Joe Fury and the Hard Death

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Joe Fury and the Hard Death Page 17

by Paul Anthony Long


  Justice stares at Sue. ‘You peachy?’

  ‘Bruised and branded,’ says Sue. ‘But I’ll live.’

  Justice turns to me. ‘See you on the flip side, private eye.’

  ‘The pleasure’s all mine.’ I give him a nod and he ambles off towards the clucking ninja chicken hordes that make up his clan.

  I turn to Sue. ‘Got any plans?’

  ‘I need a drink,’ she says.

  I pull a small whisky bottle from my coat and throw it over. ‘Indulge yourself.’

  She smiles and takes a hit, then throws it back. ‘That was some trick with the watch.’

  ‘Let’s hope I’m right.’

  She looks at me for a second, then—‘You’re one tough cookie.’

  ‘I know.’

  She smiles, and we walk off through the wreckage and fire.

  ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN

  I’m sitting in the office with Sue when the door opens and Chicago walks in.

  ‘It’s been a while,’ he says, taking a seat. ‘Thought you might want to know the news.’

  ‘What have you got?’

  ‘You were right about Kieran,’ says Chicago. ‘Caught in time, frozen in Hell. My boys took him apart as soon as he appeared. Took seconds.’

  ‘And the watch?’

  ‘Shattered,’ says Chicago. ‘Useless. And the end of an era.’

  ‘That’s good to know.’ I nod and settle back. ‘Anything else I can do for you?’

  Chicago shifts uncomfortably. ‘Well, there is a small problem in Hell at the moment. It’s a bit of a delicate matter. I was wondering if you can help.’

  ‘That’s what I’m here for,’ I say, and we start the ball rolling again.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all, love, admiration and thanks to Hazel Maria Humphreys for all her hard work, help, dedication, belief and suffrage in the lifespan of this book and beyond, amongst many other things.

  Thanks to Dan Lacey for years of friendship and beers. But mainly the beers.

  Thanks to Rob Franklin and Charlotte Batten for their help, Rob Dwyer and Steve Hampton and the Old Boy’s Network for giving me an opportunity to film with them, Tina Severe for the logo, Ed Jordan for his camerawork, Will Franklin for his fantastic acting, Aaron Harding for his bald spot, Martyn Threader for being so short, Georgina Martin for hiring me as editor, Jon and Amanda, Trev and Mel, Steve and Gail and Leigh and Jane, Jacko for the name ‘Ironballs’, Marsha for kicking my arse on Soul Calibur, Steve Hammal, Glen Maney, Rick and Joe Barbs and many others too numerous to mention—if I missed you out blame someone else.

  Table of Contents

  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

  THIRTY FOUR

  THIRTY FIVE

  THIRTY SIX

  THIRTY SEVEN

  THIRTY EIGHT

  THIRTY NINE

  FORTY

  FORTY ONE

  FORTY TWO

  FORTY THREE

  FORTY FOUR

  FORTY FIVE

  FORTY SIX

  FORTY SEVEN

  FORTY EIGHT

  FORTY NINE

  FIFTY

  FIFTY ONE

  FIFTY TWO

  FIFTY THREE

  FIFTY FOUR

  FIFTY FIVE

  FIFTY SIX

  FIFTY SEVEN

  FIFTY EIGHT

  FIFTY NINE

  SIXTY

  SIXTY ONE

  SIXTY TWO

  SIXTY THREE

  SIXTY FOUR

  SIXTY FIVE

  SIXTY SIX

  SIXTY SEVEN

  SIXTY EIGHT

  SIXTY NINE

  SEVENTY

  SEVENTY ONE

  SEVENTY TWO

  SEVENTY THREE

  SEVENTY FOUR

  SEVENTY FIVE

  SEVENTY SIX

  SEVENTY SEVEN

  SEVENTY EIGHT

  SEVENTY NINE

  EIGHTY

  EIGHTY ONE

  EIGHTY TWO

  EIGHTY THREE

  EIGHTY FOUR

  EIGHTY FIVE

  EIGHTY SIX

  EIGHTY SEVEN

  EIGHTY EIGHT

  EIGHTY NINE

  NINETY

  NINETY ONE

  NINETY TWO

  NINETY THREE

  NINETY FOUR

  NINETY FIVE

  NINETY SIX

  NINETY SEVEN

  NINETY EIGHT

  NINETY NINE

  ONE HUNDRED

  ONE HUNDRED AND ONE

  ONE HUNDRED AND TWO

  ONE HUNDRED AND THREE

  ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR

  ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE

  ONE HUNDRED AND SIX

  ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN

  ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT

  ONE HUNDRED AND NINE

  ONE HUNDRED AND TEN

  ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN

  ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE

  ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN

  ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN

  ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN

  ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

 

 


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