by Nick Svolos
My car rocked on a wave of displaced air as a lime green streak raced by, cut left at a ninety-degree angle like one of those lightcycles from Tron, and zipped off down the street. I flipped on my police scanner.
“All units, be advised, multiple shots fired near Broadway and College. Suspected gang activity. Paramedic and enhanced units inbound. Respond code three,” the dispatcher announced. Downtown patrol units chimed in, confirming their ETAs. Two squad cars sped by, lights flashing and sirens wailing.
That was in Chinatown, only a couple miles from me.
“Archangel, would you call my editor and let him know I’ll be a little late?”
“Already on it, my dark overlord.”
A line pitched itself to me, unbidden, the way they often did. Usually when I didn’t have anything handy to write it down. “Some call them gods, but I know better. They’re people, albeit with powers and abilities the rest of us can only dream of. What sets them apart, what makes them special, is that they put themselves in the way of danger, protecting those who can’t do it themselves, simply because they have the ability to do so. No, they’re not gods. They’re something we need even more. They’re heroes. My job is to tell their stories.”
It needed work, but I thought I might be able to do something with it. Maybe I’d write that book after all. But I wasn’t going to do that tonight.
Tonight, it was time to get back to my job.
I grinned, tossed my press credentials on the dashboard, floored the accelerator, pulled into the police cars’ wake and chased the story.
***
The End
Reuben Conway will return in The Bounty Hunters
One last thing…
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Thank you.
If you’d like to contact me, learn about my upcoming books, get bonus content, watch as my one-liners succeed or fail, or just shoot the bull, you can reach me at:
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Also by Nick Svolos
The Hero Beat
The first book in the senses-shattering Conway Report Series!
Two superhuman factions clash at a Los Angeles refinery, leaving an inferno and a dead hero in the aftermath.
Now, one question is on everyone's mind: How did local reporter Reuben Conway know to be on the scene? On the run from supervillains, the cops and a mysterious assassin, Reuben forms an unlikely alliance with the superhero Herculene as he races against time to learn who was really behind the attack. As they draw closer to unraveling the mystery and the villain’s plan nears completion, one final question comes to the fore. Can they thwart the scheme before it’s too late?
Available now in paperback and electronically on Amazon and wherever fine ebooks are sold.
Also by Nick Svolos
The Power Broker
The pulse-pounding second book in the Conway Report Series!
Panhandler’s sidekick is missing. Glorious Leader, the super-powered dictator of North Korea, wants to be interviewed. Giant robots attack Santa Monica. Someone is stealing superpowers and selling them on the black market.
For hero beat reporter Reuben Conway, it’s raining stories, but when he unearths the connection between them, he must thwart the mastermind behind it all.
No pressure. It’s just the fate of the world at stake.
The eagerly-anticipated sequel to The Hero Beat, The Power Broker is a whirlwind ride through the exiting world of superpowers, international crises, mad scientists, and saving the world.
Available now in paperback and electronically on Amazon and wherever fine ebooks are sold.
About the Author
Nick spent over twenty years as an IT geek, developing, deploying and integrating a wide range of software products in the Project Management and Business Intelligence spaces. Now, he ekes out a living as a freelance web developer and spends the rest of his time writing about the stuff he loves, namely, adventures involving superheroes and orks.
He lives in Crescent City, CA, with his lovely wife, Charlotte, their sons Cody and Tommy, and couple of layabout cats named Sprocket and Daphne. Everyone in the house is an avid gamer, and their home echoes to the sound of tumbling dice. Daphne and Sprocket prefer games involving bugs, lizards and small birds, but they’re happy to take a whack at an unattended twenty-sider when they get a chance.