Z-Minus (Book 4) Read Free Page B

said.
    “Of course you do,” Mark said.
    “I’m not destined to be an old maid,” Tabitha said.
    “Never thought you would be,” Mark said. “But we should sue the condom people.”
    “They don’t promise one hundred percent,” Tabitha said.
    “Sounds like an admonition of shoddy workmanship if you ask me,” Mark said.
    “You’re not mad?” Tabitha said.
    “Of course I’m not mad,” Mark said. “It’s not that I’m against having kids. I’m just… not sure about it right now.”
    “We don’t have to keep it,” Tabitha said. “If it’s going to mess things up between us.”
    But it was going to mess things up between them. Guaranteed. If Tabitha had an abortion it would create a rift. It would infect their relationship and consume it from the inside, slow and painful. If they kept it, Tabitha would insist he get a regular job so he would be around to bring up the baby. Mark couldn’t say he disagreed with the idea. He’d grown up with a father in the military. It would have almost been the same if he hadn’t had a father at all. But he would resent having to give up the Special Forces, and the relationship would be a rocky one at best.
    “Let’s think about it for a couple of days,” Mark said. “We’ll talk more when I get back, okay?”
    “Okay,” Tabitha said.
    She smiled, but it was weak. It broke Mark’s heart to see her like that. But he really did need time to think.
    “I’ve got to get going,” Mark said.
    He kissed Tabitha on the lips.
    “I love you,” he said. “Nothing will ever change that. I’ll see you when I get back.”
    Tabitha nodded, her eyes shimmering with the onset of tears.
    The door closed behind Mark as he left. He thought he caught the wave of heaving sobs, but he didn’t stop. He had a job to do.

9:56am
     
    John handed over a crisp twenty dollar bill. The driver snatched the money from him. He didn’t even smile at the five dollar tip. John pressed his lips together and held out his hand. The driver looked from it to John and back again.
    “Change,” John said. “If you no like-y, you no have-y.”
    The driver forced a caricature of a smile onto his face. John didn’t change his expression. The driver sized John up, and decided he was too big to argue with. It didn’t help that John was also wearing a sharp uniform. There was no telling how much unarmed combat training he might have had. The driver handed over the five dollars.
    “Thank you,” John said.
    He flicked a quarter into the front seat.
    “Here’s a quarter towards getting your cab cleaned,” he said. “It’s fucking filthy in here.”
    The driver shouted something in an African language – Kenyan, John thought. He didn’t much care what he said.
    John grabbed the pink teddy bear on the seat, slammed the door and stepped away from the rusted taxi before the driver could attempt to run him over, which he did.
    The wheels spun – mostly through being bald than the power under the bonnet – and took off down the quiet street. The driver waved out the window, making lewd signs with his middle finger. It didn’t matter to John. When you were used to bullets flying over your head, you soon learned to tune everything else out.
    He stepped onto the sidewalk and looked up at the small detached house before him, nestled behind a nice front garden, with green grass and attractive flower beds down either side.
    He walked down the path garden to the front door and knocked. A moment later the door opened, revealing a little girl. John’s face lit up.
    “Hello there,” John said. “You must be Joanie. You’ve grown so big! It only seems like yesterday you were this big. Or should I say small.”
    Joanie stared with wide eyes, like a rabbit in headlights.
    “Joanie?” a female voice said. “Who are you…?”
    The door opened wider to reveal a grown-up version of the little girl. Katie. She had dyed her hair, but her natural blonde had begun to come through from the roots. It looked