Zero at the Bone Read Online Free PDF Page B

courtesy.
    “Thanks for not shooting me.”
    HAL snorted as they pulled back onto the road. “I’d say no problem, but the truth is that it’s a real big fuckin’ problem.”
    They drove in silence for a few miles. “So now will you tell me your name?” Jack asked. “I can’t just keep calling you HAL.”
    He frowned. “Why would ya call me Hal?”
    “Long story. So? You know my name. Give it up.”
    “Less ya know about me, the better.”
    Jack shrugged. “Fine. Long as you don’t mind being addressed as ‘hey, you.’” Beat. Sigh. “Call me D.”
    “D?”
    “You asked my name, I told ya.”
    “Yeah, it’s just that… well, most of the time in names, D is followed by some more letters. Like –onald, or –avid.”
    D stared at him for a few seconds, then seemed to relax. “D’s good enough.” Jack nodded. “Nice to meet you, D.”

    16 | Jane Seville

    JACK said nothing as D drove in what seemed like aimless, meandering circles around the Vegas suburbs, taking his time and turning randomly right and left, doubling back on himself. His eyes were alert; Jack suspected he was still watching for someone following them.
    Finally, D pulled into an alley behind a strip mall and parked the car. He reached into the backseat, pulled a laptop out of his messenger bag and booted up, balancing the thing on his knees. Jack tried to look nonchalant and unconcerned, as if he parked in alleys with hired killers every day of the week and this was nothing new.
    He glanced over at D’s laptop screen. Looked like Google Maps. “Uh… what are you doing?” he finally asked, when it became clear that D was not going to volunteer this information.
    “Gotta get new plates fer this car,” D muttered. The words were given up grudgingly, resentful at having to taste air to explain D’s actions.
    Jack frowned. “How? Don’t think they sell those on Amazon.” That earned him a withering sidelong glance. “Hafta steal a set.” Dumbass.
    “Oh.” He supposed he ought to feel uneasy at the thought of perpetuating petty theft, but after witnessing one murder and almost starring in another, he couldn’t quite work up any indignation over a set of license plates. License plates…. A light bulb went off in Jack’s head. “Wait! I know this! Airport long-term parking, right?” D sighed. “Ya watch too many movies.”
    “That isn’t right?”
    The black HAL lenses of D’s sunglasses swiveled toward him. “When ya leave airport parking, ya gotta pay the guy ta get out. Might remember somebody who came in and then came right back out again. Cain’t afford ta get noticed.” He turned back to the laptop.
    “So… what are you looking for? The License Plates Store on eBay?” A half-smile crept onto D’s face. “Nope. Found somethin’ better.”

    “YOU’RE kidding.” Jack looked around, confused, as they pulled into the nursing home’s parking lot. D drove around to the back, away from the visitor parking. He parked Jack’s nondescript Witness Protection-issue Ford Taurus and got out. After a moment’s hesitation ( petty theft ) Jack followed him. “A nursing home?” D ignored him, his head turning back and forth as he surveyed the cars. Jack suddenly realized that these were the cars that belonged to the home’s residents. Most of Zero at the Bone | 17

    them were Old People Cars: sizable sedans, stolid and sedate, none of them too new. This parking lot felt neglected; many cars had dead leaves and other detritus piled around their tires and rain-dust streaking their windows. The back of the nursing home was secluded and not visible from the street; they were alone. Suddenly D stopped and his chin tilted down; he zeroed in on one car like a hunting dog pointing at a kill. “That one,” he muttered, nodding toward a nearby Toyota.
    “Why this one?” Jack whispered, feeling conspicuous but following D to the car.
    “Dusty like it ain’t moved in awhile.”
    Jack tugged on D’s sleeve. “No, this