Ballistic Kiss (Sandman Slim 11)

“More than okay.”

“Cool. I’m going to make a sandwich.”

“I’ll be in in a minute.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m still thinking about Stein.”

“He did kick your ass pretty thoroughly.”

“I just have this feeling that if I can figure him out, I’ll figure out the whole haunting.”

“You do that, Gandalf. I’m going to roast beef myself. I’ll get you some too.”

I take out my phone and call Abbot. He answers on the second ring.

“Stark. How did things go?”

“On a scale of one to ten, about a negative nine.”

“What happened?”

“It was all really interesting for a while and then one of them threw me out of a second-floor window.”

“What? Are you all right? Do you need a doctor?”

“I’m fine. I landed on my head. By the way, nice move not mentioning that they’re bloodthirsty murder freaks.”

“You saw the bloodstains, I take it?”

I lower my voice so Candy won’t hear.

“I saw them rip two people apart.”

He doesn’t say anything for a second.

Finally, “Tell me everything.”

“I think your people missed some civilians. Maybe a lot of them.”

“The crews were very thorough.”

“If I’m right, people are going to run out of food and water and decide to make a run for it. These guys didn’t get far.”

Abbot says, “You’re sure they’re dead?”

“They’re in about fifty pieces all over someone’s lawn, so yeah, I’m reasonably sure.”

“This is awful. I’ll send a crew in the morning to identify the bodies.”

I rub my sore shoulder.

“I should have known that if all you

r people couldn’t clear out that bunch, it wasn’t going to be easy. Maybe getting tossed out a window is what I deserved.”

“Did you learn anything about them? Did you see any weakness?”