‘Come and get it,’ he said.
They looked at each other, and he could have sworn they actually smiled. And then they pounced.
And Owen pulled the automatic from inside his coat and tore them to pieces in mid-air with a spray of bullets.
He stepped back as the dead meat hit the kitchen floor tiles with a wet slap next to what had been their last supper.
He slid his gun back inside his jacket and checked himself in a grease-spotted mirror by the doorway for any blood-spray. He looked fine. For a dead man.
Quickly, he slipped back around the counter and got out of the coffee shop. The last thing he needed was to meet any customers coming in.
Instead he ran into Toshiko. She was waiting for him outside the door.
‘Tosh?’
‘I’m sorry. I needed a walk, too.’
‘You mean you followed me?’ he said.
She didn’t try to lie, there was no point. ‘What were you doing in there? You don’t drink coffee. You can’t.’
Owen pulled up his coat collar, the first threads of morning were starting to show in the sky and he thought the first chill of the autumn was coming with it.
‘You know, that’s right,’ he smiled. ‘But do you know something else, there’s so much more to life.’
She smiled, and wanted to take his hand. But didn’t.
They walked a few steps along the road in silence. A rubbish truck rumbled past them as Cardiff started to come to life.
When he turned to her again, he wasn’t smiling any more.
‘I don’t want to go back into the dark, Tosh,’ he said. ‘Not ever.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A writer’s greatest friend should always be his editor. A good one can make you seem so much better than you really are – so my greatest thanks to Steve Tribe for, if nothing else, the patience of a saint. Also to Gary Russell for his encouragement, talent and hard work in all we have done together.
Thanks also to Hayley for putting up with a clattering keyboard into the the wee hours, and to all the cast of Torchwood – particularly Burn and Naoko, who brought Owen and Toshiko to life and then so beautifully took them into death. I will miss you!
But biggest thanks to Russell for creating such marvellous shows and proving that there is a place for fantasy on British TV, and thanks also – and to Julie – for letting me be a part of it.