Double Take (A Dan Wilder Short Story)
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had come around his end of the desk. He’d have liked to belt Keelman once, just for goodbye. Shrugging, he stood up. Maybe it was best this way. He tried to hear if the woman still breathed; probably not with three in her back. Shrugging, he went over to the window and jumped through it into the moonlight, onto the soft grass of the lawn.
Crossing the stretch of lawn, he got into the shadows of tall bushes at the side of the yard, out of the moonlight. He had to stay there until Keelman was through prowling around the car Wilder had come in. When Keelman finally decided Wilder wasn’t in the car or trying to reach it, he crossed the yard in the moonlight on his way back inside the house. Wilder let him go and waited until he heard the front door close before getting into his car. Releasing the hand brake, he let the car roll silently back down into the street. Then he turned the ignition on and started the motor.
He knew he would always regret not trying for the ransom money Keelman might have had on hand. Some instinct told him Keelman had never intended to pay off the three kidnappers with anything but bullets, although he might have been wrong. Maybe the guy actually meant to pay them the ransom money and feel lucky if he got his wife’s estate; if the cops believed the kidnap story.
Wilder was almost up to the cloverleaf before he heard the first siren, far back in the city. The police might be in time to do friend Larry some good, but Wilder doubted if they were going to be in time to help Beryl Keelman.
As for the bank he’d been casing before the three kidnappers put their snatch on him, Wilder decided to let that wait awhile. Quite a while.
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About the Author
Chris O’Grady is the author of numerous short stories and novels. He lives in Hampstead, North Carolina.
From the Publishers
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The Glorietta Pass, the first full length novel featuring Dan Wilder, is out March 2012, along with two more exciting short stories.
And, don't forget! If you're hungry for more PULP!, visit our website for links to all the anthologies in the Twit Publishing Presents: PULP! series, in both print and digital editions.