Read Gin Palace 01 - The Poisoned Rose for Free Online

pulled into the other lane to cut around the Caddy. His nose was even with the rear door when the driver veered toward the truck to scare Augie away. But it didn’t work that way. Augie veered into the Caddy instead, his front bumper denting the rear driver’s side door. But the Caddy wouldn’t give. It and Augie’s truck held their lanes, parting only briefly. Whenever they did, they simply veered back right away and smashed into each other harder, as if magnetized.
    We rode nearly side by side, metal smashing metal. Each jolt rocked the cab of the truck, and Augie and me with it. But he hung onto the wheel and wouldn’t budge. He began to move the Caddy toward the shoulder of the road. Then he dropped down another gear and gunned the gas. I saw the tachometer arc to the red line. The engine screamed and the truck lurched forward, till my window was almost even with the driver’s door. I could see the back left side of the driver’s head but nothing more. His window was streaked with rain. The inside of the Caddy was dimly lit by the dashboard lights. Augie jerked the wheel hard, hitting the Caddy with the full length of his pickup. The Caddy swerved away, then swerved back again. Its right-hand tires were off the road and onto the shoulder now, kicking up clumps of grass and mud. This slowed it enough to allow Augie to pull up and then slightly ahead of the Caddy. He was about to cut the wheel one last time and drive the Caddy off the road, but before he could something rammed us hard from behind. It rammed us again before I could turn to look back. But by then it was too late. The distraction had allowed the Caddy to cut back onto the road. It hit the pickup broadside. Augie did what he could to keep control of the wheel, but we took another hit from behind and the truck turned into a fishtail and began a sideways slide. I felt myself pulled down into the seat, and I knew by this that my side of the truck was lifting off the road. The nose of the truck hit the Caddy one last time, in the front fender. It was like a chain reaction. The Caddy lost control then and began to spin. It rode back up onto the shoulder, kicking up earth and grass. The feeling of being lifted increased and I braced myself for a roll. But instead of rolling we slid sideways down a short ditch and stopped dead against the trunk of a tree. We slammed with such force I felt my kidneys shift in their sockets.
    Augie’s side of the truck had impacted with the tree. The driver’s door window had been shattered by the side of his head. The force of the sudden stop had flung me so hard against my seat belt that I thought I may have popped a rib.
    Augie was dazed. His eyes looked glassy, and his lids blinked a lot. He looked surprised, and there was blood in the creases in his forehead. I heard a car skid to a stop on the rainy road above. But I couldn’t see anything. The windshield had shattered and popped out, and there was rain in my eyes. The car on the road above was certainly the car that had rammed us from behind.
    I looked over at Augie. Both his arms were up and out in front of him, like he was trying to find his way in the dark. We didn’t have much time.
    “Augie,” I said. “Augie.”
    He looked at me but I don’t think he saw me.
    “Can you move?” I reached down for my belt and undid the buckle. It came free easily.
    From the street above I heard a car door open and close. With the windows gone the rain sounded louder. Fine drops bounced up from the dashboard and into my face.
    I reached over and fumbled for Augie’s seat belt.
    “Can you move?” I said.
    He looked at me. It took a moment for his eyes to focus on me. He nodded once. I undid the belt and heard voices coming from the street above. We didn’t have time.
    “Are you hurt?” I whispered.
    He said nothing. I reached up and took hold of his large head with both hands and looked at the cut on his forehead. It looked superficial to me. I aimed his face at mine and