“Me and Coleman are going to the bathroom,” said Serge. “I’ll have the waiter send over a menu.”
The women sat alone at the table, sipping what was left of their wine.
On the DVD player, Coleman’s feet began weaving-“Whoops, having a little trouble here”-then the view quickly accelerated toward the sidewalk, until lens cracks spread across the tiny screen and went black. The player returned to the previous menu.
Country leaned toward the screen. “What’s this other bonus thing here?”
“What?”
“It says ‘Alternate Ending.’”
“Play it.”
She pressed a button.
“Look,” said City. “It’s the inside of Shula’s Steak House…”
“… Now it’s the outside,” said Country.
The waiter came over. “Hope you’ll come back and see us again.”
“Again? We were going to have dessert.”
“But…,” the waiter said haltingly. “The gentleman just paid.”
“He did what?”
They looked back at the small screen. A muscle car drove away from the restaurant.
“Don’t tell me-”
The women ran through the dining room and out onto the sidewalk, just in time to see Serge and Coleman speeding toward a bridge over Tampa Bay in the ’73 Challenger.
About the Author
TIM DORSEY was a reporter and editor for the Tampa Tribune from 1987 to 1999 and is the author of ten previous novels: Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, Orange Crush, Triggerfish Twist, The Stingray Shuffle, Cadillac Beach, Torpedo Juice, The Big Bamboo, Hurricane Punch, and Atomic Lobster. He lives in Tampa, Florida.
