Fear itself

Dead Man Whispering
1

Simon Childs was no fool. He’d always understood that the fear game was inherently risky and, moreover, that the risk was potentially fatal, not because California was a death-penalty state, but because for Simon, imprisonment was simply not an option. For years he’d kept the huge leather satchel he called his getaway bag packed and ready, stuffed with cash, drugs, prescription and otherwise, fake ID and credit cards, and in the event it all went south, a little blue capsule that, Zap Strum had assured him, was the same formulation issued by the CIA to its operatives. Just bite down, Zap promised Simon-an instantaneous death is guaranteed.

“What’s in it?” he’d asked.

“Dunno.”

“Will it be painless?”

“Hard to say: nobody who’s actually taken one has ever lived long enough to tell anybody.”

Despite Simon’s precautions, it wasn’t until he was in the Mercedes, driving north on Grizzly Rock with the satchel beside him on the passenger’s seat and what seemed like every emergency vehicle in Alameda County passing him in the opposite direction, lights flashing and sirens blaring, that it began to sink in: this is actually happening, buckaroo-this is Plan B for real.

But not Plan B as he’d envisioned it. It was all happening too fast. Forget Mexico-they’d have a description of the Mercedes out before he made it to South San Francisco, much less south of the border. Which meant he had to get it off the road pronto. But where? And then what? And what about-

No. He couldn’t allow himself to start thinking about Missy just yet. He felt so guilty about leaving her. Not that Pender had left him with any choice. Hiding behind her like that-what a coward. And of course if Pender hadn’t taken advantage of Missy’s disability by tricking her into letting him into the house, where he had no right to be, or if Pender hadn’t stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong in the first place…

Pender, Pender, Pender-it all came down to Pender, didn’t it?

For Simon, it was a calming revelation, even comforting somehow; he turned his attention back to his more immediate concern: getting this red-hot, highly conspicuous car off the road as soon as possible.