I’ve finished the final revisions to my novel “At the Feet of the Hanged” a thriller involving World War One veteran police sergeant Thomas Holiday and Constable Alice Roff. Here is a short excerpt:
Holiday pulled out the gun again.
“You really intend to shoot me. Go ahead.”
“I’ll put a body on the ferry if I have to. To keep the children coming.”
“You will back away, please, Sergeant Holiday.”
Cohen was in a crouch now and had both hands on the lantern. Holiday stepped five feet back.
“Further.”
Holiday backpedaled another five feet.
“Further.”
He saw Roff edging out of Cohen’s line of sight. He repocketed the Wembly.
“For God’s sake, don’t do it, Cohen.”
For a moment, Holiday thought the wind had taken his words. Then he saw Isaac Cohen smile. It was the same kind of smile you see from a man who just lost the last hand of the night at cards.
“Thank you for not lying. About finding a way to keep me here.”
The lamp tilted, paraffin running out on the ice. Cohen’s smile failed away as he started to let the lamp fall into the miniature yellow river.
The last thing Holiday saw was the constable making a championship sliding tackle of the lamp, kicking it away before the flame could ignite all the spilled and spreading fuel. The fast distancing away light blinked and went out.
The last thing Holiday heard was the sound. Like coarse paper being balled up, the ice breaking at last.
A collection of my short plays is now available from Heartland Plays:
http://heartlandplays.com/authors/author/?id=ca1f6ae6-73b6-4c0e-95fb-769f6b9b741f
My poem “The Weather Channel loves you, thundersnow” appeared as part of King County’s Poetry on Buses.
