Preview: The Lazarus Men #1

Ok, back to shifting gears. I’ve always been a fan of those old film noir movies of the 40s and 50s. Nothing like a good detective flick to get you going. Here’s my take on them. Enjoy.

PROLOGUE

“Once you agree to this you can never go back. Your life will change forever and not necessarily for the best,” Mr. Shine said, his thin hands clasped behind his back.

Carter Gaetis paused to glance at the odd man, doubts plaguing him. It had been months since their first meeting and he still didn’t wholly trust Mr. Shine. Several qualities making him human were missing in Carter’s opinion. Shine was tall, lightly built and possessed a permanent sneer. His pale complexion and dark hair lent a cadaverous presence Carter found acutely disturbing. When he spoke it was a thin rasp.

“Are you prepared to commit yourself, your life, and your dedication, to our cause, Mr. Gaetis?”

Carter tensed. Born to believe there was no escaping the past, he spent years languishing as a convicted murderer. Penniless and branded a villain by the rigid constrictors of society, he contemplated suicide. Darkness crept into all corners of his life, everyone left– except for his wife and daughter. They’d stood beside him through the worst of it, but even that wasn’t enough. The longer he failed to act the more they suffered …

“Once you say the word all of your pain will be erased. Your debts to society will be paid in full and you will be free. Born again into a new life, a new purpose.”

For a price. Nothing comes without a price.

The real question was he willing to pay it so blindly? There must be another way. And yet, there wasn’t. All of his options were exhausted. He’d tried finding work, but convicts were mostly shunned. Mr. Shine offered him an escape but the cost … the cost threatened the security of his very soul. Carter wasn’t a violent man, or so he told himself. He’d tried to live a good life, to matter in the eyes of God and his peers. A drunken moment of indecision stripped it all away and brought him to this point.

Carter clenched his jaw, staying silent.

Mr. Shine, for his part, had done this innumerable times before. Each situation was unique, but the candidates all acted similarly. He’d come expecting Carter’s indecisiveness. After all, it was no easy thing to accept the forceful removal of one’s past life without grave concerns.

Shine rolled the stiffness from his right shoulder, the lingering effects of an old injury, and viewed the street. The sleepy village along the Hudson River would have gone unnoticed if not for human expansionism. Linking Canada to old New York City via the major train hubs, the Hudson River maintained the prominence it once held during the colonization of the New World some six hundred years earlier.

Inhaling the early autumn smells of changing foliage and the dampness of the river, Shine briefly considered retiring to this part of the world. This forgotten stretch of the world was one of the few peaceful places he’d ever been.

Carter finally asked, “Will they suffer?”

There was no way a man like Shine could ever retire in any fashion save one: an assassin’s kiss. He exhaled before smiling and turning to face Carter. “No. Their part in this sad tale will finally be over. They will be free, Mr. Gaetis, much as you will be.”

Carter sighed. He wished there were another way. Anything but this. He was as much a victim of circumstance as his family.

With grave reluctance, Carter nodded curtly.

There was no other option.

“Mr. Gaetis, I need to hear you say it,” Shine insisted. His eyes took on a wicked glow.

“Yes, Mr. Shine. I accept your offer.” His words lacked the conviction with which they were meant. Carter was a strong man but even the severity of the moment left him weak in more ways than he was willing to admit to any man, especially Shine. He didn’t like the thin man at all.

Carter imagined there’d come a time for reckoning before the end. He only had to wait until that day.

Shine clapped his hands, twice. “Good! I knew you’d make the logical decision. Very smart of you, Mr. Gaetis. Now, if you’d please follow me inside, we can conclude tonight’s business and be off.”

“You can’t be serious!” Carter all but exploded. Making the decision was one matter, having to participate entirely was another. He wasn’t prepared to endure the endless stream of nightmares from what came next. No man should.

Shine fixed him with a withering glare. “Oh but I am. This is not a game, Carter. The only way I can be assured of your commitment is by having you participate. Anything less is inexcusable. Our employers demand unconditional obedience.” He paused. “Perhaps I was mistaken. Perhaps you are not the proper candidate for this position. Good night, Mr. Gaetis. I wish you the best of fortune in the future.”

Shine turned to leave.

“No, wait. I’ll do it. It’s just going to be …”

“Hard? I understand. We have all gone through similar.” Shine patted him gently on the back. “Consider it being part of a brotherhood.”

***

Shine peeled the bloodstained, leather gloves off and tossed them down on the flower pattern comforter. He wasn’t smiling but lacked the seriousness Carter expected after murdering two people in their sleep. Instead he wore the look of grim satisfaction that only a man trapped in such a profession could produce. And professional he was. Only a single speck of blood escaped the bed, landing squarely on his right cheek.

Shine looked down to where Carter had collapsed in a pile of vomit and tears. “It’s done, Mr. Gaetis,” he announced quietly. “As far as anyone knows you and your family died here tonight in a regrettable gas fire. Welcome to the Lazarus Men.”

Carter failed to see the thin smile creep across Shine’s face.