Authors: John Locke

Kill Jill (27 page)

Four days.

What?

That can’t be true. This must be an old paper.

But why would the goons hold on to an old paper?

They wouldn’t.

And there’s this: a receipt in the cup holder from the bar the goons visited earlier tonight.

Same date.

Okay, so he’s only been a prisoner for four days. That’s weird, but good, right? It means his vocal cords were removed what, three days ago? Is that possible? And if so, maybe the doctor gave him some antibiotics during the operation that could help him stay alive tonight.

He backs the truck up, cuts the wheels, puts it in gear, and follows the dirt road all the way to the highway, turns right, and does his best not to weave. His immediate plan is to get to Baton Rouge, find a veterinarian who’ll sew him up and give him some antibiotics. Then he’ll track Decker down and score the munitions necessary to blow up Bobby’s house. If it turns out Decker killed Jill, he’ll kill him after getting the weapons.

What if he can’t find Decker?

What
? Can’t find
Decker
? Is he
serious
? Where did
that
thought come from? Jack would laugh out loud if he could. Of
course
he’ll find Decker! Finding people is what he does best. But if he can’t find Decker in the next twenty-four hours he’ll have to score the munitions from someone else, because it won’t take long for Bobby to find out Jack’s alive.

So what’s the plan?

It’s…um...uh…blow up Bobby’s house, haul ass, and leave it to the cops to sift through the rubble, find the prisoners, and set them free. Then he’ll find out if Jill’s dead. If she is, he’ll find Decker and kill him. If she’s alive, he’ll ask if she can find it in her heart to give him another chance.

Even though he’s lost his voice. Even though his body will look like a jigsaw puzzle when the vet finishes stitching him up. Even though…

Jack’s distracted by the car coming up behind him at breakneck speed. Within seconds it pulls up beside him, adjusts to Jack’s speed. The passenger window goes down, and a stoner dude points behind Jack’s truck.

Jack waves.

The stoner car honks twice, and roars off like a scalded owl.

Thirty seconds pass as Jack watches the car become a small red dot on the horizon. Then he checks his rearview mirror and sees nothing. Not that he expected to. After all, it’s the wee hours of the morning, and pitch black out here, in the middle of nowhere.

Jack touches the brake pedal lightly, to illuminate the area behind him, and is surprised to see the bottom half of a man’s torso hanging from the hoist.

He slows down some more, to get a better look at what’s left of Ray, the naked goon, who’s flapping in the breeze.

For a minute he thinks about taking the next exit and getting the fuck off the highway. But then he remembers what happened the last time he did that. He wound up smack in the middle of the Virgin Boat Festival. That was what, five days ago?

Something like that.

And look at all that’s happened since!

Jack decides to pull a FIDO, which stands for
Fuck it, drive on!

After a few minutes Jack passes an exit and wonders if maybe he should at least pull over and dump the body on the side of the road. Wouldn’t that be the sensible thing to do?

No.

Because every time he deviates from a plan he takes a step backward. He planned to not sleep with the local girls in Willow Lake. He planned to not fall in love with Jill. He planned to take her straight to Bobby’s house. He deviated from all those plans, and look what happened.

Wait, did he think that already?

Enough.

This time, no deviation. Jack will stick to the plan, which is…which is…to drive straight to Baton Rouge. Yeah, that’s right. He’ll drive to Baton Rouge, where he’ll find a vet to sew him up and give him drugs. Then he’ll score munitions to blow up Bobby’s house. Then he’ll kill Bobby and the goons and help free the prisoners. Then he’ll find out if Jill’s alive. If so, he’ll try to talk her into living with him.

Except that he can’t talk.

No problem. He’ll learn sign language. But will she?

Probably not. So big deal, he’ll have to find a way to communicate. That’s fine, he’ll figure something out.

The key is to make a plan and stick to it.

He taps the brake and watches Ray swing in the breeze.

Jack’s fully aware some people might think he’s taking a chance by driving on the highway or through the streets of Baton Rouge with half a blood-soaked, leaking, naked torso hanging from a hook behind his tow truck. But Jack’s always been more of a “glass half-full” kind of guy.

An optimist.

He’ll stick to his plan. It’s a good one. A sound one.

And anyway, he’s made it this far, hasn’t he? After all he’s been through, what’re the chances something could possibly go wrong?

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JOHN LOCKE:

NEW YORK TIMES
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8th MEMBER of the KINDLE MILLION SALES CLUB!

(Other members: Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts,
Charlaine Harris, Lee Child, Suzanne Collins, Michael Connelly)

First self-published author to hit #1 on Amazon/Kindle!

First self-published author to hit Kindle Million Sales Club!

Sold 1,100,000 eBooks in 5 months through word of mouth!

Wrote and published 6 best-selling books in 3 separate genres in 6 months!

Had 4 of the top 10 eBooks on Amazon/Kindle at the same time, including #1 and #2!

Had 6 of the top 20, and 8 books in the top 43 at the same time!