She leaned into him. “You mean that?”
Kevin stared into the glass front doors of his soon-to-be roadhouse. “Yeah… I never really thought about anything else but not getting dead and getting my ass off the road. Now… If someone told me I could have my roadhouse or be with you, I wouldn’t even hesitate.” He kissed her.
She let her tongue linger in his mouth for a moment before pulling back with a smile. “So you do like me more than your car?”
“Hey now. Let’s not get too crazy.” He chuckled.
Tris smirked and jabbed him in the side, smiling. “Ass.”
Paul walked over in no great hurry, stretching hours of driving out of his legs. Zoe squealed and laughed nearby, running in circles holding a big stuffed green dragon with purple wings over her head.
Kevin got out, as did Tris.
“Looks like a fixer-upper,” said Paul.
“That it is.” Kevin stretched.
Paul stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Could probably stick around a week or two till you get it off the ground. Don’t think Bill would mind.”
He clapped Paul on the shoulder. “Alright. Best work fast though. Ann’s going to kill you if you don’t bring Zoe back soon.”
Paul chuckled.
Tris grabbed Kevin’s hand. “Ready to go inside?”
Kevin squinted at the weakening afternoon sun. Well, Dad, guess I made it. He offered a moment of silence for the father he barely knew before heading for the door. “Been ready for this for years… never thought I’d live to see it.”
She tugged him to a halt as his hand touched the door. When he looked over to ask why, she leaned up and kissed him on the lips. Zoe zoomed along in the background, pretending her plush dragon flew around. Kevin smiled, much happier to see her without a gun. Tris watched her go by with such a starry-eyed expression, he wondered if the life of a courier would be less scary than what waited for him.
“Aww, Hell.” He scooped her up into his arms and carried her past the doors. “We’re home.”
Thank you for reading!
I’d like to thank Wilbert Stanton (author of The Artful). One More Run started off as a short story, and his suggestion is what got me thinking about expanding the world into a full novel (and subsequent series).
Also, many thanks to the staff at Curiosity Quills for all their help and support in making this novel a reality.
Mark Woodring - Thanks for a great editing job (even if you did hate the pun).
Originally from South Amboy NJ, Matthew S. Cox has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Since 1996, he has developed the “Divergent Fates” world, in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, The Awakened Series, and the Daughter of Mars series take place.
More recently, he has forayed into young-adult and middle grade novels.
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom systems (Chronicles of Eldrinaath [Fantasy] and Divergent Fates [Sci Fi], and a fan of anime, British humour, and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.
He is also fond of cats.
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Appetizer:
Book Cover
Title Page
Main Course:
Chapter One: Nice Shot Man
Chapter Two: In Thirty Years
Chapter Three: Wayne's
Chapter Four: Think Fast
Chapter Five: New Problems
Chapter Six: A Little Sympathy
Chapter Seven: Looking For Cracks
Chapter Eight: The Enclave
Chapter Nine: Campfire Jitters
Chapter Ten: Harrisburg
Chapter Twelve: Gut Feeling
Chapter Thirteen: Stay Sharp
Chapter Fourteen: Glass Half Empty
Chapter Fifteen: Debts
Chapter Sixteen: Little Black Box
Chapter Seventeen: The Common Good
Chapter Eighteen: Glimmertown
Chapter Nineteen: A Special Kind of Stupid
Chapter Twenty: Dream Killer
Chapter Twenty-One: Tyrant
Chapter Twenty-Two: Little Red
Chapter Twenty-Three: Had It Coming
Chapter Twenty-Four: Payback's A Bitch
Chapter Twenty-Five: Plan B
Chapter Twenty-Six: A Matter of Perspective
Chapter Twenty-Seven: It Ain't Me
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Circling The Drain
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Sparks
Chapter Thirty: Do Androids Dream
Chapter Thirty-One: A New Complication
Chapter Thirty-Two: Nederland
Chapter Thirty-Three: Exceptions
Chapter Thirty-Four: Fair is For Dead Men
Chapter Thirty-Five: The Whole Conscience Thing
Chapter Thirty-Six: Terminal
Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Thousand Coins
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Watering The Bushes
Chapter Forty: Hunting The Hunter
Chapter Forty-One: With Friends Like These
Chapter Forty-Two: Second Chances
Chapter Forty-Three: Two Hours
Chapter Forty-Four: Sunset
Chapter Forty-Five: Batteries Not Included
Chapter Forty-Six: Seventeen Plus One
Chapter Forty-Seven: Absoluton
Chapter Forty-Eight: Imp
asse
Chapter Forty-Nine: A Slight Miscalculation
Chapter Fifty: A Good Run of Bad Luck
Dessert:
Acknowledgments
Closing
About the Author
Copyright & Publisher
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