Shadows and Tumbleweeds

By Catherine A. MacKenzie

A “lightly erotic” crime novelette.

Sam kills. Not animals for sport like hunters do, but humans—just for the heck of it. His victims are picked at random. Not people he harbours grudges against or needs to kill for retaliation or revenge; just random individuals.

At twenty-eight, Jennifer has yet to meet the man of her dreams. He’ll be a fellow cop, of that she is certain. Only another cop would understand her passion for the law and follow rules as religiously as she does.

But does Jennifer live long enough to meet her man?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Catherine A. MacKenzie
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311493798

Catherine A. MacKenzie

Contact Cathy if you require services such as editing, formatting e-books and print books, making covers for e-books and print books, or publishing books. She will be glad to help! Cathy enjoys writing poems, short stories, and essays, some of which appear online and in various anthologies, including those published by Chicken Soup for the Soul, Dancing with Bear Publishing, Rebel Ink Press, and Twin Trinity Media. Her works have also appeared in such publications as Sasee Magazine, Magnapoets, and Still Point Arts Quarterly. She has self-published books of poetry and short story collections, both e-books and print books. Numerous other stories and poems are in the works, which she hopes to publish in the near future. Cathy also paints, pastels being her favorite medium and her grandchildren her favorite subjects. Cathy lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with her husband, and they winter in Ajijic, Mexico, where several of her works have appeared in local publications. Visit Cathy's website (below) for further information about her and where to purchase her books. Please let her know you’ve been by and leave a comment! Connect with the Author: Mail to: [e-mail] Visit Cathy at: http://writingwicket.wordpress.com/

Book preview

SHADOWS AND TUMBLEWEEDS

A novelette

by Catherine A. MacKenzie

Shadows and Tumbleweeds

Copyright ©2016 Catherine A. MacKenzie

MacKenzie Publishing

Halifax, Nova Scotia

April 2016

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License Note

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Note: Canadian spelling is used throughout

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Previously published by Rebel Ink Press in 2013. Rights reverted to author.

Shadows and Tumbleweeds

Sam saw the bright light above him, but wasn’t sure of its meaning. Was it God or the Devil come to play? God had previously appeared before him, as had the Devil—many times—and he wasn’t sure which one he preferred.

God was supposed to be all good and the Devil all bad, but Sam didn’t necessarily believe in that hogwash. He knew the Devil could be good if it wanted to be and that God could be harsh. The Devil had been unfairly categorized over time, he figured. And everyone knew God wasn’t always pure and fine; if that were the case, the world would be a happier and more humane place. God wouldn’t allow people like Sam in His world. Sam himself knew that.

No, God was wrongly portrayed, just as the Devil was. Sam had no doubt of that. No one could convince him otherwise, not that anyone had ever tried, for Sam never expressed his views publicly. He knew no one would agree with him, so why waste his energy? Besides which, he had no one to tell except for his victims. But victims didn’t care about his views, not when their final days flashed before their eyes.

Sam tried to conserve his energy for more useful projects, such as his favourite hobby, instead of musing about God and the Devil, although his sideline was an unconventional one. In fact, he would be handcuffed and incarcerated for life, if not put to death, should anyone discover his activities.

Sam killed. Not animals for sport, like hunters did, but humans—just for the heck of it. His victims were picked at random, not people he harboured grudges against or needed to kill for retaliation or revenge; just random individuals.

Sam killed humans for the fun of it. Because he enjoyed it. Because he needed to do it. It was his calling. God and the Devil made him do it.

He had cornered his first victim many years previously. Afterward, he lived in constant fear for months. He’d jump at the ring of the telephone or a knock at the door. Even a letter catapulting to the soft hall carpet from the mail slot on his front door sent shivers down his spine.

Gradually, he overcame his fear, and the day dawned that he was able to walk calmly past a police officer and, with his left hand in his pocket, silently give the officer