Story

Chapter SixDo Animals Get the Blues? Clint was the only one of the Animals still left at the Marina Safeway. He was tall, with a wild mop of dark hair…

Chapter FourRed and White and Dead all Over Rapoc stuffing and chicken feathers lay in great, fluffy drifts across the room, along with the shreds of their clothing, the futon…

Chapter TwoThe Last Poop “So that was it?” “Yep.” “Never again?” “Nope.” “Not ever?” “Nope.” “I feel like I should save them or something.” “Would you just flush and come…

For my readers,by request ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks, again, to the usual suspects: my agent, Nick Ellison, and Sarah Dickman, Arija Weddle, and Marissa Matteo at Nicholas Ellison, Inc.; Jennifer Brehl, Kate…

The story is introduced by describing the appearance of the day. The writer explains how soothing the day appears, pointing out some features like the sky and also the air…

Chapter 35Sculptures Sunset cast a warm orange across the great Pyramid, while below, the Emperor enjoyed a cappuccino on a concrete bench and Bummer and Lazarus battled for the remains…

Chapter 34Hell Breaks Loose A wave of anxiety washed over Jody as she woke up. “Tommy,” she called. She leaped out of bed and went into the living area, not…

Chapter 33Ship of Fools Tommy led them down a narrow hallway and into a large room paneled in dark walnut and furnished with heavy, dark wood furniture. Paintings and bookshelves…

Chapter 32All for One, and… Well, You Know They might have been the Magnificent Seven or the Seven Samurai. If each of them had been a trained professional, a gunfighter…

Chapter 30Cops and Corpses “This guy is pissing me off,” Cavuto said, expelling a blue cloud of cigar smoke against the file drawers of the dead. “I hate this fucking…

Chapter 29Paying Respects Gilbert Bendetti liked his job, really liked his job. It was a government job, of sorts, so the benefits were good and the work easy. He liked…

Chapter 27Bridging the Boredom Half past midnight. He stood at the top of the southwest tower of the Oakland Bay Bridge, some fifty stories above the gunmetal-cold bay, thinking, Jump…

Chapter 26At the End of the Night… The Emperor worked a wooden match around the end of a Cuban cigar, drawing and checking until the tip glowed like revolution. “I…

~Part IIIHunters Chapter 25 All Dressed Up Tommy stormed around the loft collecting beer cans and breakfast plates and carrying them to the kitchen. “Bitch!” he said to Peary. “Shark-faced…

Chapter 23Mom and Terrapin Pie “She’s in town,” Jody said. “She’s coming over in a few minutes.” Jody lowered the phone to its cradle. Tommy appeared in the bedroom doorway,…

Chapter 22A Nod to the Queen of the Damned It only took five minutes to convince the police that Tommy had been at work all night and had seen nothing….

Chapter 21Angel Dust The bed of Simon’s pickup was full of beer-sodden Animals enjoying the morning fog and speculating on the marital status of the new cashier. She had smiled…

Chapter 19Judy’s Delicate Condition For the first few weeks Tommy was uncomfortable having a dead guy in the freezer, but after a while the dead guy became a fixture, a…

Chapter 16Heartwarming and UL-Approved There was a bum sleeping on the sidewalk across the street from the loft when they returned. Tommy, full of fast food and the elation of…

Part IINesting Chapter 15 Learning the Licks They took their shoes off and did it again. The second time was less urgent and they tried to impress each other with…