“Must be something wrong with the sight,” Lula said. “At least you don’t have to drive a car that’s got no reverse.”
The Monte was a fireball.
“You got insurance, right?” Lula asked.
Delvina and his men stood in open mouthed shock for a beat. Then they all dove into their cars and drove away. Diesel opened the door and looked out at my car.
He was hands on hips, and from my perch high above him, I could see he was smiling. You want to make a man smile... just blow up a car with a rocket.
Rain had started misting down on us. I packed up the ammo, and Lula and Connie shouldered their rifles.
“Hey,” the guy with the shot-?off toe said. “What about us?”
“Someone will come up here looking for you... probably,” Connie said.
“Yeah, but it’s raining. I’m gonna get a cold.”
“Hold on,” Lula said, peering over the edge of the building. “The one black car is coming back.”
Connie and I ran to the edge and looked down. It was Delvina’s car. It pulled up to the front door, and Delvina got out and stormed into the building.
“You guys stay here and make sure no one else goes in,” I said. “I’m going downstairs to help Diesel.”
“Here,” Connie said. “Take my flashlight and this microwave stunner. It’s new. Vinnie won it in a crap game last week. Just point it like a gun and pull the trigger. It doesn’t do any permanent damage, but it makes your skin feel like it’s on fire.”
I took the stunner and ran down the stairs into the dark lobby. I stood and listened. There was a corridor to my left and a corridor to my right. Multiple movie theaters opened off the two corridors. I thought I heard movement in the right co
rridor. I crept along, hand to the wall, feeling my way in total blackness. I didn’t want to give myself away by using the flashlight.
I stopped and listened again. I was at the entrance to one of the theaters, and I could hear the very faint murmur of voices. I held my breath and eased inside. I tiptoed up the ramp that led to the stadium seating and cautiously moved into the aisle.
Delvina, Diesel, and Grandma were about twenty rows in front of me. Grandma and Diesel were facing me, caught in the glare of Delvina’s flashlight. I saw Diesel’s eyes flick to me for a nanosecond and return to Delvina.
“You know how I found you in here?” Delvina said to Grandma and Diesel. “I got a nose for it. I didn’t get where I am for no reason. I’m cagey. And I got a nose for danger. I see danger and I get rid of it. You know what I’m saying?”
“No,” Grandma said. “You’re a nut.”
“I’m saying you’re disturbing my comfort level,” Delvina said. “So I’m gonna have to get rid of you. Both of you. I should have gotten rid of you last month when you gave me this rash,” he said to Diesel. “I know it was you. And you said you were gonna turn me into a toad, and now look at me. It’s happening.”
I aimed the stunner at Delvina’s neck and hit the GO button.
“Yow,” Delvina said, slapping at his neck.
He still had the gun trained on Grandma, but he was hopping around, and I couldn’t keep the microwave stunner on target.
“It’s you,” he said to Diesel. “You’re sending bugs to bite me, right? Fire bugs. I know you’re not normal. O’Connor even said so. He said you had these skills. You and that horse. You’re in this together, aren’t you? Putting thoughts in my head.”
“What kind of thoughts?” Grandma wanted to know.
“Horse thoughts,” Delvina said. “He talks to me. I hear him in my head. What kind of horse does that?”
“Maybe he’s an alien horse,” Grandma said. “I saw a television show once about how these aliens came down to this place in Arizona and were controlling people’s minds and making them go on all these porno sites on the Internet.”
Delvina stopped moving, and I aimed for the hand that was holding the gun. He yelped, dropped the gun, and grabbed his hand.
“Get him!” Grandma yelled.
Delvina grabbed her, shoved her into Diesel, and took off running. By the time Diesel had untangled himself from Grandma, Delvina was out of the theater. I ran after him, but he had a good head start. Surprising how fast he could move his bloated body on his skinny little toad legs.