Everywhere I look I catch a glimpse of you.
_________
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Bare Detectives: A Wrecked Life
Chapter 1 Excerpt
A warm breeze blew across the sweaty face of Jim Toro. He stood outside a bar in the early morning. When the bar was open, it would stay open for days on end though strictly speaking, that was illegal in the town of Hearthville.
People mulled about in the dimly lit parking lot of the Chase Bar. The bar had swinging doors like it was a refuge from the old wild days of Hearthville. Once upon a time, Hearthville was more like the old wild west than the old wild west was. But like Atlanta, Hearthville had been tamed–for the most part. Still there was the Chase Bar with men who fancied themselves a rough lot who liked women who liked men and for more than just a chaperon on a lonely night or an unforgiving morning.
Jim felt sad. He had lost his job. He feared he was going to lose his wife. And he had discovered some dangerous things that he wished he had not discovered. He had learned the identity of the man responsible for bringing 70% of the drugs into Hearthville and 40% of the drugs into Atlanta. And then there was that business of the embezzlement from Sports123Up where he had lost his job.
Skelkey walked up to Jim. “Man, what are you doing here? You should be home with your wife.”
Jim said, “Thanks for letting me be one of your mules. I needed the money.”
Skelkey shook his head. “I wish I could help you some other way. You don’t need to be in this business.”
Jim said, “Neither do you.”
Skelkey laughed. He rolled his head around and then back again. His head stopped moving cocked to the side and with an uncompromising stare. He told Jim, “I am a gang leader. This isn’t a business for me. This isn’t a way for me to pick up a few bucks when I have bills coming due. This is my life.”
Jim nodded. “I will never play baseball again. I can’t work for
Sports Insinuated and Sports123Up want nothing more to do with me. I’ve applied for jobs with other companies but I think I have been blacklisted. I need money. Let me work as your mule.”
Skelkey said, “The last time you worked for me was nothing to brag about. You almost got caught.”
Jim agreed. “Thank goodness it was you watching my back. In my defense it was not my fault. You know that.”
“I know. Weird shit happened. But it happened. And it often happens to you.” Skelkey said, “What if I just give you the money. How much do you need?”
Jim said, “I am not a charity case. Let me earn the money.”
Skelkey said, “Mr. M. does not like you.”
Jim said, “I don’t like him either.”
Skelkey said, “He does not like you knowing who he is.”
Jim asked, “Do you think he wants me dead?”
Skelkey said, “I’ve told him to leave you alone.”
Jim said, “That was brave of you.”
Skelkey said, “Every once in a while I have to let him know that I am not his flunky. I am my own boss and I call some of the shots. I am not his shoeshine boy. But you may still be in danger. He may not be my boss but I am not his boss.”
Jim nervously laughed as the weight of the conversation weighed upon him. “Yeah. I have gangsters to the left of me and white collar criminals to the right and I have no idea who is the more deadly of the lot.”
Note that the Bare Detectives is now the Hearthville Serial:
I have unpublished Bare Detectives: A Wrecked Life but it will show back up again rewritten as part of the Hearthville Serial. The above excerpt was to promote Bare Detectives: A Wrecked Life.