Road Trip

by Marcelle Dub�

About the Author: Marcelle Dubé writes mystery and speculative fiction novels and short stories. She is the winner of the 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence for short fiction. Her short stories have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies.

Excerpt

Cass left the Alaska Highway behind at Dawson Creek. Less than nine hours to go before reaching Calgary.

“Hang on, honey,” she murmured. “I’m coming.”

In the long shadows of the late November mid-afternoon, Highway 97 stretched ahead of her, an endless panorama of dark green spruce trees, gray pavement and white snow. It was hypnotic.

Shaking her head to clear it, she pushed the Abba CD into the player slot and turned the volume up. Take a Chance on Me would keep her awake.

She didn’t hear her cell phone ding, but the screen lit up, warning her she had a text. She kept the phone in a holder angled over her dashboard so she could see it easily. She had stopped pulling over every time she got an update from Carter. She hadn’t seen another car in the last half hour. She did slow down, however, because she had seen moose on the highway. Yesterday, bison had loomed out of gloaming, so close the damned things almost gave her a heart attack.

“THEY STARTED INDUCING HER. DILATED TO 2 CM.”

Hell and damnation.

Lauren had warned her they might induce her, since the doctors were worried about her high blood pressure. It was two weeks before her due date.

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