I remembered what Caterina said when I visited her at the prison. Maybe this was a new leap forward in the history of Tunneling. Mostly it just felt like the Wild West.
“Are you offering me a job?” I asked.
“You wouldn’t be on salary,” she said. “Strictly freelance. But we could use you. This McCaffrey thing is going to take a while to clear up, but the world’s going to keep changing in the meantime. The gangs are regrouping, and we’re getting interesting rumors about political extremists in the Vei community. You’ve been closer to the dirty side of Tunneling than anyone we’ve got in the department. You seem to speak Vei better than most of our translators. So if you’re interested, we can look at bringing you along to consult for us. If you can keep it together.”
I sat back in the booth and considered it. Working for the cops. Try telling that to my sixteen-year-old self. But maybe she was right. Maybe it was time to come in out of the cold. It was all right when I was just destroying myself. But I couldn’t keep doing that to Vivian and Des and Tania. They’d saved my life. It wasn’t mine to throw away anymore.
“Yeah,” I said. “I think I’d like that.”
She smiled again, properly this time, and I couldn’t help but grin back. Her pocket beeped, and she pulled out her cell phone.
“It’s Detective Wade,” she said, checking the text message. “I should get going.”
“They work you guys too hard. You should take that shit up with your union.”
She stood and waited while I levered myself to my feet as well.
“I’ll be in touch,” she said.
“Thanks for everything, Viv.”
She turned away and made for the door.
“Hey!” I called. “Don’t I even get a kiss goodbye?”
She flipped me off without turning back and let the bar door swing closed behind her. I grinned and limped back to the stage where Salin and Bubbles waited.
“One more song?” I said.
They nodded. I sat down and retrieved my trumpet. I looked around. There was only one thing missing, and she wouldn’t be around anymore. I missed her voice. But the show must go on.
I brought the trumpet to my lips. Salin led us in. I played for all I’d lost. I played for her.
And for a little while, everything was all right.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you for reading! Rest assured, Miles will return.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Strange is a writer of urban fantasy and other fantastika. He is especially fond of writing hardboiled stories with a noir influence. His goal is to deliver intense, humorous and sometimes dark stories to his readers.
In his spare time, Chris is an unapologetic geek, spending far too long wrapped up in speculative fiction books, watching old zombie movies and playing computer games. He lives in the far away land of New Zealand, and occasionally he goes to university like he’s supposed to.
He doesn’t plan on growing up any time soon.
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DON’T BE A HERO
Chris Strange
It's a bad time to be a superhero.
When the world turned its back on metahumans, the golden age of superheroes came crashing down. But now a mysterious supercriminal is making one final bid for power, and with no one else left to protect the world, ex-hero Spook must risk everything to take him down. There will be no reprieve, no negotiation. War is coming.
Put on the mask. There's work to be done.
Chris Strange presents a stunning, no-holds-barred superhero adventure that will lure you in and knock you out. This is the novel superhero fans have been waiting for.
AVAILABLE NOW
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LEAVE HER HANGING
Harry St. John
Ella Lewis is dead. Someone must pay.
“I loved Ella. Now she’s a corpse, cooling off in the morgue with a noose-shaped bruise around her neck. The cops say it’s suicide. It wasn’t suicide. I don’t know who killed her, and I don’t know why. But I’m going to find out, no matter what it takes. And when I’m face-to-face with the man who broke my world, I’m going to break him.”
In this tough-as-nails noir crime novel set in Auckland’s dark underbelly, 17-year-old Jack “Spade” Miller must traverse a web of violence, love, and illicit sex in his search for justice.
Only one thing is guaranteed: no one is walking away unscathed.
COMING SOON
ALSO BY CHRIS STRANGE
Miles Franco Urban Fantasy
The Man Who Couldn’t Be Bought (Short Story)
The Man Who Crossed Worlds (Miles Franco #1)
The Man Who Walked In Darkness (Miles Franco #2)
Heroes of the Atomverse
Don’t Be a Hero: A Superhero Novel
THE MAN WHO WALKED IN DARKNESS
Originally published by Cheeky Minion 2013
Copyright © 2013 Chris Strange
Kindle Edition
Version 1.0
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, and locales are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living, dead, or in another plane of existence) is entirely coincidental. May contain traces of nuts.
Table of Contents
THE MAN WHO WALKED IN DARKNESS
PREVIOUSLY IN THE SCREWED-UP LIFE OF MILES FRANCO
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
AUTHOR’S NOTE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
OTHER BOOKS FROM CHEEKY MINION
ALSO BY CHRIS STRANGE
THE MAN WHO WALKED IN DARKNESS
The Man Who Walked in Darkness (Miles Franco #2) (Miles Franco Urban Fantasy) Page 32