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Writings
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Maelstrom

Maelstrom
A genie and her rock band

(Novel and Short Stories)

Steal Tomorrow

Steal Tomorrow
Murder, Mystery, First Love, and the End of the World

(Novel and Short Stories)

My Books and Stories

My Books and Stories
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Flash Fiction: The New Girl

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another Vince story today. Be sure to drop by Three Word Wednesday and Weekend Writer's Retreat for more fun.
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Fausto darted his eyes toward the girl arranging her gear on the floor. In hushed tones he asked, "Why'd Vince bring her on?"

Ozone shrugged. "Seems capable enough. I guess we'll find out for sure tonight."

"That's not what I meant."

"It was also a favor to his sister. She's a friend of Sara's."

Fausto rolled his eyes and indicated with a jerk of his chin that Ozone should follow him. Once they were far enough away in the cavernous old warehouse, he said, "Come on, you know what I'm talking about. Gitana."

"What about her?"

"She's going to be pissed Vince brought another girl here, no matter how demure she's acting."

"Just because she's a girl doesn't mean Vince plans to sleep with her."

Fausto grinned. "Right. Like he hasn't had something going on with every girl he's ever brought into this gang? Tell me another. This one will be lucky if Gitana doesn't cut her throat in her sleep."

Ozone gave a sly smile. "I have a feeling she can look out for herself."

"Around someone as volatile as Gitana? I'm telling you, she's worse than she ever was; hot one minute, cold the next, getting offended over every little thing..."

"It's not really our problem, is it?" Ozone shoved his hands in his pockets. "I mean, Vince makes the rules, and if he wants this new girl on our team, then that's how it'll be."

Fausto sighed and leaned against the wall. "Yeah. I just wish I understood how he thinks. He's really smart when it comes to negotiating deals for us, like the other night where we got thirty percent on a lousy marijuana handoff. But when it comes to women..."

"Some guys are just like that, man."

"And what does it mean for us? We're the ones that have to live with the chaos."

"It's not like you don't have options," Ozone reminded him.

"What, you mean join someone else?" Fausto fixed him with a look. "I worked for three other groups before I met up with Vince. He's the only guy I know who doesn't cut a guy's share just because he feels like being a jerk."

"So quit complaining about the girl, then." Ozone gave a little twitch of his shoulders and headed back toward the main sleeping area. "Besides, I don't get the feeling she'll be here long."

Fausto tagged after him. "But in the meantime..."

Ozone grinned. "Yeah. Cat fight. Can't say the boss doesn't provide us with entertainment."

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For more stories about Vince and his gang, go here.

Flash Fiction: Unknown

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another Vince story. I didn't mean for it to come out this dark, but there you go. Be sure to drop by Three Word Wednesday and Weekend Writer's Retreat for more fun.
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"What the hell did you think you were doing?"

Speedball frowned. "I thought she was with the Catorces."

Vince pressed down hard, trying to stanch the blood. "The Catorces are our allies. If you'd lay off the drugs once in awhile, you might be able to remember a thing or two."

Speedball stepped back with an injured air.

Ozone had been digging through their box of medical supplies, but he stopped and gave Vince a look. "Be fair, man. Things change practically every week."

Vince was in no mood to be fair. Speedball's impulsiveness might've gotten them in serious trouble this time. Their alliances had never been very robust, and injuring someone for no reason could be their death sentence. "Has someone gone to get Sara? This girl needs proper medical care."

"Gitana left a little while ago." Ozone selected a clean rag and brought it over.

While Ozone took over, pressing his fresh rag into the wound, Vince looked at the girl more closely. Her smooth dark skin suggested tribal blood, and she seemed young - barely out of her teens. Her clothes and weapons suggested fight training of some sort and the money to get kitted out properly. Perhaps Speedball hadn't been wrong to think she was a threat.

Vince patted her pockets, hoping to find identification or some sign of gang affiliation, but found only a crumpled card from a local church commemorating the Feast of Simon and Jude, and an odd hand-stitched item that he couldn't guess the use of but suspected was a charm of some sort. Meant to ward off evil, it had been useless against Speedball, who was merely reckless.

Vince looked at the card again. Wasn't Jude the one who helped with lost causes? Maybe he could help where Vince couldn't. He tucked the card back in her pocket, feeling Speedball's gaze on him the entire time. "What?" He got to his feet.

Speedball looked away. "Nothing. Just...I'm sorry, you know. I was only trying to protect us."

"I know." The girl still lay motionless and Ozone's rag was starting to soak through. For all any of them knew, the girl might have been a threat, after all. Just because she was young and attractive didn't mean she wasn't deadly. Vince suppressed a grim smile. He was always quick with the assumptions when he saw a pretty face. "You meant well, but next time..."

"Yeah?"

"Capture intruders. Don't go off on them like this."

The girl's breathing had become strange and hoarse, as if she were choking. Vince knew the sound and turned away. "I might've liked to have talked to her, find out what she wanted. And now we'll never know."

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For more stories about Vince, go here.

Book Review

There's a review of Maelstrom at Crimogenic today. Check it out!

New Maelstrom

I have a new Maelstrom story for you, peeps: Monster Tour.

It's a Three Word Wednesday post, so be sure to visit the other Wednesday writers.