I heard from Benny regularly, and every month or so, Steve and I made the drive up to Azula to visit Maines, who did move in with Audra, much sooner than his physical therapists predicted would be possible. It was a crowded house for a man in a wheelchair, but they made do, and every time I visited, Maines and I spent an obligatory hour bickering about my future. He’d gotten some speech back, including a new propensity toward swearing, but not enough to win an argument against me. It didn’t stop him from trying. He told me I was wasting my talent with all this spiritual crap, and that eventually I’d stumble across another body, and have to use my goddamn brain again.
While I waited to see if he was right, I found myself enjoying things that were downright prosaic: not having to wash my hair because I’d shaved it all off; wearing the same thing every day; changing sheets and filling up gallon water bottles for tired and thirsty Mexican families on their way to El Norte. It wasn’t an exciting life, but it felt kind of good to be bored for a change. I doubted that I’d want to do it forever, but I didn’t have to decide that now. Forever would get here soon enough.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Minerva Koenig is a licensed Texas architect who runs her own one-woman practice specializing in old houses. When not architecting or writing, she likes to sew, read, play chess, do yoga, dance, wrangle cats, and fight the patriarchy. Koenig lives in Taylor, Texas.
Visit her Web site at www.minervakoenig.com. Or sign up for email updates here.
Also by Minerva Koenig
Nine Days
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
About the Author
Also by Minerva Koenig
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
SOUTH OF NOWHERE. Copyright © 2016 by Minerva Koenig. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover photograph © Jesús Alfredo García Espinoza
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-05195-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-5267-9 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466852679
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
First Edition: February 2016
South of Nowhere: A Mystery (A Julia Kalas Mystery) Page 24