Maggie Get Your Gun Read Online Free PDF Page A

justifiable
homicide.”
    “Rest,” Killian said, patting my shoulder, “I shall change
the tire.”
    I didn’t argue.  Killian got the spare on and we were on
the road in about twenty minutes.  I let him drive.  I wasn’t feeling like
anyone’s life should be in my hands anytime soon.  The next closest town out in
the middle of our corner of nowhere was Barstow.  Able to top out our speed at
30MPH, that seventeen mile drive took about forty minutes.  As cars whizzed by,
tooting their horns and giving us the old one finger salute, I entertained
myself with all the different ways I was going to kill Mr. Smith.  We finally got
a full sized tire at a ridiculously expensive price and were on the road again,
hitting Los Angeles about two hours after that.
    “Where would you like to cross?” asked Killian.
    I would have loved to have just jumped through one of the
lovely legal portals.  You know, someplace that would not put my entire career
at risk if anyone figured out what I was doing, but I knew too little about the
comb.  Who knew how many fucking bells and whistles it might set off.  I cursed
that bastard again for sending me after a stupid piece of jewelry and not
warning me that it just happened to raise the dead.
    Dad and I had set up an illegal portal out near the San
Onofre nuclear plant about an hour south of Los Angeles.  The fluctuations of
energy made it a little easier to keep things stable, believe it or not.  The
nuclear signature also hid the entrance from prying eyes that might be looking
for a door.  There were some smaller portals Dad and I had put together, but
none of them were big enough to fit a car.
    “Keep heading south,” I told Killian.
    As soon as you cross the Los Angeles/Orange County line, it
is like a different world.  The 5 freeway breaks away from urban hell and turns
into a really pretty drive.  You know.  When you’re not occupied about getting
caught in an inter-dimensional prison.  Suddenly, you're out of the city and
there's nothing but rolling hills and ocean.  I didn’t mind so much that this
could potentially be one of the last things I ever saw.  Sure beats the pants
off of some of my other near fatal experiences.  Vampire fights.  Demon attacks. 
Being left alone with children.
    I flipped the switches on the car as we neared the border. 
The double white globes of the San Onofre nuclear power plant loomed on the
horizon like two boobs of death. 
    Killian looked over at me, “Are you ready, partner?”
    “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
    He reached over and placed his hand upon mine, giving it a
little squeeze.
    And then gunned it as we sailed over the bluff.
     

 
     
    Chapter 5
    “You fucking bastard.”
    Mr. Smith was sitting in our Other Side office and he
seemed amused by my outrage.
    “You agreed that the compensation was fair,” he stated,
tapping his cane on the floor.  “Surely you did not take this job assuming
there would be no risk?”
    Killian sat in my dad’s chair since my dad, mind you, was
still unreachable.  What a fucking lousy time to unplug from the world.
    I leaned forward on my desk, speaking very slowly and
clearly so that Mr. Smith understood, “You said that this was a gift for your
wife.  A trinket.  A trifle.  A little piece of metal.  Instead, I had to use
an illegal portal because I was carrying an artifact that wakes every dead
thing in a twenty foot radius.”
    “It doesn’t wake every dead thing,” that smug
son-of-a-bitch pointed out.
    “Listen, Killian and I,” I jerked my thumb towards my
partner, “we were out in the middle of the desert.  We woke up a bunch of
mummies.  Had to torch them.  Blew a tire.  It wasn’t fun.”
    “We could have been killed,” Killian stated bluntly.
    Mr. Smith pulled a stack of money out of his pocket and
placed it on the table, “I hope this will ease the discomfort of any troubles
you had.”
    I looked at that pile.  It did help.  Quite a lot.  I
looked