The Spider Inside Read Online Free Page A

corners
of their eyes that they knew it too, and were waiting for someone else to bring
it up.
    “Never, fear, boys,” Cherry said. “I’m on the case.”
    “You got something?” Soup asked.
    “I’m on it. I made a couple calls before we came over. I
figured we’d run out eventually, right?”
    Nice, they said. Cherry comes through in the clutch. In
overtime, they said. She smiled and only believed Jim. Two Step danced and sang
a poorly rhyming song about her foresight and genius. You’re an angel, they
told her, a queen, a goddess to be worshiped and here’s my cash and do you
think you could get me this much but don’t go through Lego cuz we’ve been
hearing some bad shit about him and what do you think it will run who will you
get it from, and…
    How Long Until You’re Back?
    “Depends on who’s driving,” Cherry said.
    “I’m up, right?” Jim asked. Soup threw him the car keys and
that was answer enough.
    Cherry stood and her spine cackled up and down her, sending
a fresh little rush of crank and some pleasant shivers through her. She pulled
Jim to his feet and handed him his sunglasses from her purse.
    “Really?” Jim asked.
    Cherry smiled. “It’s like noon, fool. Look at the clock.”
    The windows had Venetian blinds, which were closed, had been
boarded up, and were then covered with a large Dead Head wall hanging. All the
windows were like this. There was never any natural light in Tattoo Nik’s. It
was one of the reasons they liked it there so much.
    “Jesus,” Jim said. “Time flies when you don’t need dope,
huh?”
    “You ready?” Cherry asked.
    Jim put his glasses on and followed Cherry towards the door.
Even behind his glasses he squinted his eyes against the onslaught of blinding,
burning white light that would soon blast its way into the house. He looked
back to the couch.
    “You guys ready?” Jim asked.
    “Hold up,” Soup said and pulled a blanket over his head. Two
Step took his sunglasses out of the front pocket of his shirt and put them on,
Nik covered his eyes with his hands.
    Jim opened the door. He turned and looked at Cherry.
    “It’s like noon, huh?” He took his sunglasses off and Two
Step’s laughter followed them out of the house.

RAT AND MOLE
    They walked down the stairs to the parking lot and Jim
offered to drive, then turned and saw Cherry was still wearing her sunglasses.
“Cherry, you don’t--”
    She got in the car without a word but did give Jim a small
smile. He knew she wasn’t going to take her sunglasses off for anything,
midnight or not, not until they got back to the house.
    Jim drove with his window down, enjoying the feel of the
cool night air coming in and drying the sweat off his body. It made him feel
almost human again.
    “You want a bump?” Cherry asked, holding up a tiny glass
vial.
    “Definitely. You held some back?”
    “Just for the trip.”
    “How’d you know we’d be going?”
    “I knew it was your turn, and that I wanted to go with you.
Roll up your window, will you?”
    Jim cranked up the window and focused on even, steady
driving. There was only enough left for a bump apiece, at least until they
scored. Spilling any of it could be catastrophic. Neither of them felt even the
faintest bit of guilt on holding out on their friends, they knew back at Nik’s
that someone, most likely Soup, who’d run the mirror all night, or maybe Nik,
had held back some for when shit ran out and someone had to go out and make a
buy. It could take only thirty minutes, it could be a couple hours. Sometimes,
not very often, but sometimes it could take days. That hadn’t happened for a
long time, though. Not since God had taken over, brought in his own cook and
money man and Xander and the rest. Since God came to town there had always been
enough ice for everybody.
    Cherry tapped half the contents of the vial into the inside
of her pinkie nail.
    “You ready?” she asked.
    “Aye-aye, Cap’n.”
    “You’re such a dork,” Cherry said, but