Smith's Monthly #18

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Smith's Monthly #18 Page 22

by Smith, Dean Wesley


  Lott smiled. “Thanks,” he said.

  Julia nodded, as did Andor in agreement.

  “But thanks go to you,” Lott said, “for giving us the permission to do the job we love and make a difference.”

  Chief Beason laughed. “I get three of the best detectives I have ever had the pleasure to meet working for me for free and making me and the rest of the clowns down at headquarters look smart. What’s not to love on my side?”

  “Perfect,” Lott said.

  “We got a new case,” Andor said, pointing to a file he had put on the counter.

  “One close to my heart,” Chief Beason said, smiling. “So hope you all can pull your magic on that one.”

  “Oh, great,” Lott said, shaking his head, but smiling.

  “By the way,” Beason said, “I do have one bone to pick with you three from this last case. You could have saved me going into that basement.”

  Andor laughed and shook his head. “You and Couch and Landers needed to see that to really understand the depth of sickness of those two women.”

  “And the scale of the tragedy that needed to be dealt with,” Julia said.

  “Yeah, I know,” Beason said. “Just glad no cameras were around to catch the three top law enforcement officers in the area all throwing up together. Felt like a bad night back in college. First time I ever lost my lunch over any crime scene.”

  “You weren’t alone with that one,” Lott said.

  “So what is your secret?” Beason asked. “Besides being smart and having your daughter and Doc and Fleet helping, how does the Cold Poker Gang solve so many unsolved cases?”

  “You honestly want to know?” Andor asked, staring with his look of intensity at the chief.

  Lott smiled at Julia.

  “I do,” the chief said, looking slightly puzzled that his light question was being taken so seriously.

  “KFC before every meeting,” Andor said, pulling the bucket toward himself and grabbing a wing.

  “He’s not kidding,” Julia said, yanking the bucket to her and grabbing a wing as well.

  “He’s not,” Lott said, grabbing a leg and biting into the juicy, warm meat.

  The chief smiled, shook his head, and then pulled the bucket toward himself and grabbed a thigh, biting into it and letting the grease get on his face.

  “See what I mean?” Andor asked.

  The Las Vegas Chief of Police nodded and smiled. “I do. I feel smarter already.”

  “Best crime-fighting food ever,” Lott said, holding up a half-eaten chicken leg in salute.

  They all saluted with their own half-eaten chicken part, and with that the laughter filled the room and the Cold Poker Gang was ready for a new case.

  If you enjoyed this volume of Smith’s Monthly, don’t miss the next: Subscribe today!

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA Today bestselling writer Dean Wesley Smith published far more than a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds of short stories across many genres.

  At the moment he produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the Old West, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and a superhero series starring Poker Boy.

  His monthly magazine, Smith’s Monthly, which consists of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and offers readers more than 70,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month.

  During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, he wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.

  He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of almost a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.

  Dean also worked as a fiction editor off and on, starting at Pulphouse Publishing, then at VB Tech Journal, then Pocket Books, and now at WMG Publishing, where he and Kristine Kathryn Rusch serve as series editors for the acclaimed Fiction River anthology series.

  For more information about Dean’s books and ongoing projects, please go to www.deanwesleysmith.com, www.smithsmonthly.com or www.fictionriver.com.

  Thank You!!

  Walter White Cat and I would like to thank the following wonderful people who support my blog and my work through Patreon. Your support is very important to me. Thanks!

  Rob Cornell

  Erick Lindman

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  Miguel Angel Alonso Pulido

  Nancy Hendrickson

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  Marian Goldeen

  John Connelly

  Gary Speer

  Megan Bryce

  Michelle Tatam

  Scott Gordon

  Kathryn Rooney

  Sherman Cox

  Livia Quinn

  Amri Ackers

  Robin Brande

  J.R. Murdock

  Kathleen McClure

  Michael Kelberer

  Gunnar Gunderson

  F.I. Goldhaber

  Mary Jo Rabe

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  For the Balance of a Heart

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  Mated from the Morgue

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  An Easy Shot

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  After the Dance

  I Killed the Clockwork Key

  Me and Beans and Great Big Melons

  Calling Dead: A Cold Poker Gang Mystery

  PART ONE

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  PART TWO

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  PART THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  PART FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  PART FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Subscription Information

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright Information

 

 

 
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