‘Here, let me help you up old man,’ a voice that he recognised said from behind Chloe.
Tile felt the world spinning when Dan stepped out on to the porch. He started to collapse to the side. Dan hooked a hand beneath his elbow and prevented Tile from falling back in to the snow.
*****
Tile had a beer in his hand (his first in well over a year). He was sat on a chair opposite Dan and Chloe who were on the swing-seat.
Chloe was glowing with vitality and she was smiling at him.
‘This beer is having no effect on me, none what so-fucking-ever.’
‘We need to talk,’ Dan said.
Tile waved his hands in front of his face sloshing beer everywhere.
‘You don’t have to. There’s only one possible explanation for all of this. You’ve met Archie haven’t you?’
It was Dan’s turn to look shocked.
‘You’ve met him?’
‘No, but a friend has,’ Tile drained the remains of his beer.
‘I always knew there was something special about you two, but this is just too fucking much. What the fuck is it with this area for attracting all the weird shit? Why does it always have to happen to me?’
Chloe chuckled and Tile smiled at her.
‘I woke up thinking you’d done something stupid.’
Chloe’s face darkened and Tile saw the pain flash in her eyes.
‘You did, didn’t you?’
Chloe nodded her head.
‘Yes, and I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life.’
There would be many long conversations (and inward reflections) about her actions to come, but for now, Chloe and Dan were just happy to be back together.
‘But how is this possible, Dan? All of this?’ Tile scratched at his Adam’s apple. ‘Shit I need another beer.’
Chloe laughed and she pushed herself up from the seat.
‘I’ll get them.’
Dan watched Chloe waddle on her bare feet back in to the house. He turned to Tile.
Dan stood up and waved Tile to his feet. The older man pushed himself up from his chair and Dan embraced Tile in a powerful hug. Dan kissed Tile’s stubbled cheek.
‘Thank you Tile. For looking after her.’
Tile was flushed with embarrassment.
‘Ah man it was nothing.’
‘No, it was everything.’
‘There’s someone you need to meet.’
‘Your friend, the one who’s met Archie?’
‘Yes, there’s a lot of shit that he can explain.’
‘I’ve seen the future, I know what’s coming.’
Tile groaned.
‘Shit, so it does still happen. Michael, that’s my friend, he wasn’t sure if it would still happen in this world’s when.’
‘It still happens but we have time, it’s still a decade away, we have the chance to prevent it.’
Tile sighed, ‘I have one question that you can answer for me right now.’
‘What’s that?’
‘How? What did you do to make Archie bring you back?’
Dan could hear Chloe in the house. He looked at Tile and smiled. Tile was chilled by the way Dan looked right at that moment.
‘Do? I didn’t do anything, but I promised to destroy everything if Archie let Chloe shoot herself.’
Tile staggered back against the porch’s railings.
‘She...?’
Dan nodded his head.
‘I told Archie to stop it, I told him that if he didn’t, that I would spend eternity avenging her.’
‘You can stop her Archie, if you want my help, then you stop her.’
‘Dan, it doesn’t work like that, there are rules.’
‘I don’t give a fuck about the rules. You invited me in here, well you invited the wrong guy. You want me to save worlds, to be an architect? Then you stop her.’
‘And if we choose not to?’
‘Then I’ll burn everything down. I’ll be the destroyer of worlds that you talked of earlier. I’ll be an unstoppable force of nature. Look in to my eyes and tell me what you see...’
‘I don’t know what he saw, but I know it scared him, it must have been terrible, because he sent me back here to be with her.’
‘Fuck, I’m too old for this shit.’
Chloe stepped in to the open doorway.
‘Tile, your beer will have to wait,’ she said.
Dan turned to look at Chloe. He saw the smile on her face and the wetness pooling around her bare feet.
‘My waters just broke.’
The End...
Afterword.
I’ve always known where I wanted Dan and Chloe’s story to take us, but I have to admit that ON DEADLY GROUND took me in a few directions that I didn’t have planned out in advance (and I have to also admit that I found that fun, not quite knowing what was just around the corner).
It had always been my intent to bring back Tile and Archie (and if you haven’t read SECOND CHANCE then I suggest that if you enjoyed ODG that you get on that one ASAP – it fills in a lot of the mysteries surrounding Archie and Tile).
The more observant of my long-term readers will have noticed that there are a lot of unanswered questions to be resolved. Please, rest assured, this was intentional on my part and all questions will be answered next time round.
With ODG I realised early on that a lot of the set pieces involving violence would centre on Chloe. Of all my creations I think she is the most kick-ass of them all. Many readers have commented that they liked her strength and aggression (and not just in the bedroom) so I wanted to ramp up her ‘take no shit’ persona. I hope that I have achieved this without taking away any of her feminine qualities and again I offer apologies if I over did it on the ‘breasts’...what can I say, I’m a man and I’m just as easily manipulated as Dan.
All of my writings overlap in one way or another and the more observant reader will know where various stories link and which reference relates to which character etcetera but with ODG I always knew that it would end with Tile mentioning his friend Michael (again for those that haven’t, or have but have forgotten I’d suggest giving SECOND CHANCE a read/re-read) and Tile telling Dan that he had to meet him.
I had not planned to write the final paragraph, where Chloe’s waters break, and it’s the perfect example of the story wanting to go where the story wanted to go.
I hope you’ll all be there when we re-join Dan and Chloe (and let’s not forget baby Grace). I promise you it’ll be one hell of a ride.
And as always, if you have made it this far, you have my deepest thanks.
Estelle wiped the back of one arm across her forehead and her skin came away wet with her own perspiration.
Estelle followed the stream until it disappeared in to a man-made waterway that ran beneath the road and she veered away from the stream and climbed the small embankment to the roadway.
She checked left and right before resuming her run. She kept to the side of the road, as close to the edge as she could manage.
It was the end of July and tourist season was in high gear. Estelle remained alert to traffic, the last thing she needed was to be hit by some tourist who was unfamiliar with the tight bends and narrow roads.
She glanced up at the sky overhead and she knew that today would be an absolute scorcher. Estelle picked up her pace. She wanted to be back at home, showered and dressed and on the beach long before the first tourists of the day staked a claim to the golden sands.
Estelle pushed herself harder and she concentrated on her breathing. Running was all about technique and over the last three years she had mastered her technique to the point that she was fitter than she had ever been. In the last twelve months she had shed over a stone and a half in weight.
Twenty two pounds, ten kilos, I’ve never looked or felt better.
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On Deadly Ground (Dan & Chloe Book 2) Page 15