up. We’ll toss a coin to see who gets the handcuffs first. A car will be harder to break than furniture, but maybe more fun.”
“Sounds great, but I’m sort of busy right now. I did mention the corpse and hellhounds, right?”
“Fine. Be a drag. But come home soon. I don’t want to spend my last hours on Earth drinking peppermint tea with Kasabian.”
“Peppermint tea?”
“I’m still a little dizzy. Peppermint helps.”
“I’m living with a hippie.”