Hollywood Dead (Sandman Slim 10)

I hold up a hand as Roger opens his mean little mouth. He closes it again.

“Is Roger going to be giving me orders? Are any of these other idiots?”

Sandoval crosses her arms.

“I suppose not.”

“Can any of them help me stay in my body?”

“No.”

“Then fuck ’em.”

Roger and the other roaches’ heartbeats spike. I smell sweat. Roger starts to open his mouth again. I raise the Colt and point it at his stupid face.

“Hush, Roger. Grown-ups are talking.”

He clamps his mouth shut. I put the Colt in my waistband at my back. Okay. Enough of that stuff for now. Everyone is nice and rattled. Let’s see if someone says something interesting.

Sandoval stares at me, wondering if she made a huge mistake. When she doesn’t say anything, Sinclair steps forward.

“It’s not exactly a hit,” he says. “Though I suspect there will be a considerable number of casualties. What we need you to do is stop an event.”

He coughs wetly and wipes his mouth with a monogrammed hankie. When he’s done I say, “What kind of event?”

“Stupendous,” says Sandoval. “Cataclysmic.”

“Can you narrow that down a little?”

“No. All you need to know is that something awful will happen on Sunday unless you stop it.”

“And if I do I get put back in my body for good, completely alive?”

She raises her eyebrows a fraction of an inch, even as she says, “That’s the deal.”

The silk slippers they gave me are absurdly comfortable. I wiggle my toes in them, telling myself that this pack of jackals is going to keep its end of the bargain.

“I’d still like to know what kind of event.”

“I told you. No.”

“You see, it would help to know what I’m walking into. Am I knocking over a quinceañera or stopping a nuke launch? You get my meaning? It’s about preparations, appropriate tools, and my general attitude.”

“Maybe we should tell him,” says Sinclair.

“No,” says Sandoval. “It’s a trick.”

I look at Sinclair, then back at Sandoval.

“I know it has to do with the Wormwood bunch that broke away and opened their own lemonade stand without you.”

“No,” says Sandoval. “You do what we say and you get your body back. That’s all you need to know.”

I don’t say anything long enough for the room to get uncomfortable. Sandoval gives me the stink eye and I give it right back.

“I think we should tell him,” says Sinclair.

Eva shakes her head.