Vacant Graves
by Christopher Beats
Donovan Schist’s current job was supposed to be an easy one: grab Phoebe
Mosey before pimp and murderer Stanny Slash does, and drag her back home to Ohio—kicking
and screaming if necessary. But when a blazing river halts their steam train in the
middle of nowhere, the veteran turned detective starts to wish he had stayed in New
York. With a homicidal Stanny hot on their trail—maybe poisoning Stanny’s man was a bad
idea—Donovan needs to get Phoebe out of Juniper Junction fast. Even if that means taking
a few jobs for some quick cash. He doesn’t expect to find a mining company on the brink
of war with a union, or bloodthirsty strike-breakers itching to use a steam tank and
other weapons he hasn’t seen since the War of Southern Secession. Or that underneath it
all lies something much darker—an unspeakably diabolical conspiracy…
Mosey before pimp and murderer Stanny Slash does, and drag her back home to Ohio—kicking
and screaming if necessary. But when a blazing river halts their steam train in the
middle of nowhere, the veteran turned detective starts to wish he had stayed in New
York. With a homicidal Stanny hot on their trail—maybe poisoning Stanny’s man was a bad
idea—Donovan needs to get Phoebe out of Juniper Junction fast. Even if that means taking
a few jobs for some quick cash. He doesn’t expect to find a mining company on the brink
of war with a union, or bloodthirsty strike-breakers itching to use a steam tank and
other weapons he hasn’t seen since the War of Southern Secession. Or that underneath it
all lies something much darker—an unspeakably diabolical conspiracy…