Free Suspect Zero by Richard Kadrey Page B

know what was happening until he heard it go off. Sonny dropped the clipboard and fell to his knees, clutching his beer belly. He stayed kneeling and swaying until the driver lowered the .45 and shot him in the back of the head. Sonny went down hard. For a second, Gabriel couldn’t breathe. He wanted to look up at the driver, but it felt like his eyes were stuck on Sonny’s body by a powerful magnetic force. He didn’t move until he heard the driver’s voice.
    “Hey. You just going to stand there? This is a work night. Come on.”
    The rest of the crew had scattered all over the warehouse at the sound of the first shot. It didn’t seem to faze the driver. Gabriel watched in a kind of cold awe as he calmly walked the warehouse aisles shooting each man in turn. Like he knows exactly where they are, he thought.
    The driver went into the enclosed dispatcher’s office and Gabriel followed him. The driver had the gun pointed at something behind a battered wooden desk piled high with pink, yellow and green forms. When Gabriel got closer he saw the fifth warehouse worker in a fetal position on the floor. The man was in gray overalls and worn work boots. He shook like a child lost in a blizzard. When Gabriel was close enough to lean over the desk, the driver handed him the pistol.
    “I saved this one for you. It’s why you’re here, ain’t it? Why you got in my truck.”
    The driver kept the gun outstretched toward Gabriel. The boy stared at it, feeling his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. He breathed and stared. He knew he was staring for a long time. It felt like years. The knife against his leg had gone cold, like it was strange and no longer a part of him. No, this wasn’t exactly what he’d gotten into the truck for, but like before, he didn’t want to end up back in the rain.
    Gabriel reached out and took the gun. Pointed it at the man on the floor and pulled the trigger. He flinched at the deafening explosion. Gabriel looked at the driver, who had both hands clamped over his ears.
    “Small rooms,” the driver said and laughed. “Ain’t they a bitch?”
    The man on the floor moaned. They both looked at him.
    “I think you missed, champ. Give her another go.”
    The man on the floor whimpered loudly.
    “Shut up!” the driver shouted. “Can’t you see the boy’s trying to concentrate?”
    Gabriel didn’t hesitate this time. Bringing the gun up fast into firing position, he pulled the trigger. The man on the floor twitched, but there wasn’t any blood. He’d missed again.
    The driver came over and patted him on the shoulder.
    “Don’t feel bad. You’re cold and tired. You’ll get the next one.”
    The driver took the pistol and went to the warehouseman and kicked the sole of one of his shoes. He began to sing.
    “When you’re smiling, when you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you.”
    The man lowered his hands a little and looked up. The driver shot him through the right eye.
    “We’re done here, I think. You didn’t spot anyone I missed, did you?”
    Gabriel looked up from the body. It took him a second to register the driver’s question. He shook his head.
    “No. He’s the last.”
    “Let’s do like that singer with the funny nose said and ease on down the road.”
    He took Gabriel’s arm and led him out of the office, pausing only to steal a silver cigarette lighter off the dispatcher’s desk. As they passed Sonny’s body on the way out, the driver grabbed the dolly and took the signed delivery form off of the clipboard. He wadded it up and put it in the breast pocket of his shirt. Outside, he loaded the dolly back into the trailer while Gabriel got back into the truck cab.
    A second later the driver climbed in and pulled the door shut. He reached behind Gabriel’s seat and pulled out a green plastic trash bag. Slipping off his hunting jacket, he unbuttoned his shirt. Gabriel looked at him, at the man’s calm, efficient movement. He took off the blood-splattered