The Midnight Men and Other Stories by Lee Moan Read Free Book Online

in front of her eyes, but she didn’t stir. I picked her up carefully and carried her weighty form out to the car, placing her in the passenger seat.
    She was still ‘asleep’ when I parked my Mercedes on the cliff-face car park, but by then the predicted storm was starting to get serious. Charcoal clouds, fat with rain hung above the cliff-face like angry angels. The wind was forcing the trees to breaking point. And down below, the sea roared and crashed against the base of the cliff.
    I reached across to Gloria and lifted the tiny flap of skin behind her right ear. Beneath it was the emotion-inhibitor chip. This miniscule piece of technology was there to stop Gloria from—among other things—harming herself. If my cover story was to be believed, the chip had to come out. Using the micro-screwdriver which Kathy had given me, I removed it and slipped it into my pocket. I took a moment to study Gloria’s expressionless face in the light from the dashboard. Hopefully, I told myself, she wouldn’t know a thing about it . . .
    “Goodbye, Gloria,” I said, and released the handbrake. I opened my door to climb out when lightning struck an old tree on our left and a branch the size of a lamppost came crashing down not two feet from the car. There was a loud electronic beep from the passenger seat and Gloria’s inert frame snapped into life.
    “What? Where are we?” she said. Her eyes were wild with fear, and she grabbed my arm for reassurance. I turned to Gloria, soaking in the fear in her face, and I smiled inwardly. It was actually nice to see some real emotion for a change.
    The car was beginning to pick up speed. I had to get free of her iron grip or I’d be joining her on her express trip. I managed to shrug out of my coat and jumped free of the car.
    I watched my beautiful Mercedes rumble towards the precipice. Saw Gloria trying her door, only to find it locked. She clambered over into the back seat and pressed her hand against the rear windscreen. Without the inhibitor chip, Gloria’s system was racing through a succession of emotions, and I could see her features trying to find the right expression—that look of spurned agony—but ultimately, all she could manage was a mask of confusion.
    “I love you,” she mouthed.
    As my Mercedes teetered on the brink for a few moments I felt the pang I always feel at losing something of great value. And then it was gone . . . the car, I mean. All fifty grand of it, spiralling down, down into the wind-lashed night, alloy wheels turning, waxed bodywork reflecting the moonlight with a starburst sheen. A lump came to my throat as the car was dashed to smithereens. The resulting explosion lit up white waves cascading against the jagged rocks below.
    I pulled the inhibitor chip from my pocket and looked at it in the moonlight. For a moment I wondered if this tiny piece of technology was in some way to blame for all of this. What if I’d given the marriage a chance without it . . .?
    But then I remembered Kathy, and all the warmth that she offered, and let the chip fall, down, down, joining Gloria in her watery grave.
    ***
    After staggering home along two miles of deserted road in the driving wind and rain, I went straight to my bedroom, and jumped in the shower. I’d just finished shampooing my hair (what there was of it, anyway) when I caught the distorted silhouette of a female figure through the smoked glass shower door. A cramp of fear squeezed at my heart.
    “David?”
    In my panic, I grabbed a loofah for protection and rolled back the shower door. A momentary flash of lightning lit up the figure.
    It was Kathy.
    “Jesus, what are you doing here, Kat? I thought we agreed to avoid each other until . . .”
    She held up my bathrobe. “I know. I just couldn’t wait. I had to see you.”
    When I stepped out, she placed her hands on my wet face and then kissed me passionately. I sat down on the bed, and she knelt behind me, rubbing my shoulders with her technician’s