Desperate Souls by Gregory Lamberson Read Free Book Online Page B

dealer disappeared beneath the car.
    Jake stomped on the brake and searched his rearview mirror for signs of movement. He saw Do-rag lying on his back in the street. The drug dealer rolled over, planted his palms on the asphalt, and raised his head, staring at Jake’s car.
    Oh no you don’t!
Jake’s temples throbbed. He refused to get tangled up in this kind of shit again.
    Do-rag did a single push-up, which allowed him to stand. He still held the Glock, and as Hoodie One and Louis joined him in their triangular pattern, he raised the gun and fired it. The rear windshield turned into a pattern of white cracks.
    Jake shifted the car into reverse, glanced at his side mirror, and floored the gas. The car lurched backwards, and the three figures grew larger in the side mirror. Jake heard a series of bangs against the rear bumper and trunk and saw Hoodie One roll clear across the street until his body collided with the curb. Then Do-rag came into view, lying once more on his back, his chest torn open and his rib cage winking at the moon, no blood glistening on the bone. Out of the corner of his eye, Jake glimpsed Louis crouching behind the sedan he had smashed against. Stepping on the brake, Jake waited.
    Do-rag got to his feet and turned around, his ruptured torso grinning at Jake like a jack-o’-lantern. His legs buckled, and his shattered left arm swung at his side like a pendulum. Hoodie One stood as well.
    “FUCK YOU!”
    Shifting gears again, Jake sped forward even as Do-rag’s grunts lumbered toward him. Do-rag raised his Glock, but Jake smashed into him. This time the gun went flying. As the gangbanger disappeared beneath the car once more, Jake stomped the brake pedal. He didn’t wait to see Do-rag rise again; instead, he shifted the car into reverse and backed up at full speed. The car shook, and he heard a loud snapping sound.
    Stopping the car, he glared at the crumpled heap on the street. Bones jutted out from pulverized flesh, and way too many joints undulated. Shifting the gear again, Jake revved the engine. Then the thing on the ground turned its faceless head toward him. Jake sped forward, aiming the front left wheel for the grisly mass perched between the thing’s shoulders.
    Do-rag disappeared from view, and Jake heard a loud crunch as the Malibu shook. A sudden flash of light coming from beneath the car caused Jake to believe that Do-rag had fired his Glock one more time. But Jake had seen the dead dealer discard the weapon!
    What in the world
—
?
    As Jake sped away from the carnage, he looked into the side mirror. A sphere of tarnished light rose from the broken body in the street.
    No no no no NO!
    As Do-rag’s soul rose into the night sky, it darkened into a pustulant gray mass and disappeared.
    Jake stopped the car again, jumped out, and gazed at the sky. He saw no sign of Do-rag’s soul, which had no doubt begun its journey to its ultimate destination. Jake’s knees wobbled. He had not witnessed such a light show since the demon Cain had claimed Old Nick’s soul in the Tower. The entire episode had left him wondering if he would continue to see souls leaving the bodies of those killed in front of him. Now he knew the answer.
    Hoodie One and Louis approached Do-rag’s shell from opposite directions, and Jake turned to get back into his Malibu. The squealing of tires made him look up just as a black Escalade raced around the corner ahead of him, its headlights forcing him to squint. He dove into the front seat and shifted the gear without even reaching for the door. The Escalade bore down on him. Stepping on the gas, he spun the steering wheel right. The Malibu jumped out of the Escalade’s path, but the SUV tore the open door from its hinges and flung it sparking across the street.
    Steering his car into the proper lane, Jake craned his neck and watched the Escalade smash into Hoodie One and Louis, hurling them aside like department store mannequins. Jake stopped the car long enough to fasten