Dead Man Walking

by Quinn Buckland

  I shrug. “Where do you want to go? I’ve got eleven hundred in my pocket. Five of it can go to a car, and the other six will undoubtedly get us anywhere in Canada.”

  Dorothy kisses me again and grabs her suitcase. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” I say, turning to pack my suitcase.

  Once I’m out of sight, my grin fades, and I look to the future. We’ll live on the road for a spell, at least until we find a place to live. I’ll get a job, but once I die, Dorothy will be left alone. She’ll be left with a child who is bound to start shapeshifting and it will terrify her. I don’t know what to do about that. There’s not much I can do.

  “Thomas,” Dorothy says. “I’ve been doing some thinking.”

  “Oh? What about?”

  Dorothy comes to our room and smiles at me. “When we get to wherever we’re going, please don’t become a detective.”

  My eyes widen, and a grin parts my lips. “No?”

  “No. It’s much too dangerous for all of us. I don’t know what that woman was planning, but I’m sure none of it was good for our health. Liddell didn’t show up when I called, but the police believed my story.”

  “That’s good,” I say, placing some folded shirts in the case. “But don’t worry, my detective days are over. As soon as I’m packed, I will tell my bosses I quit, and that will be that.”

  Dorothy sits on the bed and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad it’s over.” Her eyes narrow slightly and she gives me a playful glance. “It is over, right?”

  I snicker. “It’s over.”

  She stands and starts unbuttoning her blouse. “You’re going to have to tell me what happened one of these days.” Her blouse comes off, showing her brassiere. “But for now, let’s just enjoy the moment.”

  I stare at her as she undresses, and in seconds I’m on top of her, placing kisses on every inch of her body.

  ***

  Six hours later, Dorothy and I are in our brand-new coupe, driving down the highway. I look over at her, sleeping in the passenger seat. In the silence, I start thinking about the events of earlier, and the future.

  I know I should have shot Liddell and Howard where they stood. Still, it would have been difficult to explain their bodies, especially handing Moses’s body over to the warden. I know I won’t be able to watch the doppelgangers to make sure they don’t shift again, just as I know that sooner or later they’ll figure out I’ve left the city with no intentions of returning. With whatever future lies ahead of me, I don’t really care. So long as I have Dorothy with me, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish.

  For once I will live a good life, even if it’s only for another three years.

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank Sahreth ‘Baphy’ Bowden, Karma Rose, and Lily Thomas for beta reading. I got a lot of useful tips on how to make my book better from all of you.

  I’d like to thank my excellent editor Joanne Paulson for consistently doing fantastic work.

  I’d like to thank Cheryl Bezuidenhout for once again knocking it out of the park with her book cover design. I can’t express how much I love this cover.

  And of course, I’d like to thank my folks for always supporting me and my love of writing.

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