Book Excerpts discussion

From the Novel's On-line Companion
Author: Michael Robdrt Dyet

Jayce’s Diary
Part one, Chapter 2
(Available in both text format and as an audio recording)

Midnight

I hate silence. Always have because it seems to me like the calm before the storm. If I let my guard down for a minute I’ll be ambushed. I can’t ever stop to rest.

But right now, this midnight moment, it’s totally different. I could lie here for hours watching Kat sleep. I’d give up damn near everything to have this peace all the time. But I’m always looking over my shoulder because I can’t afford to get caught by surprise. I know what I’m capable of and I can’t let that happen ever again.

This dream I’ve been having over and over the last few weeks sure as hell doesn’t help. A knock at the door sometime around midnight. I open the door and there’s a complete stranger standing there. He smiles at me like I should know him and in my gut I think maybe I do. He says: We need to talk. Come for a walk with me.

We walk for about fifteen minutes without saying a word. Then he turns to me with a completely deadpan look on his face and says: Did you really think you’d get away with it? I know who you are. And I know what’s going to happen to you.

In the dream I seriously want to throttle the guy. I mean I honest-to-God want to kill him. But I can’t because I need to understand what he’s talking about. He turns and starts walking again but before I can follow him I wake up.

You gotta figure this is some kind of warning, right? So now I’m suspicious about everything. Especially why Kat wants to go back to work. I’m dead certain she’s holding something back because she doesn’t look at me when she talks about it.

But everything seems like a conspiracy when you live in the shadows all the time. It’s like there’s a sniper behind every fence post. Lane is a sniper. Every day I’m just that far from unloading on him. But I don’t because I can’t risk losing Kat.

That has to be what the midnight dream is telling me – if Kat knew who I really am she’d be gone with the kids in a heartbeat. But there’s no reason that she ever should find out. Not as long as I can keep things the way they are. So I’ll put up with Lane. I’ll crunch numbers all day long for the rest of my life if I have to.

But why does it keep happening? These end runs around the defences I’ve built. I’m doing what I’m supposed to. I’m keeping it locked up. What in the holy hell more do I have to do?

Visit www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog to view the on-line companion to this Internet-enhanced novel. It is available from Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com to learn more about the author.