A Time for Dying by Hardin Jude

Author:Hardin, Jude [Hardin, Jude]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-02-06T08:00:00+00:00

6

I woke up with the worst headache of my life. I rolled to my left and started coughing, every exhalation another dagger in my skull. I tried to reach up and wipe the spittle from the side of my mouth, but my hands were tied behind my back.

“Sorry I had to hit you,” a female voice said.

“Who are you? Where am I?”

Then I remembered. I was aboard the good ship AND THAT’S NO JIVE, and I was going to die at eleven-thirty p.m.

Which, according to the little clock on the shelf beside the bed, was only fifteen minutes away.

“My name is Barbara,” the woman said. “I’m Mr. Rutherford’s wife.”

“Then you probably already know who I am.”

“Yes. I checked your wallet while you were unconscious. We’ve already given you your money, Mr. Lockhart. I double checked the transfer, and it’s all there. You had no reason to come here and bother us.”

“Your husband hoodwinked me,” I said. “He bought an hour of my life, knowing that Chairman L’s announcement would come later that night, knowing that he would get to live another twenty-five years while—”

“You’re a big boy,” Barbara Rutherford said. “You signed the contract, and the funds were deposited into your account. It was everything we had, by the way. We’re flat broke now. You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Lockhart.”

I laughed. “Well, old Billy boy is going to have plenty of time to chase some more ambulances now, though, isn’t he? The two of you will be living it up while I’m rotting in my grave.”

“He’s dead.”

“Pardon me?”

“My husband’s dead. His time expired this morning. He bought the hour for me. I was the client he told you about.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “He bought it for you?” I said.

“My husband and I were born twelve hours apart. He was scheduled to die at eleven-thirty this morning, and I was scheduled to die at eleven-thirty tonight. Bill had quite a few political connections, and when he heard about Chairman L’s Valentine’s Day gift to the world, he knew there might be a chance for me. It was his last gesture as a human being, and he did it selflessly. He did it with love.”

“Well, excuse me, lady, but I’m not quite feeling the love over here, if you know what I mean. In ten minutes, the microchip in my wrist is going to squirt poison into my bloodstream, and my heart is going to stop beating. Instantly. Just like that. If your dear departed husband hadn’t sent me that letter, I would be home in bed with my wife right now, looking forward to the birth of our daughter.”

“Your wife is pregnant?”

“Yeah. My little girl is going to have to grow up without her daddy, all because of you and the lowlife con artist you married. So how do you feel about that?”

“Terrible, actually, but there’s nothing I can do about it. At least your wife and daughter won’t have to worry about money.”

“Come off it,” I said.

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