Ballistic Kiss (Sandman Slim 11)

“Think back to when Kenny appeared. I think all of the Stay Below appearances—the ones in Little Cairo, in my place, in Vidocq’s place, and Kenny’s appearance—come from one source: Dan and Juliette.”

They throw up their hands in disgust.

“If that’s all you have to say, get out.”

“Please listen. They’re dangerous people. They’ve tried to kill me more than once, and I don’t mean their hokey vampire. They almost killed you. I don’t even know how many people they’ve killed in Little Cairo. They probably didn’t mean to do it, but do you think they’d care?”

Now Janet comes to me, their face hard and angry.

“You’ve always had it in for them, from the first time you met them. The Lodge is important to me and you never gave it or them a chance.”

“I was there three times. All three times, they did something vile, and you almost died twice. Didn’t give them a chance? I didn’t kill them because of you. But I’m telling you, Dan and Juliette are reckless and stupid and I know they’re at the center of all the spook activity in L.A.”

Janet shakes their head.

“That’s impossible. They just learned about sacrifices the other night.”

“Who says so? Kenny? Kenny’s dead. Dan and Juliette? Dan said that he had a lot of experience with summoning hoodoo. He had the necromancer mask, the phurba, the horn, and knew the chants. What if he and Juliette were experimenting with summoning before but got it all wrong? What if the dove wasn’t the first sacrifice? They tried it before, got it wrong, got scared, then called Kenny back so he can tell them how to do it right the next time.”

“I don’t believe you. You don’t like them so you’re coming up with all kinds of reasons not to trust them.”

I’m not getting through to them at all. Time to try something else.

“Maybe you’re right. But I’ve been wondering about your friend Cassandra. The one who was killed by a crackhead. When did it happen?”

Janet looks down at the floor.

“A little over two weeks ago.”

“I thought so. That’s right around the same time as the Stay Belows first appeared in Little Cairo. What if Dan and Juliette tried to open the gate to the Land of the Dead on their own, but they needed a sacrifice?”

Janet looks at me hard.

“You think they killed Cassandra?”

“I wouldn’t put it past them.”

Now Janet smiles, but it’s thin and sad.

Here comes the hard part. Something I haven’t wanted to think about but has been bothering me.

I say, “You know, for someone who was supposed to be such a close friend, you seem to have gotten over Cassandra’s death pretty fast.”

They grab a book and throw it at me.

“I told you mourning wasn’t allowed,” they scream. “Just because I don’t run around crying and acting out my worst impulses like you do, I’m some kind of monster? Takes one to know one, I guess. Fuck you. Get out and never come near me or the Lodge again.”

I look at their eyes. Listen to their heartbeat.

“You’re going there tonight, aren’t you?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“That’s a yes. Please don’t. Give me one day and I’ll be able to prove everything.”

There are tears in Janet’s eyes when they say, “If you ever cared about me even a little, leave now. No more questions. No theories. No nothing. Just go.”

I leave and they quietly close the door behind me.