First to Die - Kate Slayer Page 0,2

the scene. Not this time. I stumbled in the black haze that crept in with the tone of the Jason's voice thrashing inside my head. My physical movement was barely navigational and I didn't recall the amount of time that had clicked away.

Chapter 2

Max was sitting by the door waiting for me. "Not this time, baby." I ran my finger from the tip of her nose to the back of her ear. "Be right back." Her eyes translated my words into a lie. I’d pulled Maxine from a cardboard box on the corner of Brush and Third Street on a suffocating August night four years ago. I was rarely seen without her, but she would have to sit this one out. I opened the side door that led to the garage. My Jeep was backed in for an easy getaway. A rusted heap of metal, but it always got me to where I needed to be.

I reached around and pressed the button on the inside wall and released the paneled, wood door to a slow and grinding rise. I was greeted by a blinding glow of headlights. I froze for a moment and realized that it was Sergeant Mike Neville waiting in the unmarked, waving his arm frantically out the driver's side window like the prick that had cut me off last night on I-80.

Neville was a badass. The kind of guy that nobody messed with. A modern day gunslinger from the Wild West. He worked the night shift, eleven to seven, and if there was any trouble to find, he was always in the middle of it. On my first day at the Riverview Police Department, everyone had warned me about Neville but I had an inside line on the guy. You couldn't grow up in Riverview without hearing a story about Neville. He was my dad's favorite, but I was warned to stay away.

"He's a shit magnet and you don't want to mess with that."

"He's been in shootouts, high speed chases, been shot, and dragged down the highway on several occasions."

"Nothing but trouble."

Scare tactics to keep me safe. Naturally, I gravitated in his direction. What girl in her right mind could resist a ride to the wild side? He passed on every promotion to stay on the road. Said if they put him behind a desk, it would kill him. I believed him.

I had the morning shift when I started, but every chance I had, I was sitting shotgun in the unmarked. We drove for hours. Pouching, he called it. Mainlining pure adrenaline. We’d had plenty of criminals to contend with and they filtered in enough to keep us dancing through the nights. As far as Neville was concerned if the crime and evil was heading our way, it was his job to coordinate and carry out the appropriate retaliation. It was a wonder I was still alive.

I shuffled my way to the car and squeezed in with a cloud of smoldering tobacco.

"Hey." I pushed the black duffel bag filled with convenience store paraphernalia over to the center with my butt. "Pick a girl up for a date, at least clean your damn car," I said, struggling to find a comfortable spot. "What the hell are you doing here?" I kicked away the empty coffee cups scattered on the floor around with my feet.

"Jason sent me to collect you."

"I'm not surprised. He's been hunting me down like a debt collector for the past week."

"Block his number like I do," he laughed.

"Trust me, he'd find another way."

"Can't blame a guy for trying."

"Please tell me this is a hallucination."

"Nope, it's a shit show," He said while sucking on a cigarette.

"Fuck." I laughed nervously and reached up to press the remote that wasn't there. "Automatic reflex," I said before he busted me for my hereditary psychosis. "Have you been in there yet?" I pulled my jacket closed in a half-assed effort to cover myself from the shit that was coming our way. It was hotter than hell out, but I could feel an icy chill move across my body.

"Yep, not good." He hopped out of the car and walked up to the keypad, punched in the code and closed the door. I reached over, took a cigarette from his open pack sitting on the dashboard and switched the radio back to channel 1 to listen to all traffic.

"Didn't you quit?" he snarled at me as he slid into the black vinyl seat. "Put it back." He reached in my direction, trying