The Escalade had been declared a complete write-off. David thought maybe a minivan next. Is that what stay-at-home dads drove these days? More study was needed. He wondered idly if the dealership offered armor and bulletproof glass as options.
On a rainy Sunday morning, David Sparrow served as a pallbearer at Larry Meadows’s funeral. The somber event was the single moment of gloom in a time of relative optimism.
David Sparrow had his family back. They were safe.
Very gradually life began to seem normal again, and on the Saturday Amy got the cast off her arm, David dragged the charcoal grill into the backyard for hamburgers, and they ate outside at the picnic table.
“My hamburger is still all red on the inside,” Anna said.
“Mine is red on the inside but hard and black on the outside,” Brent said.
“That just means you need more ketchup,” David told him.
David took everything the day would give him, throwing a football with Brent, blowing bubbles with Anna. The way the hazy orange of the setting sun made Amy’s skin glow and lit her hair, creating a halo around her head, reminded David how in love he was with her. The four of them had a life, something good and solid and it took almost losing all of that to remind him he was a lucky man.
He wouldn’t take it for granted. Not ever again.
That night, after David tucked the children into bed, he returned to his own bedroom to find Amy already curled under the covers, wearing her circus tent flannel, the covers pulled up to her chin.
David slipped into bed next to her, put an arm around her and pulled her close. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Catching up on briefs,” she said. “You?”
“Nothing. I thought I’d take the kids to the park.”
“I thought you were having lunch with Charlie Finn,” she said. “You were going to buy him Chinese food, and he was going to tell you about his new FBI job.”
“That’s Monday.”
David buried his face in her hair and smelled her shampoo. He yawned and said, “You want to fool around?”
“Yeah, baby. Rock my world.”
David began to snore lightly, but Amy didn’t hear it because she was already asleep.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
VICTOR GISCHLER’s novels include Gun Monkeys (Edgar Award finalist), Shotgun Opera (Anthony Award nominee), Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse, Vampire a Go-Go, and The Deputy. Gischler created Dead-pool Corps for Marvel Comics and spent two years writing X-Men. He is currently writing season ten of Angel & Faith in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe for Dark Horse comics. He lives in Baton Rouge as a stay-at-home-writer/dad with his college professor wife and son. You can sign up for email updates here.
ALSO BY VICTOR GISCHLER
Gun Monkeys
The Pistol Poets
Suicide Squeeze
Shotgun Opera
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse
Vampire a Go-Go
The Deputy
Ink Mage
Thank you for buying this
St. Martin’s Press ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Now
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
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
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Victor Gischler
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.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
STAY. Copyright © 2015 by St. Martin’s Press LLC. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by James Iacobelli
Cover photographs: man with gun © Gary S. Chapman / Getty Images; baby sock © Yulia Podlesnova / shutterstock
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-04151-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-3805-5 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466838055
First Edition: June 2015