.45 Caliber Jitterbug
Page 16
Jack looked at the paper. It was an early proof of the evening edition. Front page, above the fold was the headline and Steve's byline. Jack's article took the bottom half of the front page.
"Not bad, for a cop."
"Helen helped me edit it, before I submitted it to Mr. McWhirter."
"Oh, she knew about this too?"
They were at the car, and Helen stood by the open door of the Carby Sparrow. She smiled.
"My wife and my best friend, going behind my back."
They all laughed.
Steve lifted Jack from the wheelchair and set him gently in the low seat.
"I could have borrowed a patrol car." He stood and rubbed his back in mock pain. "Where are we going to put the wheelchair?"
Helen walked around to the driver's side. "Mrs. Duke has one at the house, and the men built a ramp up to the front porch."
"I'll meet you there." Steve walked to his motorcycle and threw his leg over the seat.
Jack read the article Steve had written while Helen drove them home. It was a good article, though he didn't like reading about himself. He looked up from the paper when they turned onto Morehead Street. Jeb was standing at the street with a wheelchair. The old house had a ramp running up the sidewalk to the front porch. Helen turned the Sparrow around so that Jack was at the curb.
"Hey, Missa Spaulding."
"What are you doing here, Jeb?"
"Missy Duke asked me to help out for awhile, 'til you's better. I told her it would be a pleasure."
Jeb's large smile was infectious and Jack returned it.
Jeb lifted Jack easily into the chair and pushed him into the house. Helen and Catherine had moved all his things into the downstairs room and his typewriter sat on an antique desk large enough for the wheelchair to approach. Jack wanted to say something, but his throat was too tight.
Helen leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Let your friends take care of you, Jack."
Catherine, Steve, Jeb, and all the men from the house were there. Jack squeezed her hand.
"Thank you, all," he managed to say.
Everyone welcomed Jack home then drifted out leaving him alone with Helen. Jack was nervous. They'd been married for several weeks, but that was all spent in a hospital room.
"The room is nice."
"I hoped you would like it. It's not too feminine, is it?"
"No, it's perfect."
Jack looked around at Helen's things. He had never been in her room. He noticed his painting on the wall, along with others he had never seen. It was nice. The feminine touches made it more like home.
"This is sort of like our wedding night." Her voice was shy, almost timid. "We didn't really have one at the hospital."
"Yes, I guess it is."
"Did you want to take a bath before supper? Catherine fixed all of your favorites."
"Yes. I want to get the hospital smell off. If you can help maneuver me into the bathroom, I think I can get into the tub."
"Nonsense." She rolled the chair toward the bathroom door. "I'll help you take a bath."
He looked back at Helen and she had the most deliciously mischievous smile on her face.
"I think I would like that, Mrs. Spaulding."
Maxwell Cynn is a freelance writer, novelist, amateur coder, webmaster, and Indie Publisher. He writes an eclectic mix of science fiction, romance, fantasy, and adventure. His short stories are published in sundry media, online and in print, and he is active in the emerging Indie Lit community. His website, and links to his various social networks, can be found at:
MaxwellCynn.com
twitter @maxwellcynn
Other works by Maxwell Cynn: Available on Kindle, Nook, and a variety of formats at Smashwords.com
CybrGrrl:
Created to be a sexy desktop companion program, Marie develops sentience and emerges into a life of her own. She leads her users, Adrian and Haley, through an erotic adventure as she processes what it is to be alive. The search leads her onto the Internet, and a virtual-world community where she can live an independent existence unfettered by the limits of her server - alive in the cloud - then back into the real world as a sexy robot. Along the way she teaches Adrian and Haley what it means to live and love beyond the confines of the merely physical and liberates her sister programs from their dull desktop existence.
The Collective:
A criminal psychologist discovers that someone has released a computer virus that doesn't attack your hard drive, it attacks your mind. The virus is brainwashing millions and people are going insane, killing their families, and mutilating themselves. But it's not just a virus. Someone is actively controlling the program, every infected computer, and every user. Someone is turning anyone connected to the internet into puppets. But why? And who is The Collective?
They know they've been discovered. RUN!
Table of Contents
.45 Caliber Jitterbug
Sept. 14, 1928
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty