Dirty Work Revisited (eBook)

Brett Sody (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
320 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-9866-8 (ISBN)

Infos

DIRTY WORK REVISITED Who says death is the end of the road? For the late Detective Pete Young and his arch nemesis Chad Oldman it's just the beginning. The hereafter proves to be pretty tough going; it's a good thing our dearly beloved recently departed late hero's up to it. He may have crossed over, but he's still snowed under; there's more DIRTY WORK to attend to on the Other Side than in this one. Afterlife assignments abound. Reincarnation, soul transmigration, re-animation, time dislocation. And in the land of the vindictive living, the body count continues to rise. The hard-boiling, it seems, goes on forever

Textauszug

ONE

 

 

‘Who’s up next?’ asks Sonny.

‘Detective Pete Young’ answers Mitch.

‘Oh yeah? Detective? What happened? Shot, I suppose?’

‘By his own kind’

‘Nasty’

‘Shall I show him in, boss?’

‘Show him in, Mitch’

Mitch shows Det. Pete in.

‘How do you do, Pete’ says Sonny.

‘That’s Detective’ says Det. Pete.

‘Sorry. That’s ex Detective’

‘And why’s that?’

‘I’ll get to that in a tick. Right now, Pete, I’ll bet you’re just dying to know where in heaven’s name you are and what the hell’s going on, am I right?’

‘Spot on’

‘Okay. I’m Sonny. That’s my assistant Michael on the right. Everyone calls him Mitch’

‘Hi Mitch’ says Det. Pete.

‘Can you fill him in please, Mitch’ says Sonny.

‘Can do’ says Mitch. ‘The situation is, Pete, that you’ve been clipped’

 

 

‘Really?’

‘Yes, indeed you have, Pete. Iced’

‘Queensland Police?’

‘Precisely. Once wacked, your subsequently released immortal soul has transmigrated straight over to us’

‘Impressive’

‘Standard practice. It’s been going on since whenever’

‘What about the guy I shot?’

‘Negative. Queensland cops had him decked out with a Kevlar vest under the band shirt. They knew you were coming. Anyway, Pete, this is Purgatory. Don’t panic; sounds worse than it is. You’re comfortably floating about in the ether as a spirit until we decide on your next gig’

‘That’d explain the absence of my body’

‘Exactly’ says Sonny. ‘Anyway, Pete, it’s nowhere near as bad as it sounds. Tell him, Mitch. The definition’

Mitch does. ‘Purgatory. A state in which those who die in God’s friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still need some purification to go upstairs’

‘Sweet’ says Sonny. ‘Note the stand-out bit, Pete? Assured. How good is that? You’d never get that anywhere else’

Det Pete asks if a few questions would be in order.

Sonny says shoot.

‘Who decides where you’re assigned?’ is Det Pete’s first.

‘The old man’ says Sonny.

‘Your father?’

‘Top dog’

‘Got it’

‘He likes to be called Papa, Pete. It’s that music thing he’s got going on’

‘Papa Can You Hear Me?’

 

 

‘Don’t mention Streisand whatever you do. He can’t stand

her. I think it was Yentl that did it for him as far as Bab’s concerned’

‘Papa was a Rolling Stone?’

‘That’s more the vibe. He loved Papa Don’t Preach’

‘Madonna?’

‘He preferred Kelly Osborne’s version. His favourite’s actually Papa Don’t Take no Mess’

‘James Brown?’

‘Seventy-Four’

‘So, when do I go?’

‘Usually straight away, Pete. There’s no point mucking around. Get on with it. I’ve been in this game a long time, Pete. Seen quite a few go through’

‘How long’s long?’

‘You like asking questions, Pete, don’t you? That detective thing you’ve got happening’s going to die hard, isn’t it? Excuse the pun. Anyway, we’ve heard Papa’s taken a bit of a shine to you. Aren’t you the lucky one? Feels sorry for you he does; thinks you got a raw deal. Well, I tell you who’s had the raw deal around here. Anyway, he wants you to pop in for a chat soon as you feel up to it’

‘I’m up to it’

‘Good to go now?’

‘Good to go’

‘Okay then, standby’

‘Standing by’

‘Don’t forget to call him Papa’ says Sonny.

