Knight Trials by Alice Bienia

Author:Alice Bienia [Bienia, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Alice Bienia
Published: 2020-12-17T00:00:00+00:00

Thirty-Five

Okay, Dave. Come out, come out, wherever you are. I suspected Dave wasn’t merely raiding his parents’ refrigerator but was holed up in their basement. I arrived in Airdrie mid-afternoon and parked half a block from Dave’s parents’ place. Dave’s mother sat in the front room, playing cards with another woman. I don’t know why it surprised me, but it did. I’d never seen anyone play cards in the middle of the afternoon. Except on television. I found it peculiarly intriguing.

My phone pinged on the seat next to me. Hallelujah, a reply from Adan. I opened the text message. How are you doing? Got any plans for Saturday?

After a decent interval, hoping I wouldn’t look like a desperate psycho glued to my cell waiting for his message, I sent back my reply. Nothing planned for Saturday I can’t get out of. Anything in mind?

An hour later my phone pinged. Adan replied, Brunch in Bragg Creek and a walk along the river? Bring hiking boots.

I waited several minutes and replied. You’re on.

Bragg Creek is a small community of less than a thousand, located half an hour southwest of Calgary where the Bragg Creek meets the Elbow River. A quaint little hamlet, it came complete with raised wooden sidewalks and small shops clad with rough-hewed logs. The trees along the riverbank should still have a sprinkling of leaves left on them. If nothing else it would give me an opportunity to find out where this relationship was going, or even if it was going.

Dave’s mother and her guest finished playing cards and disappeared from view. I turned the engine on and drove out toward the highway, needing to find a washroom and something to eat. I exited into the Cross-Iron Mills mall, a five-minute drive down the highway from Airdrie. After meeting my immediate needs, I squandered several hours wandering aimlessly through the mall, then returned to Airdrie.

The Morgans’ house was dark. I parked at the end of the street and waited. Slowly, lights came on, here and there, in neighbouring houses. The Morgans’ place remained dark. I popped open the glove compartment and pulled out my Walther Compact BB pistol. I hefted it in my hand. I reached under the seat and pulled out a small box of CO2 cartridges and slid one in, then snapped in a full magazine. My gun paranoia had forced me to this. Mike thought I could get over my fear of guns if I got used to loading one, learned how to handle it safely and adjusted to the feel of recoil when I shot it. The Walther wasn’t a defence weapon, more like a bike with training wheels. I didn’t plan to use it tonight but the weight of it in my hand felt good and it might serve as a deterrent, should Dave try to pull another Ben Johnson on me. I checked the safety latch for the fifth time, slipped the pistol into the pocket of my hoodie and got out.

I made my way down the block, around the corner and entered the alley.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.