Intensive care

It was her turn to laugh. “Don’t know if Mick would let that happen. Not after that night he kicked you out for selling acid in his club.”

Noddy stopped dead. “You were the one selling acid.”

“Well, yes. Technically. But he thought you were the mastermind behind it, didn’t he? Nobody ever stood up to Mick like that before. I actually thought he was going to back down.”

Noddy carried on walking. “Until when? The moment he broke my nose? The split-second his bouncers jumped in and dragged me outside?”

Now Morag stopped. “It’s not like he killed you. Or even scared you off. For god’s sake, you’re shagging his ex-girlfriend. Way to go, Romeo. Revenge 101.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Wasn’t it? Tell me you weren’t just waiting for something to happen to Mick. When he was locked up, you jumped at the chance.”

“Believe what you like. And Janine’s not Mick’s only ex, is she?”

Morag ignored the dig. “Does he even know? He can’t, can he? He’s been in a coma since the day he got out. And I doubt anybody had the balls to tell him while he was inside.”

Noddy knew he shouldn’t let Morag get to him. But she’d always had an almost supernatural ability to crawl under his skin.

“They broke up long before he went away.”

Morag snorted. “You think that makes a difference to Mick? You know what he’s like. Nobody touches his property. It must worry you a little bit, surely?”

Noddy shook his head as he stepped up the pace. “It doesn’t, actually.”

“No. Come on. Admit it. You must be hoping he never comes out of that coma.”

“I wouldn’t be the only person around here thinking that. But it has nothing to do with Janine.”

“Keep telling yourself that. Ah, here we are.”

To keep people entertained while we all struggle to find our feet in a world suddenly flipped upside down – I’m releasing Dancing in Valhalla in weekly installments.

Read them each week on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Twitter, Tumblr, GoodReads, or Amazon.

No charge. No obligation. Read for free. Share with your friends.

Cheers.

Full published version includes 13 twisted tales of music, magick, mayhem & murder.

Some torn from headlines in sunny South Africa where, for many, these are part of everyday life.

Shop for shrunken heads in a village that time forgot.

Witness an ancient ritual passed down from the Aztecs through Jack the Ripper to modern-day London.

Savour the sweet taste of revenge in a French restaurant.

And sit in on the Grim Reaper’s disciplinary hearing.

Relax and enjoy an assortment of characters nearly as twisted as the endings of these 13 tales of psychological suspense.

Physical paperback copies are once again available from BookDealers of Rivonia – 40 Wessel Road, Rivonia, Sandton.

And from Snow Lion in 7th Street, Melville.

New science fiction novella coming soon. “Let Sleeping Gods Lie.” What happens when mankind ventures out into space and encounters ancient gods who would really rather be left alone?

Watch this space. No pun intended. Well, maybe a little one…