“C-Can’t,” he says. A thin tear of blood rolls down his cheek from his left eye. His hands are shaking. Shit. I pull back on the magic. I don’t want to kill the guy. “Brush f-fire in the hills. They’ve got it closed off.”

Of course they do. They’re not going to let in 15,000 people paying a hundred bucks a pop just to have to evacuate them again.

Okay, change of plan. No cars, but also no people. Losing these guys would be good. Taking them out of the game completely would be better. At this point it doesn’t really matter if they think I’m a serial killer. As long as the Werthers have their bounty out on me fuckers like these will just come at me again. The least I can do is thin the herd.

Of course, that means I have to keep Kevin alive long enough to get me there, which is proving to be a bit of a challenge. “It’s okay,” I say, keeping my voice as calm as possible. “I’m your supervisor. I called it in. We have special clearance.” The effect is instantaneous. Kevin stops shaking. He blinks away the blood in his eye, wipes his cheek with the back of his hand.

“You got it, s-sir,” he says. He’s not fighting me, anymore, but I think I broke something. I was really hoping he’d be able to walk away from this one. “W-what’s the plan?”

“We’re gonna go kill some bad guys,” I say.

Chapter 21

The black and white careens around the sharp turn of the freeway exit, blowing through a red light and swerving up Highland. Traffic’s light for this time of day, but the only things up here are freeway onramps and the Bowl. With all the smoke coming over the tops of the hills like fog, I can see why nobody else is up here.

Kevin’s not doing so hot. His hands aren’t shaking and his eyes have stopped bleeding, but a thin stream of pink fluid is running out of both nostrils and his right ear. Sorry, pal, nothing personal. You were just the right guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Kevin turns the car to the Bowl entrance, a long street heading up to VIP parking, the bikers closing on us. When I give the signal, Kevin hits the brakes and swerves hard. One of the bikers slams into the side of the car, sending the rider over the top. The other low-sides as he tries to turn, rolling off into a messy crouch as the bike skids across the lot.