by M. C. Grant
“If I had known the address, I would have been there before you, waiting.”
“Then how?”
Pinch sighs. “You’re too predictable, Dix.”
I bristle again. “How?”
“People like you, and you like it when people do.”
“So?”
“When you told me you were meeting Joe, I knew you would use Mo’s Cabs to get there.”
“So?” I ask again, still not getting a clear picture.
“All of Mo’s cabs are LoJacked. All I needed was the carrier frequency and I could follow all his cabs on my laptop. Two cars driving like maniacs and a drop-off at the scrap yard couldn’t have been more obvious.”
“So I led you right to him.” My cigar grows bitter in my mouth, but I suspect it’s not the tobacco. “After twenty years in hiding, I get him killed for the sake of a Father’s Day story.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” says Pinch.
“And what’s another?”
“You saved two lives. I don’t know what Roxanne will do, but at least she has the option now to put her past behind her and try for a normal life. As for Bailey, it may take a few days for the guilt to pass, but I expect she’ll start sleeping through the night for the first time in her life.”
“But Joe Brown still didn’t deserve to die.”
“He was a paid killer,” says Pinch.
“So are you.”
“And my day will come. Just not today.”
I take a sip of brandy and hand the glass to Pinch. “And thanks to you,” I say, “I guess I get to wake up tomorrow, too.”
“I’ll drink to that,” he says. “One more day.”
I take the glass back and accept his toast.
“One more day.”
© Don Denton, Black Press
About the Author
M.C. Grant is the secret identity of international thriller writer Grant McKenzie. (Oops, there goes that secret.) Born in Scotland, living in Canada, and writing fast-paced fiction, Grant likes to wear a kilt and toque with his six-guns. Often compared to Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay, Grant has three internationally published thrillers to his name—Switch, No Cry for Help, and K.A.R.M.A.—that have earned him an avalanche of positive reviews and loyal readership around the globe. As a journalist, he has won numerous awards across Canada and the United States, including one in 2012 from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia—the same organization that Dixie’s fictitious San Francisco NOW belongs to. You can find him online at: http://grantmckenzie.net.
Acknowledgments
Being a writer is never a solitary endeavour, since there are so many voices (foreign and domestic) in my head when spinning a tale. However, once imagination has birthed the story, it takes real rather than fictitious humans to bring the story into the readers’ hands. And to this end, I couldn’t ask for a more enthusiastic and generous team than I have found at Midnight Ink. Every person involved in the creation of Dixie’s adventures is so very, very important to its success, and if you, dear readers, are picking this up in a bookstore or online, then the team has done its job.
Word of mouth is also so very important to a writer that I value all the support that bookstores and all their fabulous employees have shown to my work.
Lastly, without my brilliant, supportive, and kind readers, writing would not hold the joy that it does. I write to be read, and nothing brings me more delight than to hear from a reader who has enjoyed one of my books and recommended me to their friends. I cannot thank you enough.