The Death Run (A Short Story) Read Online Free PDF Page A

right, there would be a payback. Payback for every time Graeme had shown him the back of his fists.
    The answer had come to him much the way the dream had. Slowly, in bits and pieces, until things fell together. Until the day he saw the story in the paper about Mike Danforth’s funding for a new team.
    It had been so easy to pretend with Officer Scott that he hadn’t known.
    All the pieces were in place; he just needed to do it. It was as good a shot as any, so Colin decided it was time for him to pull the trigger, so to speak.
    And if it worked out, he’d get a payoff that would keep him comfortable for a few years, and at the best, he’d get out of town with a new job to go along with the cash.
    Being quiet had its advantages. People forgot you were there. And when they forgot you were there, they did things they shouldn’t and said things they oughtn’t. That’s how he knew Mrs. Griffin and Walt Anders were more than friends.
    Mrs. Griffin would be the first one on the street when the truck hit. That was logic, pure and simple. What he didn’t know was whether anyone would take enough notice of him to remember if they’d seen him.
    Colin made sure he was seen around town, and spent enough time talking to the right people to get noticed.
    He’d made sure they had the right mix for their drinks that night. With Judd, Graeme, and Terry being dealers, it wasn’t hard to find out where they kept their stash. Judd was so clever with his secret codes, but he wasn’t smart enough to keep his mouth shut when Colin was sitting at the bar stools just a few feet away in the restaurant they hung out in every day of the week.
    Being invisible, except when needed as a punching bag, had been his lot in high school. But being the invisible man turned out to have some advantages.
    He’d set everything in motion, and fate had taken care of the rest.
    The tragic deaths of three young men had even obscured the gossipy bit of news about local gal Eileen Brenner being pregnant with Corey Clarke’s baby. It was all speculation at that point, but being just shy of sixteen, there was talk of statutory rape charges.
    The only surprise had been Jim Stephensen. Colin knew there was another source involved with the drugs, so when he’d cleaned out the money, he’d left the note.
    Figured it would shake Jay loose.
    He just hadn’t realized that the Jay working the Four-Oh was Jim.
    It made sense, though. Jim had withdrawn from everyone. Colin had hardly seen him in the five years since Danny’s death.
    People chalked it up to grief, but now Colin knew better. It was guilt.
    He went to his room and pulled the bag with the cash in it out from under the bed. Since he hadn’t needed any of it for his backup plan, he stashed it in a vent, behind the headboard, and pushed the bed back in.

    Two hours later, it was all over. A repeat of a talk show droned while the completed scrapbook lay on the floor. Colin sprawled out on the couch, under a blanket, slipping into the soundest sleep he’d had in years.