Head Games Read Free Page B

compliment. Sasha was fifteen years younger and a hundred years more world weary than Molly on her best days.
    â€œWould you consider accepting a bribe?” Sasha asked.
    â€œIs that part of your job, too?”

    â€œWhatever it takes.”
    Molly heard Sasha reach into her pocket. She heard the rustle of cellophane. She almost came straight off the couch.
    â€œYou’re fighting dirty and you know it,” she accused, already salivating.
    â€œIt’s a present from James,” Sasha said. “He heard of your act of heroism and tubed me something special for you.”
    Molly’s eyes closed in ecstasy. James was the evening pharmacy supervisor and supplier of the drug of choice for most of the nurses in the hospital. “Well, why didn’t you tell me right away?” she demanded, her body reacting without her consent. “What is it?”
    Sasha smiled like a pimp with a virgin in the closet. “What is it you want?” she asked.
    Sighing, Molly briefly let her eyes go closed again as she battled a sharp flood of saliva. “Ding Dongs.”
    Sasha swept her hand from behind her back with a flourish and dropped the cellophane-wrapped package on Molly’s stomach. “Have we ever disappointed?”
    Anyone who saw Molly rip through the cellophane would have thought she’d been starving on the desert. She took one bite of saturated fat, sugar, and preservatives and felt her life force returning.
    â€œI might just make it,” she said with a profound sigh.
    â€œSecurity, Emergency Department, stat! Security, Emergency Department, stat!”
    â€œOh, shit!” somebody yelled outside the lounge door. “She got away!”
    Feet pounded down the hall. Molly sank back into the couch, her treat all but forgotten. She should have known.
    â€œUh … Ms. Burke?” came a hesitant voice from the doorway. The voice of that security guard she’d warned not two hours earlier.
    â€œYou let the Water Mother get away,” Molly accused without opening her eyes. “Didn’t you?”
    â€œWell, ma’am, she seemed … well, quite calm … uh, after you left.”
    â€œTell me you at least took the knife away.”
    â€œUh …”
    Molly took a few long moments to battle a sudden, flashing rage. She really was too old for this. And the rages never got easier, untidy bequests
she’d inherited from the post-traumatic stress disorder she’d brought home with her from Nam. She came within an inch of giving this guy a broken nose just because he was incompetent.
    â€œMs. Burke?” the security guard ventured.
    â€œGive her a minute,” Sasha advised dryly. “At least until her eyes stop glowing.”
    Molly wanted to laugh. She couldn’t. Hell, she could barely breathe.
    â€œCall the police. It won’t take long before she accuses some other clown of stealing her sacrifice.”
    The security guard got out of there so fast his big shoes flapped.
    â€œSee what I mean?” Molly asked a wryly amused Sasha, who still stood quietly by. “I used to be able to just laugh off stupid shit like that.”
    Sasha motioned for Molly to finish her Ding Dong. “Babies always set you off.”
    Molly did. “And, more and more, idiots,” she admitted around a mouthful of mood elevator. “And more and more idiots are working in hospitals.”
    â€œYour security friend there’s been with us all of three months,” Sasha admitted. “I hear he worked at a Safeway market before that.”
    â€œProtecting frozen foods from potentially violent condiments, most likely.” Finally giving into the inevitable, Molly tossed the remaining cellophane in the trash and climbed to her feet to finish her shift. “And who the hell was that new tech I threw out of three?”
    Sasha’s laugh was as dry as insurance forms. “Another cross-trainee in the brave new world of