Jacks Magic Beans Read Online Free Page A

then maybe this didn’t happen everywhere. Maybe it was just confined to Save-A-Lot.”
    “I don’t know,” Angie said. “Even on the way here, people seemed angrier than normal. On the highway. I didn’t realize it at first, but looking back now, I remember it. There was a lot of road rage. And we all heard fire sirens and police cars. They weren’t all coming here. If they had been, we’d have seen them arrive.”
    Marcel snorted. “So everybody all over the world just went insane at the same fucking time? That’s what you’re saying?”
    “Maybe not all over the world.” Angie shrugged. “But at least here in town. Could be it’s some sort of localized thing.”
    “Yeah,” Jack said, “but what kind of thing? I mean, what makes everyone go bat-shit crazy all at once and start killing each other?”
    “Terrorists.” Marcel got to his feet. “Al Qaeda, or maybe some homegrown group like those Sons of the Constitution motherfuckers. Maybe they dropped some gas on us.”
    “How?”
    “They could have used a crop-duster or something. Like what happened in that little town in Pennsylvania a few years ago. That chemical got released from a hot air balloon and made the rain purple, and then everybody died? Supposedly they all went insane before they were killed. Remember that?”
    “I do,” Sammi whispered. “I had nightmares about it for weeks. Those poor people . . .”
    “It couldn’t be gas,” Jack said, watching Marcel as he crossed the freezer and checked the door again. The man seemed to be counting his steps under his breath. “If it had been, you guys would have smelled it when it came through the store’s ventilation system.”
    “Not necessarily,” Angie said. “Gas can be odorless and invisible. But I agree that it wasn’t gas. It was windy outside. If they’d used gas, some of it would have blown away. If that happened, then it wouldn’t have been as effective in the parking lot, and the way Marcel talks, things were just as bad out there right before he came in. And besides, if there was gas, then each of us would have breathed it and gone nuts, too—and we’re okay.”
    “Maybe we’re immune,” Jack suggested.
    “You can’t be immune to gas.”
    “The water, then.” Sammi’s teeth chattered as she spoke. She rubbed her arms briskly. “Somebody could have spiked the town’s water supply.”
    “Maybe,” Angie agreed, watching Marcel. “But I drank water from the tap today, and took a shower, too, and I didn’t go crazy. How about you?”
    “I don’t drink city water,” Sammi said. “I only use bottled spring water.”
    “But you showered, right? Brushed your teeth?”
    Sammi nodded. “Yeah, after my morning run.”
    “Well, there you go.”
    Jack noticed Sammi’s face turn red, as if she were embarrassed. He wondered why. Sammi looked away from them. Jack turned his attention back to Marcel. He was checking the straps again.
    “What’s up, Marcel?”
    He shrugged. “Just making sure these will hold.”
    “Dude, they’re okay. I told you, I’m the knot master. You keep messing with them, somebody on the other side is going to hear you.”
    “I know.” But even as he said it, Marcel gave no indication of stopping. He tugged the bonds again. “Just want to be sure.”
    “Marcel . . .”
    “I can’t help it, kid. Leave me be.”
    “My name’s Jack. Not kid.”
    Releasing the bands, Marcel turned around and walked back to them.
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “Guess I should have said something sooner. It’s just a little embarrassing is all—especially telling strangers.”
    They stared at him, but it was Jack who finally spoke up, asking what they were all thinking.
    “What is?”
    Marcel sat down again. “I’ve got OCD—Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. That’s why I was fucking with the straps. You guys know what OCD is?”
    They nodded.
    “Of course you do,” he muttered. “Everybody does these days. People make jokes about it at work and