Authors: T. B. Markinson
Claudia Must Die (17 page)
“Yeah.”
“Boyd, Otis, what about you boys? Do you have any issues with letting Claudia go?”
The Texans shook their heads. “No issues,” clarified Boyd.
“What about her?” Claudia pointed to her mother.
“She wasn’t part of the deal. And I hate to do this to you, considering, but I want nothing else to do with her.” Francis’s firm voice reinforced his words.
“I need to get back to Boston,” Claudia said.
“I’ll give you money for airfare. But that’s all I’ll do.”
Claudia wandered over to the mound. The bastard had it easy now. She had to put her life back together. Even though he was gone, Claudia knew that once she grabbed her money from Boston, she would never step foot in the West again. Her life here was over. She needed to start a new one.
It’s fitting that he’s buried here. Alone. None of his family ever wanted to see him anyway. That had been another clue she had missed, or overlooked. Then she thought of her own mother. Well, she tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Claudia knew what it was like to have people judging her because of her mother.
She turned back to the car, where her mom sat. “How did I forget how awful she could be?” Turning back to the mound she said, “Goodbye, Dennis.”
The boys picked up their family and headed straight for Texas.
Francis dropped Claudia and her mother off at a hotel outside a small town in Nebraska. Her mother started right in on her. Claudia gave her the slip the next time they stopped for gas, and hitched a ride with a truck driver. Francis was true to his word: he had given her airfare money, but Claudia wanted to save every penny. She was on her way to the Big Apple, to try her hand at acting. If she couldn’t pretend to be Parker, she thought she would like to pretend to be other people. Chase her childhood dream. Just as long as she didn’t have to be herself all the time—that was too much. With the kind of life experience she had now, surely she would be able to get in touch with the characters she portrayed.
Epilogue
Parker and Francis sat on Parker’s deck. It wasn’t the same apartment, although similar to the one she had lived in ten years ago. Parker found she couldn’t bear to live in the apartment Ida had once visited. Only a Red Sox game on the radio broke the silence.
Eventually, Francis said, “I can’t believe it.”
“Killed instantly,” Parker murmured, and sipped her gin and tonic. Earlier that day, the radio had reported that Broadway star, Claudia James, had been struck by a bus in New York City.
Parker stirred her gin and tonic and took another sip. Then she turned to Francis. “Would that be considered fate, or karma?”
He knew she wasn’t joking, merely asking out of intellectual curiosity. “That’s an interesting question…” he replied.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading
Claudia Must Die.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my editor,
Karin Cox
. I am extremely grateful for all the hours she spent hunting for my mistakes, and for her wonderful suggestions on how to improve the final product. Thank you to my beta readers, who assisted me in the early stages.
Jeri Walker-Bickett
did a fabulous job proofreading, giving me peace of mind.
Guido Henkel
did a fantastic job formatting this e-book. I’m grateful for his patience and know-how. Writing can be a lonely occupation. Many people helped me through the loneliness and I would like to say how much I appreciate their time, especially Hilary Grossman who offered me guidance and friendship when I needed it most. To all my blogging buddies, thanks for your support and encouragement. You guys rock. Lastly, my sincerest thanks go to my partner. Without her support and encouragement, this novel would not exist.
About the Author
T. B. Markinson is a forty-year-old American writer living in England, who pledged she would publish before she was thirty-five. Better late than never. When she isn’t writing, she’s traveling the world, watching sports on the telly, visiting pubs in England, or taking the dog for a walk. Not necessarily in that order. She has also written
A Woman Lost
,
Marionette
, and
Confessions from a Coffee Shop
.
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Feel free to visit TB’s blogs to say hello. On
Making My Mark
, she discusses her self-publishing journey and helps other authors promote their books. On her
50 Year Project
, she chronicles her challenge to visit 192 countries, read 1001 books, and to watch the AFI’s top 100 movies.
