First to Die - Kate Slayer Page 0,3

to grab it from my hand.

"Knock it off,” I said. “I'm not going to smoke it." I slapped his thieving hands away and put it behind my ear. "Just in case."

"Okay, Baretta." He mimicked the sound of the devil with his wicked laugh.

"Yeah, well, if I were Baretta, I'd already have this case solved, smart-ass." I smacked him on his arm.

"No argument here." He shook his head in agreement. "You're looking pretty ratty. You still carving out figure eights in the floor?"

I jerked my head back and gave him the look. "Shit, I've advanced to crop circles." I pulled the white tube of nicotine from my ear, ran it under my nose and took a big whiff of the tobacco. I felt the power of my old addiction pull me in. "July's the month I like to avoid, completely. Too many reminders and now all this to add to the list."

"Yeah, kiddo, I know." He paused to take another hit on the cigarette, looking down and shaking his head. "Sam, I don't think I’ve ever seen anything like this. His hand moved across his brow to wipe the sweat.

"I've seen too much. You can check me right into the Funny Farm after tonight." I’d witnessed too much violence in a short time in this town. It was out growing its charm faster than I could keep up with it. I wasn't sure if I had any kind of normal left in me. It does something awful to you, the kind of awful that takes you by the hand and pulls you down, screaming and kicking, into the deepest parts of hell. Monsters, lock ‘em all up. Better yet, put them on an island out in the middle of the ocean as far away from society as possible, with no means of escape, and let the fuckers kill each other.

"I'm going with you. We can request adjoining rooms." He smacked his hand on the dashboard. "I think that's our only way out of here."

"Are you going to take your foot off the brake anytime soon?"

Neville put the vehicle in reverse and spun the wheels on the asphalt. They squealed as he turned out of my driveway and headed east toward Church Street.

"Who called it in?" I couldn't imagine anyone stumbling into that kind of fright in the middle of the night.

"Cole, running on a welfare check." He looked over at me. "He found the body and Billy Randall."

"What the hell do you mean, Billy Randall?" I started to shake from the shock treatment.

"Thought he'd make a pit stop and lift some shit on his way home from a party down by the river. Swears the back window was already open when Cole caught him crawling out of it."

"Oh, come on!" My hands flew in the air. I liked Billy. In fact, I was pretty sure that I was the only one at the department that did. He needed help. My spare time involved bailing him out of all the shit he got himself into. I wondered if this kid was ever going to learn. This little trick was going to land him right in front of Judge Ramsey again.

"Fell right on her when he was sneaking in." Neville had a short fuse when it came to Billy and he was at the top of his list for dumb-ass of the year. Funny thing, he reminded me a lot of Neville. Always had himself in some kind of mess on a weekly basis.

"Shit, this just gets better. Nothing like having a contaminated scene."

"Yeah, he pissed himself," he said, circling his hand around his face, trying to push down the upward curve that was forming around his mouth.

"You're such a prick."

"But, you love me."

"I'll never admit it," I said in the scariest voice I could muster up. "Where's he at now? I'm surprised he didn't run."

"Yeah, really. At the station. Cole is babysitting and waiting for his parents to show." The poor kid would probably be spending the rest of the night there. We had better odds of finding a clean pipe in a crack house. "I'm really starting to hate this job."

"Nah, it's in your blood. Now, that brother of yours, that's another story. There's something tainted running through those veins of his." He shook his head and pointing toward the place we call the Junkyard on the west side of town. "Can't figure it out."

"Seriously? Pull over." I reached for the latch. "Let me out."

"Simmer down," he said, yanking on my