A Solitary Evening Read online

  “Things could have been very different, but people say I attract trouble, but at the same time, I’m also lucky.”

  We reached the top of the hump and the snow turned the girders into white emaciated fingers that came out of the base of the bridge. I pulled out a cigarette and leaned on the railing.

  “The night was cold, wet, and a female came out of nowhere. A male with a gun was chasing her. I shot the guy, but she jumped over the railing. All they left was a couple of green Communist Party cards. You know the rest of the story. Most of it anyway.”

  I took a drag on my cigarette. “I know how many people died tonight, and I have a good idea what the papers will say tomorrow.” I told him what happened at the paint factory. When Hopper looked unsteady and clutched the rail I asked, “What’s the matter, Miles?”

  The rabbit’s ears twitched, and he coughed, “You mean Douglas.”

  “Douglas died when you had him shoved under the subway train.”

  Hopper froze but didn’t run.

  “The female who died here was Rita Lester, she was a nurse at an asylum for the criminally insane.”

  Rita quit there and came east. The antelope had nothing to do with Miles’ escape, but she did get messed up with the communist party and went all in. Then somehow, she found out who the big guy of the party was in his country, and she recognized Miles. Talk about disillusionment.

  “What attracted you to the party? What did they promise you? Money, power, the chance to do whatever you pleased? They liked you because you had such a clean record. Did they know you weren’t who you said you were? Or were they too focused in getting you elected so that you could put their own people in all the right places?”

  Miles took Douglas’ private papers when he escaped the asylum and stole his identity right down to having the fingerprint switched. The poor guy didn’t know a thing, because he never bothered with papers and stayed to forests and fields. Not until Rita wrote him a letter telling him about Miles.

  Rita also told her boyfriend Eddie Muffin who decided he was smart enough for blackmail and called him on the 13th the day of the Legion Parade. His brother’s ticket was dated the 15th. Miles contacted the secret police for cleanup. Muffin he took care of himself by hiring an actor to give a speech while Miles went and shot Muffin. Too bad the actor he hired was a drunk with a loose tongue, so he had to go. Miles also didn’t know Muffin was a courier for the party or that the serval mailed the documents to his girlfriend.

  As for Douglas, he was doomed the moment he stepped into the city. Not only did he make a great patsy for the missing documents, but Miles needed to get rid of his brother in a way his face would be unrecognizable. Why? Because while both rabbits were white, they weren’t identical twins. Douglas looked nothing like Miles. Duke and I were just the duped audience to that show. Hopper only hired me to keep tabs on me, and when I poked my nose into one too many places, he called his secret police mole. He also sent the mole after Velvet.

  Hopper tried to be sneaky, but I noticed the gun before he pulled it out of his pocket. I reached over, snatched it out of his hands, and tossed it into the river. Before he could run, I had him by the throat.

  “Your buddies are going to have to reevaluate their plans, but don’t worry. You’ll be the hero of the day.”

  I put all my anger and frustration into strangling him. His gloved hands beat at my arms, but I didn’t notice. The rabbit was truly evil. Velvet not only dug up information on his brother but found the police report that sent him to the asylum. Miles had murdered his girlfriend because she dared to try to stop him from drowning their new born kits.

  When he breathed his last, I stuck the wallet and shreds of cloth that I’d taken from the mole and placed them in his hand. In the other went the unburnt piece of document.

  Tomorrow everyone would think Douglas Hopper died trying to stop a communist conspiracy. Everyone except the Kremlin, they’d think it was a government coverup.

  Mark might guess, but he wouldn’t say anything. He had a murder of his own hanging over his head. Justified, but still murder.

  I saw the headlights of my car through the snow fall, walked over to the other side, and watched it come over the bridge. Mark stopped, and I got in the passenger side. The snow was getting worse, and Mark bent over the wheel. As we got to the top of the ramp, I looked around. Nobody ever walked across the bridge, not in weather like this.

  Hardly nobody.

  COllect all thirteen POACHED PARODIES of kAISER WRENCH

  I, the Tribunal

  My Claws are Quick

  Retribution is Mine!

  A Solitary Evening

  The Great Slay

  Pet Me Fatal

  The Female Trackers

  The Worm

  The Contorted Figure

  The Figure Fans

  Existence…Eliminated

  The Carnage Male

  Dark Lane

  OTHER BOOKS BY

  STACY BENDER

  Ursa Kane

  I Like Alice

  Man on the Stair

  Malum

  Boxers & Briefs: Book of Shorts

  The Sav’ine Series:

  Emerald Tears

  Hands of Onyx

  Diamond Mind

  Sons of Amethyst

  Moonstone Child

  Bloodstone Reborn

  Pearl of Sorrow

  (Written under Catherine Bender)

  Dead Letter

  Body in the Boot

  BOOKS BY

  STACY BENDER & REID MINNICH

  Bad Sushi & Other Tails

  The Kawokee Series:

  Kawokee

  The Right to Belong

  Heretic

  REID MINNICH

  Tiboluminator

  The Koinobi Trilogy

  Koinobi

  Aquilan

  Pantheran

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  P.C. Hatter is the fursonia of Stacy Bender. A mix of Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat. Purple Cat Hatter can be seen at most conventions she attends.

  The author lives in Cincinnati with her husband and cat.

  She loves to hear from readers. Contact them at

  [email protected]

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  stacybender.net