Free Go Kill Crazy! by Bryan Smith Page B

properly process it all. But then the world came back into sharp focus—or relatively so, given all the booze she’d consumed—and she flagged the server down to pay the bill.
    Dez joined her on the sidewalk outside a couple minutes later. It was late afternoon now and the flow of traffic in the street next to the bar was much thicker. A glance at her phone showed several more missed calls. As expected, some were from Casey, but a few were from the club. She recalled how she’d fled from there without explanation and felt a stab of anxiety.
    Hmm…I may be in a little trouble here.
    She blinked when Dez snapped her fingers in front of her face. “Earth to Echo. This way.”
    She stepped off the sidewalk and started across the parking lot. Echo shrugged and followed her over to a black Impala. The big car looked like it was an early 70’s model.
    Dez dug around inside her purse a minute before pulling out a ring of keys. She shot a wicked grin at Echo. “You ready for this shit, bitch?”
    Echo wasn’t sure. She didn’t know what it was Dez wanted to show her, but she could make some educated guesses based on her story. One in particular seemed more likely than anything else and it troubled her deeply. “Um…”
    Dez laughed. “Fuck it. Get ready, baby.”
    She unlocked the trunk and flipped it open.
    Echo slapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a loud gasp. Dez leaned against the edge of the trunk and studied her face, smirking broadly.
    There was a man in the trunk. And he matched the vivid description of one of the lead characters from Dez’s personal tale of woe. He was a big, dumpy man dressed in dirty clothing. He was bald and had a livid scar that ran from his left temple down to his mouth. This was all as expected.
    Echo pulled her hand away from her mouth and let out a breath as she moved in for a closer look. “Is that…is he…”
    Dez was smiling as she nodded. “You bet your beautiful ass.”
    Echo shook her head. “Wow.”
    “Yeah. Wow.”
    The identity of the guy in the trunk was the expected part. The simple fact of his existence confirmed all the insane horror show stuff Dez had told her. The unexpected part of the equation was that he was still alive. He was tightly bound with thick rope and many layers of duct tape covered his mouth.
    But he was alive.
    Echo shook her head and stared at the living monster with morbid fascination. She knew without being told that Dez meant to kill the guy. No way could she let him live after all the rotten things he had done. Knowing she was looking at a living dead man should have repelled her, but it did not. Strangely, the opposite happened. Her stomach began to settle and she experienced a weird kind of serenity. There was a sense of being precisely where she was meant to be at this exact moment in time.
    This was destiny.
    Dez sidled closer to Echo and slid a hand inside a rear pocket of her cutoffs. “So what do you say? Want to keep the party going, maybe help me fuck this guy up some more?”
    Echo stared at the man’s wide, pleading eyes for a few moments and tried hard to feel any sympathy at all. Then she shuddered as Dez’s fingers clenched against her ass, sending an electrifying shiver of Dezsexuality rippling through her body.
    She looked at Dez. “I’ll do anything you want.”
    Dez smiled. “I know.”
    She pulled Echo close and kissed her with hungry abandon.

Chapter Seven
    De Rais Ranch
    Two weeks before the shootout on 2 nd Avenue
    Keely woke up in the big, empty field that occupied the southernmost portion of the ranch property owned by John Wayne de Rais. The compound functioned as the headquarters of the Order of Wandering Souls. The ground was hard and rocky and not at all an ideal place to spend a night under the stars. Not without a tent or sleeping bag, at least. Keely had neither of those things.
    She groaned as she stretched her body and forced her bleary eyes open. It was a clear day and the sun’s position in the sky