Zero Worship: Confessions of a Fake Psychic Detective #6

Chapter 26 - Chirp

.././.\\.\//.///\...//>>>>

Zandra can barely contain her delight at the man in the van—now the man in the woods with a gun—being alive. She does her best to show some sympathy for Luis, but the act would never make it past the audition.

I met Luis a couple hours ago. I've been waiting for the chance to start a real life for a lot longer than that.

"Aren't there any windows in this place?" Bexley says, pacing the length of the front of the house.

"Only in the back," Zandra says. She goes to the kitchen and opens the fridge after making sure the sliding glass door to the patio is locked.

Bexley stops. "What are you doing?"

"Thirsty. Want one?" Zandra says takes out two cans of sparkling water after sheathing the lawnmower knife.

"What the fuck, Zandra?" Bexley says.

What? It's hard to think when you're dehydrated. You should try it, Bexley. You're hyperventilating and your pupils are dilated. You've got as much adrenaline pumping through your veins as I do nicotine.

Zandra cracks open one of the cans and takes a long drink. The feeling of the cold water warming in the bottom of her stomach shoots life into her limbs. She holds the other can to her face to soothe the swelling from the fall.

Meanwhile, Bexley's breath chirps with every step as she tries to find a way to see into the driveway from the house.

"There's a door to the attached garage, but I don't think that's going to help you much," Zandra says and takes another drink.

"How can you just sit there?" Bexley says. Her index finger slips on and off the pistol's trigger as she paces.

"What else is there to do?" Zandra says. "By the way, did you get a good look at the guy in the woods?"

Bexley doesn't answer. She mutters, "Can't believe this," under her breath.

It's nothing to get upset about. It's just Chad jerking off in a car while a known murderer wanders outside with a gun.

"It's Chad. Chad. We can't just leave him out there," Bexley says. "I don't understand how you can be so relaxed. We've got to get him out of there."

Zandra leans on the kitchen counter to give her ankle a break. She swallows a belch back down to her stomach. "He wants Pixie, not Chad. Chad is just a bystander in all this. If we hear a shot, it's because he got to her, not Chad."

Bexley tugs at her hair with her free hand. "So we just let her die?"

"This isn't on us to figure out. I made my attempt to help Pixie. Now it's up to her to find the keys to that van and drive away. That's the smartest thing she can do. Chad's got the same option. The keys are stuck in the ignition in Ray's car, remember? All we need to do is wait for them to drive off. In the meantime, being inside a vehicle is the best protection they can get outside of being in this house," Zandra says.

"We sit here. That's it? That's your plan?" Bexley says.

"Yes, we sit here where it's safe."

You're mistaking action for progress, Bexley. If we open the front door and go outside, we're going to get shot at, and Chad and Pixie will be no better off for it.

"Unless I hit him when I shot," Bexley says. "Unless he's dead."

Good point.

Zandra straightens. "Did he react when you shot?"