Evil Never Dies

“That’s gotta be her.” Hayley looked at the time. “I’ll pull up a satellite map on the Internet, and you can show me where she lives.”

“Why don’t we go for a drive,” Salma said, “and I’ll show you exactly where the house is.”

Kitally got up, ready to go, but Hayley hesitated, probably conflicted about having a pregnant teen as a ride-along.

“I need to get out of here,” Salma said. “I haven’t been outside since you two brought me here.”

“My car?” Kitally asked.

“I just filled my tank,” Hayley said. “We’ll take the Chevy.”

Hayley and her beloved hunk of junk, Kitally thought, but she gave her a one-handed salute. “Whatever you say, boss.”

They took the ramp to US 50 West and continued on to Business 80 toward West Sacramento. Kitally was sitting in the passenger seat, and she turned to the side to look at Salma. “How are you feeling?”

She rubbed her belly. “Fine.”

“You look like you’re ready to explode. How does it feel to have a person growing inside you?”

Hayley shook her head at Kitally’s question but said nothing.

“It’s a strange sensation,” Salma said. “Especially when the baby kicks like it wants out.”

“Bizarre,” Kitally agreed.

“Yeah, it used to do somersaults, I swear, but now that there’s less room in there, it sort of hurts when it pushes its feet into my ribs.”

“Ouch.”

It was quiet for a moment before Salma said, “So when’s Lizzy’s baby due?”

“What do you mean?” Kitally asked.

“She’s pregnant, isn’t she?”

Hayley frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know. Seems obvious. Every little smell makes her sick to her stomach, she hardly eats, and she has a definite baby bump.”

Kitally looked at Hayley. “Do you think she could be?”

“No. I think Salma has baby on the brain.” Hayley looked into the rearview mirror. “No offense.”

Salma smiled. “No offense taken. Besides, I know I’m right. Everything I said, plus her mood swings and the stuff she eats.”

“She did turn down a Rice Krispies Treat the other day,” Kitally said. “And come to think of it, she doesn’t drink coffee anymore. I thought that was odd.”

“Take the next exit,” Salma told Hayley.

In another few minutes they were on the 1600 block of Madrone Avenue. Unfamiliar turf for Kitally. All three of them were quiet as Salma pointed and told Hayley to take a left.

“Never mind,” Salma said. “That might be her up ahead.”

Sure enough, a ski

Hayley pulled into the gas station just ahead of the girl and told Kitally to roll down her window. “Hey, you,” Hayley called.

Unconcerned, the girl turned toward them and strolled over to the window. “What’s going on?”

“You wouldn’t happen to know where we could find some weed, would you?”

“I might.” She leaned lower so that she could see all the way to the backseat. She pointed a finger toward Salma. “Don’t I know you?”

Salma’s eyes widened. “I don’t think so.”

The girl snapped her fingers. “You’re Jane’s friend, Salma. Why don’t you girls wait right here while I head inside and buy some smokes?” She smiled and then touched the collar of Kitally’s blouse. “I like your shirt.”

“Thanks.”

“There’s a decent party happening a few blocks away,” the girl said, walking backward toward the mini-mart. “Maybe you can give me a ride.”

“Sure thing,” Kitally said. After she watched the girl disappear inside the mini-mart, she said, “We’ll give her a ride straight to the police station on Jefferson Boulevard.”

Hayley looked over her shoulder at Salma. “So that’s the same girl, right?”

“That’s her. She hasn’t changed a bit,” Salma said. “If we’re giving her a ride, we need to be careful. That girl has a mean temper, and there’s no telling what she might do.”

Kitally looked at Hayley. “We found the Ghost. Should I go inside and keep an eye on her?”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

Before Kitally could get out of the car, Hayley grabbed her arm. “Never mind.” She gestured toward the parking lot behind the building. The girl was sprinting across it. “Looks like she’s making a run for it. Buckle up.”

Hayley gu

The Ghost was fast, ru

“Whoa, can she fly or what?” Kitally said.

The Chevy’s tires squealed as Hayley made a sharp right out of the gas station, bouncing over the curb and tossing them around inside the car, lifting a grunt from Salma in the back.

Hayley shot down the block and made a right onto a quiet neighborhood street, hoping to cut the girl off on the other side. The Ghost couldn’t have made it through all the yards in the block, but Kitally saw no sign of her.

As Hayley swept around the next corner, circling the block, the underbelly of the car began to shake and the wheels rattled. “This thing doesn’t sound good,” Kitally said. “There’s smoke coming out from under the hood. You need to pull over!”

Hayley ignored her.

“Oh no!” Salma cried out. “Not now!”

Glancing over her shoulder, Kitally found Salma wincing in pain. Her clothes, along with the backseat, were weirdly dark. No, not just dark. Wet.

“She just jumped another fence at the end of the block,” Hayley said. But when she floored it, the car shook and the engine hissed in protest.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Hayley said as the car slowed. She pummeled the gas pedal with her foot, but it didn’t do any good. The engine died. Holding tightly to the wheel, she coasted slowly to the curb.

Leaving the keys in the engine, Hayley jumped out of the car and headed after the Ghost.

“Get back here!” Kitally shouted. “We have a problem!”

It was no use. Hayley was gone.

Kitally looked back at Salma. “Don’t you dare have that baby right now. This is not a good time.”

Salma panted, her face red and pinched. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead. She did not look well.

Kitally grabbed her cell phone, exited the car, and ran to the corner to read the street signs. She called 911 and told them what was going on and where they could be found. Then she hung up and ran back to the car.

When she opened the back door and looked inside, she didn’t like what she saw. She knew how to make a bomb. Hell, she could sew a designer dress by hand without using a pattern and speak Mandarin and Italian fluently, but she knew nothing about bringing a baby into the world. The notion that she’d ever find herself in this predicament had never once come to mind. If the girl had been choking, she could do the Heimlich, but helping someone birth a baby was nowhere near her forte.

Whatever. Get a grip, she told herself.

Just then, Salma cried out in pain. The high-pitched shriek hit every nerve ending in Kitally’s body.

Salma was in a fetal position; her eyes were squeezed shut, her teeth clenched.

“Help is on its way,” Kitally told her between Salma’s squeals of pain. “Logic tells me you probably shouldn’t push yet.”

“Get out!”

“OK. Jeez. Just trying to help.” Kitally looked across the street, relieved to see Hayley heading back their way. She ran to the front of the car and waved her hands. “Salma has gone into labor. An ambulance is on its way.”

Hayley jogged across the street. “She’s having a baby in my car?”

“Hello? She’s having a baby. And by the way, your car is a dump. A little amniotic fluid isn’t going to hurt anything.”

Hayley opened the hood and plunked her hands on her hips. “I need to call a tow truck.”

“A tow truck? There’s a baby being born in the backseat of your stupid car, you selfish bitch. What don’t you get?”