Page 95 of The Chemist

He fell to one knee, knocking over the bucket of ice in the process.

“Where do you think you’re going?” a raspy voice asked in his ear.

Diesel turned his head slightly, trying to identify the owner of the voice, but his head was getting fuzzy and tingly.

“Out… heading… fresh… Zero.” That was all he managed to get out before the world around him went black, and his body was suddenly swooped up from the floor beneath him.

Was he flying? Floating up to heaven to join all the other good little boys and girls?

His eyes felt so heavy. He needed some rest. Just a twenty-minute power nap… just enough to get him back on his feet.

The skin on his face felt cold, and a gentle breeze cut across his chest and arms.

His body was floating. Yes, he was floating down a long passageway on his way to see… What was he going to see?

“Stick him in the back with the others. Hurry, and grab the last one.”

That was the last thing that Diesel heard before his mind and body got swallowed by the cold, empty dark.

37

ZERO

Somethings wrong! He could feel it in his bones. There was something in the way Diesel was slurring his words that made Zero begin to panic.

He had seen Diesel drunk before, even a tad high, given that he was supposed to be in recovery. But in all those times, he never heard Diesel talk like that.

“We need to get in there. Something’s wrong!” Zero shouted from the back cab of the van they were in. “I know it. Something just isn’t right.”

“I know you’re worried, but we need to give Diesel a bit of time to assess the situation before we go storming in and blow his cover,” Marc said, turning his head back slightly. He was on his tablet searching for something.

They only got one chance at this. Zero knew the stakes at play. If they ran in and Diesel wasn’t in trouble, that would blow their cover. But if Diesel was actually in trouble and Zero did nothing, he would never forgive himself. He hated balancing risk when it came to someone he cared about.

“D? D? Can you hear me? Say something, dammit. Let us at least know that you can hear us,” Zero shouted into his mic.

Still no response.

They could hear static and rustling, but that was it.

Zero didn’t like this at all.

Had Diesel’s earpiece stopped working?

“Someone’s coming out,” they heard Jared say over the comms.

Their heads snapped toward the door just in time to see Mr. Yellow, Diesel’s date, step out. He walked over to the fence dividing the property and began to take a piss.

Where the fuck is Diesel?

“Zero?” Marc called in a stern voice from the front seat of the van. “Don’t do anything until we know what happened to Diesel. His comms might have gone out, or perhaps he is in the bathroom taking a piss.”

“Taking a piss?” Zero asked, shocked at the bullshit spilling from this man’s mouth. “Were you listening to the same feed that I was? That didn’t sound like a man who needed to take a piss. That sounded like a man who was on the verge of losing control.”

“And if you’re wrong? If Diesel is okay and just needed some more time? What then? We will have blown his cover and allowed a monster to walk free. I know it’s tough, but you need to be patient and weigh the risks.”

Zero didn’t like any of what his boss was saying. If there was one thing that he learned from all his years of pulling cons, it was to always follow your gut instinct. And right now, his gut was going haywire.

The asshole zipped up his fly, then checked the time on his watch. He scratched his ass, then pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and made a call.

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