Demon Derby Read Online Free PDF Page B

up; I felt like I’d been shoved into a dryer with a couple of bricks and left to rattle around for a few hours. “There’s nothing to tell. Detective Johnson showed me a bunch of pictures, but none of them was the guy.”
    “So if it wasn’t such a big deal, why are we running like the hounds of hell are about to pounce on us and devour our gizzards?”
    “Dude, people don’t have gizzards. That’s chicken.”
    “Whatever.”
    Rachel pulled out her keys and pressed the button to unlock the doors to her Mini Cooper. We got in and immediately rolled down the windows. It was already warm even though it was still midmorning; the air felt soupy and on the verge of rain.
    “Okay,” I said. “I’ve got to tell you something. It’s driving me nuts.”
    “All right.” Rachel folded her hands and put on her best listening face, which normally made me want to laugh. Normally. “Spill.”
    So I told it all, starting with the disembodied voice and ending with the … well, the disembodied voice. And then I waited for her to call me a lunatic.
    “You sound like Dad,” Rachel said.
    Our father believed in everything. His reality included things like men in black, alien abduction, spirit animals, demonic possession, voodoo dolls, Kyrilian photography, leprechauns, poltergeists, Ouija boards, reincarnation, pyrokinesis, subliminal messages that could be blocked by the generous application of tinfoil, and the theory that dolphins were really Atlanteans in disguise. The fact that some of these beliefs were incompatible never seemed to bother him. Frankly, he didn’t even appear to have noticed.
    “I know.” I hung my head. “But I don’t know what to think. At first, I figured maybe I’d gotten my meds mixed up. But I would have noticed that, right?”
    “I’d think so.”
    “So …” I didn’t want to say what I was thinking.
    “It’s the only logical explanation, Casey. He flicked a cigarette at you, just like that cop said, and you hallucinated it was tears. I mean, stranger things have happened. One time when I came to see you in the hospital, you were so doped up you thought I was Lady Gaga. And I wasn’t even wearing my meat dress that day.”
    “Yeah, I guess.”
    “You sound less than convinced.”
    I threw up my arms. “Well, this sucks! I don’t know what was real. Maybe the guy didn’t look at all like I thought. Maybe he was an albino midget with only one arm. How do I know I’m even telling them to look for the right freaking person?”
    Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks, but I wiped them away ferociously. I hated feeling scared, and things like this, inexplicable things, terrified me. Because there was another explanation I couldn’t bring myself to say out loud. That stupid voice at the back of my head kept squealing,
Brain tumor! It’s a brain tumor! It was only a matter of time!
I tried to tell myself the voice was full of crap, but if I hadn’t dorked up my meds, it was the only other logical explanation. I was hallucinating for no reason. That couldn’t be good.
    “I hear what you’re saying.” She sighed. “But getting all worked up over it is only going to make you red in the face, and with the no-hair thing, you’ll look like a tomato on a stick.”
    After a shocked moment, I started giggling. “I can’t believe you said that.”
    “Me either.” She flashed a grin, but it faded fast. “All joking aside, though, this pisses me off. It’s like, we almost lose you once, and then some crack-smoking douche bag comes by and almost kills you in an alley? I’m seriously not okay with this.”
    I sighed. “I’m fine, Rachel. It was scary as hell, but I’m okay.” What I needed was to go to a hospital, but I wasn’t ready to face it yet. I could hide my head in the sand for just a little while.
    “Did you tell Detective Whatshisname the whole story or the edited one? You need to tell him everything, even if it makes you feel stupid.”
    “I left out the parts