Lesser Evils, Part 3

3 – Washburn “Do you have any idea what it was like?” Oliver continued, tears welling in his eyes. “We thought he was murdered, and we’d never know how he died or who killed him. They’d get away scot free, and we’d never know what happened to our dad or why. And now, after all that agony, this. That fucker is still alive? So he just walked away, is that it? Can people do that?” “People do it all the time; men more than women, but they do it too.” He got out the box of tissue he kept on hand for crying clients – he had a lot of clients who cried, which made sense, as he was usually the last resort for these people – and put it on the edge of his desk, close to him. “Do you have a photo of your father from before?” He took a...

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Lesser Evils, Part 2

2 – Greetings From The Great North Woods Holden was correct about him knowing Jessie, only when he knew Jessie, Jessie was still on the street – and still a man. Now Jessie was a social worker of some kind, and a very hippie-ish woman who favored granny glasses, long skirts, and peasant blouses, very much someone he’d describe as a crunchy granola type. Her transition was an impressive one; you barely noticed her Adam’s apple. He pulled her aside and told her he was worried about the girl because she was so quiet, acquiescent, and never scared. Some people took silence or meekness for fear, but he could smell the difference. As he told Jessie this, she canted her head like a parakeet, looking at him curiously, and when he was done, she said simply,...

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Lesser Evils, Part 1 (Infected series)

Dedicated to These Arms Are Snakes. Rest in peace, you crazy loud motherfuckers. **** 1 – Trix Roan wondered if there was any way not to feel like a total dick in this situation. Since he had nothing but time to think, he contemplated this for a while, and he had finally decided no, there was no way not to feel like a dick. The fruity drinks probably helped. He didn’t like fruity drinks as a rule, but the art gallery’s bar only served drinks in primary colors, with shaved ice in them. Whatever it was he was currently sipping, it tasted of alcohol and a berry juice that might as well have been cough syrup the unnatural color of Windex, and was probably something he shouldn’t have been mixing with Percocets. But did he care? No. He was out of his...

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Land of the Blind, Part 24

24 – Time To Pretend Roan felt an odd sensation, like warmth and pressure on his mouth (and a taste not unlike mint toothpaste), and opened his eyes to find Holden looking down at him. “Oh look, sleeping beauty’s awake. Or is that sleeping scary? Which do you prefer?” Roan stared up at his slightly unsettling, smiling face for a moment, trying to process what he thought he felt. “Did you kiss me?” “What? Why would you think that?” His smirking face seemed to give nothing away. “You bastard! Who cops a feel on an unconscious man?” “Not me. I like my feelies conscious.” He sat in the plastic chair beside his bed, still smiling suspiciously, while Roan found himself wondering if he was just having an odd moment. He didn’t seem to...

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Land of the Blind, Part 23

23 – Atlantis To Interzone Darinda Murphy found herself wondering what kind of idiot would start trouble at a hospital full of cops. It seemed like you needed to be a special kind of stupid to do it. So after they brought in the four yahoos they arrested, she used the excuse of being at the police station to look into the records Seb had been gathering. Yes, this was his case, and she had nothing to do with it, but she was curious, and he was fine with letting her have a peek. She was backlogged on her own cases, there was never a let up on homicides, but she got what Dubois called “a burr under her saddle”. For a suburban guy from Pomona, California, he did have a love of corn pone sayings. The site that Roan had given them had been like turning over a rock...

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