"Smith, Anthony Neil - Two-Timing" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Anthony Neil)

Diana hears the car door slam and she turns to see Al in the driver's seat, taking off like a rocket pilot in the Buick, her share in the car with him. The driver of the truck steps out. So does another driver with a cell phone who's already on to Nine One One.

"D-d-d," Evan says again.

"I'm here. You'll be okay," she says. Doesn't believe it. Evan's done.

"Don...leave. Stay. Don't leave." He's gargling words, crossing his eyes.

The lady with the phone shouts, "Ambulance is on the way. It's on the way."

The truck driver leans over Diana, cap in hand, and says, "What can I do?"

Evan reaches for Diana, says, "Don...lee...me." Like a baby. If she stays any longer, she thinks he might ask for his mommy.

She removes his cracked helmet, pats his jacket, finds the pistol. She tells the truck driver, "Just help him, stay here until the ambulance comes, okay?"

And then she walks to the bike, shoves the gun in her waistband and straps on the helmet. Evan will be dead soon, nothing she can do. She struggles with the bike, gets it up and straddles it. She cranks, throttles. Good to go. A banged up wheelguard but the tire is still okay, amazing. She points it down the road towards Al. She's going to chase Al. She's going to kill him and take the money. And if that might not pan out, she thinks about headlines, maybe a medal.


ANTHONY NEIL SMITH is from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He is co-editor of Plots With Guns, and a fiction editor with Mississippi Review Web. His stories have appeared in 12-Gauge Review, Blue Murder, Thrilling Detective, Crimestalker Casebook, Absinthe Literary Review, Nefarious: Tales of Mystery, Panic Attack, the Raleigh News & Observer's Sunday Journal (as part of the Southern Reader series), and the Barcelona Review. Forthcoming work will appear in FUTURES. He hates spiders because one bit him on the ear and made a nasty mess. Also, he's not ashamed to say whatever the hell he thinks about things, and thinks more people should follow his lead. He eats meat. And he has never seen a cat solve a mystery, dammit.

Copyright (c) Anthony Neil Smith 2001