A young woman find herself in one of the biggest conspiracies in America.

Renee Quinn sat motionless in the corner of the damp alley. The smell of garbage was almost overwhelming. A small stream of water, from the rain only minutes before, trickled at her feet. Her eyes open, yet glassed over, gazed into the darkness. Her body shook ever so slightly in the night air. In one badly bruised hand, she tightly held a plastic card. In the other, the only weapon she had ever held in her entire life. Her mind raced fruitlessly through the last several months as the rest of her refused to move.

“Renee Quinn...Pleasureville? I haven’t heard of it. Here’s your card, though, and have a nice day.”

The young woman smiled back at the clerk as she took the card. The grocery store was one place she was never really interested in visiting. Today, though, she hoped it would be a little different. Slipping the shiny new card into her purse, Renee slowly walked through the isles; carefully comparing prices before she made her selections. Within an hour, she returned to the front of the store to check her items with one of the many cashiers. After all the items had been accounted for and the card was scanned, the tall blonde paid the bill, left the store, and returned home.

“Jason, can you take the dog out while I’m putting these away?” she asked, kissing her husband gently on the lips.

“Yeah, I’ll get him. How could I resist that opening? Hey, you didn’t go to that new place in town, did you?”

“Sure did. It’s the nicest store I’ve ever seen. They even gave me one of these cards to save money,” Renee said, taking out the card and handing it to him.

“Great!” he groaned.

“Well, the clerk said that it gives you discounted prices on all items in the store.”

“What did you have to pay for it?” he asked, scratching his well groomed beard.

“Nothing. Just signed up for it. You also get prizes and discounts from other businesses too.”

“Sounds a little too good to be true , if you ask me,” Jason mumbled, flipping the card back on the table and attaching the leash to the Dalmatian, “See you in a bit.”

“Have a good walk,” she waved at him, “I’ll just be soaking in the tub.”

Jason loved walking the dog in the neighboring park and he was usually gone for a couple of hours each evening giving Renee plenty of time to enjoy his absence. As she slid into the tub, the stresses of the hours before seemed to float away. The water was so warm that it didn’t take long before her eyes closed and her body became completely relaxed. Time had gladly slipped from her beautifully long fingers and she could have thought of nothing she loved more.

A loud bang at the front door caused Renee to jump, splashing water on the tiled floor. Gathering herself, she climbed out of the tub. Another bang at the door put her on guard. Slipping into her fuzzy robe, she grabbed Jason’s baseball bat. Whatever it was, she would be ready for it. Taking a deep breath, she opened it only to find a spastic Dalmatian covered in blood.

“Oh my God!” Renee exclaimed, “Did you get hit by a car?”

The dog bounced around and whined frantically as she tried to check his body over.

“There’s not a scratch on you,” she murmured, listening to him bark and back up against the door, “Where’s Jason?”

Her heart thumped loudly in her ears as she hastily threw on some clothes and grabbed the dog’s leash that was still dragging behind him. Flying out the door, she headed for the park in a dead run. The pounding rain stung her on the head and shoulders. Cursing herself for not grabbing an umbrella, the young woman pressed on clutched to the wet leather of the leash. Seconds later, she passed through the gated entrance of the park, noticing the strobe lights from several emergency vehicles reflecting against the evening sky. The Dalmatian barked non-stop as he pulled her closer to the ambulance.

“Lady, do you think you can shut that dog up?” a man in a police uniform growled, “Have a little respect for the dead, will you?”

Renee felt her legs get weak as she asked the question she wasn’t sure she wanted an answer to, “Who is it, officer?”

“Don’t know. We just got a call about a shooting a few minutes ago. Can‘t you make him shut up?”

Her face grew pale, “My husband was walking our dog in this park.”

“This dog?” he huffed, brushing the trickle of rain from his oversized brow.

Renee nodded.

“See if you can identify the body for me.”

Another officer took the leash from her while she reluctantly stepped closer. The pool of watery blood the man was laying in grew with each drop of rain. Her stomach flipped as she saw the huge void in his chest and her heart stopped as she looked into the lifelessness of her husband’s eyes. The Dalmatian barked furiously as she felt her weight becoming more than she could bear. Renee collapsed into the arms of the officer standing behind her.



 Like what you're reading so far?  Check out the rest of the story in the Speculative Fiction Centre's brand new short story anthology Horizons available through most book distributers.