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Turnpike Blues – Chapter 13

By jelewis8 ⋅ December 19, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

CHAPTER 13 ? TAIL JOB At about eight o?clock Villig leaves his house. It?s dark, so I can?t tell what he?s wearing, but he heads for the car parked in front of his house, so I start mine up, keeping the headlights off. It?s a well-lit street, so I keep well back from him as [...]

Turnpike Blues – Chapter 12

By jelewis8 ⋅ December 16, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

CHAPTER 12 – MISDIRECTION Practice has turned this into a habit. I want to be prepared for tonight, so on my way I stop by a liquor store, Fralen?s Grain Shoppe. I guess it?s supposed to be old fashioned, the way you imagine a German beer house would be if it wasn?t all smashed to [...]

Turnpike Blues – Chapter 11

By jelewis8 ⋅ December 12, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

CHAPTER 11 ? BUSINESS DEALINGS I head out of the Verona driveway with a few more questions than I had when I first arrived here. I head to the Fenton Public Library to see if I can find out who or what Hartz Medical Industries is. I don?t know why those documents were in Aries? [...]

Turnpike Blues – Chapter 10

By jelewis8 ⋅ December 4, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

CHAPTER 10 ? DIRTY LAUNDRY ?Hey Jimmy, what are you doing here?? I manage to stutter out with a gracelessness befitting a court jester or a man about to do a belly flop into a swimming pool. ?We just got back in,? he says. ?What are you doing in Aries? room?? ?Man?s gotta right to [...]

Turnpike Blues – Chapter 9

By jelewis8 ⋅ November 28, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

CHAPTER 9 ? DOWNSHIFT I walk out of Varley?s house feeling that I have not only let him down, but myself as well. When I look at things honestly, I can?t convince myself I should have known Leroy and Aries were seeing each other, yet I somehow feel that I have tripped up, that I [...]

Turnpike Blues – Chapter 8

By jelewis8 ⋅ November 28, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

CHAPTER 8 ? THE OLD FLAME Last night was the kind of event that happens once in a while, like a tornado or a flood. In almost every mob movie or detective thriller, the hero gets placed into situations that may either harm him or help him. Usually it?s the kind of thing that breaks [...]

Turnpike Blues – Chapter 7, continued

By jelewis8 ⋅ November 24, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

The old man leads me through a short hall into another room, larger than my ?prison? room. In the center of the room I see a group of about twenty people or so, dressed in black robes, each bowed toward the floor, their foreheads resting on a mat of reeds. I follow the old man [...]

Turnpike Blues – Chapter 7

By jelewis8 ⋅ November 16, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

CHAPTER 7 ? OPEN HOUSE When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is a prickly pear cactus, and I realize that my arms are tied stiffly around the back of a chair. My legs are tied to the legs of the chair, and the chair seems to be nailed down to the [...]

Turnpike Blues – Chapter 6, continued

By jelewis8 ⋅ November 15, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

?What are you talking about? What kind of rumors?? I ask him, and he beckons me to follow him to the end of the bar. He pulls up his stool and sits, slapping his hand on the counter to get the bartender?s attention. He makes a V with his fingers, and I sit down. ?The [...]

Turnpike Blues – Chapter 6

By jelewis8 ⋅ November 14, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

CHAPTER 6 – A MEETING OF MINDS Woodie gets out of his chair, stretching his legs. He is a little unstable, but after seven or eight cups of the stuff we’d been polishing off, I am sufficiently impressed. For a little guy, he’s got the capacity of a tank. Me, on the other hand–well, I [...]

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Turnpike Blues