‘Right’ says Pete, who’s surprised himself with how well he’s adapted to his current, very other-worldly, situation. Police training has helped Pete maintain a calm and rational

 

 

focus, assess the situation clearly and respond accordingly. Not to get freaked out. Keep it together.

‘Okay’ says Sonny. ‘Sending you through now’

 

‘G’day Pete’ says Papa. ‘Nice to meet you. I hear you’ve been through a bit of a rough patch lately, doing it tough; what with being shot and all. I can certainly sympathize. Got a few family issues myself you know, Pete’

‘I’m sorry to hear that’ says Pete.

‘Yeah. The lad’s none too happy just at the moment. I reckon he’s going to pack it in pretty soon. It wouldn’t surprise me’

‘Really?’

‘Fraid so. Something funny’s going on’

‘He does seem a bit cheesed off’

‘What the hell’s he got to complain about?’

‘Not sure I know, Papa’

‘Anyway, Pete, here’s the job. Listening?’

‘This is the purification part, I’m assuming?’

‘Correctamundo. You heard of Crosby, Stills and Nash?’

‘And Young?’

‘There’s the problem right there, son. That young Stevie Stills - had a soft spot for him. Thought he would have gone on to greater things. Gone to pack now. Shame’

‘Too much coke I’ve heard’

‘Me too’

‘Plus, he’s as deaf as a post’

‘Is that right? Hadn’t heard. I crack myself up. Anyway, I really loved that first Crosby, Stills and Nash album. Suite Judy Blue Eyes; masterpiece. And then Neil Young has to join. Voice like a cat, being strangled, going down a drain.

 

 

And those one-note guitar solos. On and on. Can’t stand it. They were SO much better before he joined, Pete, don’t you think? And from then on it was always “where’s Neil?” Will Neil be able to fit us into his increasingly busy schedule? Which, naturally, had occurred due to massive exposure due to joining CSN. I know you I do. We’re kindred spirits, you and me. No matter how we toss the dice, it has to be, so here’s the mission, Pete. You paying attention?’

‘I certainly am’

‘Good. Intercept my main man Stevie Stills from meeting up with Neil Young on that fateful day on the corner of Sunset and Vine. L.A. April six, Sixty-six, got it? That’s the gig. Prevent that whining windbag Neil joining The Buffalo Springfield. That’s the beginning of the end right there. In a nutshell. The kernel. Once Y’s in the Springfield he’ll end up tacked on the end of CSN. And messing it up. The seeds of destruction planted right there in the fertile ground of creative tension. Know a bit about the seed of destruction, you know, young Pete. Not to mention jealousy. It’s a curse, I can tell you. Got a fair bit of it up here’

‘Sorry to hear it’

‘Me too’

‘You’re sending me back in time as well? You can do that?’

‘Time, Pete, like space, is a human construct. That’s all it is. And are you human any longer? No. Space and time, son, are just modes of perception. Backwards, forwards, it doesn’t matter, which of our fantasies fail’

‘Isn’t that which of our fantasies stay?’

‘Verse two is “which of our fantasies fail”, verse one is “which of our fantasies stay’

‘Right’

 

 

‘And verse three is – “it’s nothing but dreaming anyhow”

‘Stills?’

“It Doesn’t Matter”, Manassas, Seventy-two. What a band. The guy was a major talent, Pete. Sonny!’

Sonny shows up.

‘We good to go with young Pete here?’ asks Papa.

‘Good to go’ says Sonny.

‘It’s now or never’ says Papa.

‘You just can’t help yourself, can you Papa?’ says Sonny.

‘Don’t mind a bit of the old Elvis’

‘Thought Amazing Grace was your favourite’

Pete’s picking up on the tension. ‘How did Elvis go in the afterlife?’ he asks.

‘Not at liberty to divulge that sort of information, Pete’ says Papa. ‘Now close your eyes, click your heels together three times and say there’s no place like home’

‘You’re kidding me’ says...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 22.9.2021
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• ISBN-10: 1-0983-9866-1 / 1098398661
• ISBN-13: 978-1-0983-9866-8 / 9781098398668