Free Darker Things (The Lockman Chronicles #1) by Rob Cornell Page A

they see you?” he asked.
    “I don’t know. Probably. I was just standing out there when they pulled up. How could they have found us?”
    Lockman ignored the question and turned to the woman in the pinstriped pantsuit.
    She looked mildly puzzled, but not the least bit alarmed. This was Vegas. She had probably dealt with all sorts of odd couples. “I take it someone doesn’t approve of the relationship,” she said without a trace of judgment herself.
    “You have a back way out of here?”
    “Of course. Would you like me to stall for you?”
    “It’s probably better if you leave too.”
    “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
    “I’m sure you’ve seen your share of freaks, but the freak show about to come through your door will make everyone else look like amateurs.”
    “Please. How bad can they be?”
    “They’ll probably be armed.”
    One eyebrow quirked up. “In that case…” She moved to a small, ornate desk in one corner, reached into a drawer, and pulled out a nickel-plated .45 almost as big as she was. She racked the slide. “I’ll be ready.”
    “Only in Vegas.” Lockman grabbed Jessie by the arm and pulled her with him into the chapel proper, which amounted to six rows of pews and a raised platform at the head of the room with a small podium. Not nearly as gaudy as one would expect, but this was probably the empty canvas upon which to paint the Vegas wedding only true lovers could appreciate.
    The chapel owner followed them in and pointed to a door by the podium. “Through there is a small dressing room and a fire exit to the back lot. And don’t worry. Love defies age. I can tell you two were made for each other.”
    Jessie made a gagging sound. “Gross.”
    Lockman pulled her down the aisle. “You ever get married in a place like this, I’ll deny having any part in your creation.”
    “Wouldn’t change much on my end, would it?”
    He noticed the bitterness in her remark. More than her usual sarcasm. He stayed focused and led her out the back, both of them squinting in the blazing sunlight.
    They stood in a small lot with space enough for three cars. Two of the spots were taken by a red Ferrari and a white cargo van.
    “Are we really going to leave her to face them?” Jessie asked.
    Lockman guided her to the cargo van and checked the driver’s side door. Unlocked. “She didn’t want to come.”
    “She doesn’t know what’s gonna come through her door.”
    “And I didn’t have time to convince her.” He climbed behind the van’s wheel and went to work hotwiring. “Get in.”
    “You can’t just leave her.”
    “Listen to me. I can only save so many lives in a single day. Right now my priority is reconnecting with my people and getting you safe.”
    “I didn’t ask for your protection.”
    He got the van started. The motor chugged reluctantly at best. “She’s fine. They’ll probably question her and move on. But we have to make sure we’re gone. Now.”
    He no sooner said it when the man in the suit stepped out the back door. He looked no more threatening than a salesman. The oddest feature on him was the thick beard and dark eyebrows. The man spotted them at the van and stalked toward them.
    Jessie shaded her eyes with a hand and watched him head over.
    “Get in,” Lockman said.
    “Maybe that’s one of your people.”
    “It isn’t.”
    “How do you know? Isn’t this supposed to be your contact place?”
    “Not anymore.” He grabbed her and pulled her into the van, lifting her over his lap and tossing her into the passenger seat. He threw the van in gear and stamped on the gas pedal.
    The man in the suit froze.
    Lockman drove the car right into him.
    Jessie threw her hands over her eyes. “Oh my God, what are you doing?”
    The man clung to the hood even after impact.
    Lockman kept on the gas and smashed into the back wall of the chapel, pinning the man in the suit between the front of the van and the building.
    The man jerked and spat blood across the