War Party by Joseph Flynn

Author:Joseph Flynn [Flynn, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Arts & Entertainment
ISBN: 9780988786875
Publisher: Stray Dog Press, Inc.
Published: 2013-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

Tulane University, New Orleans

Louis Mercer sat in his cubbyhole of an office going over his teaching assignments for the coming term. The professor for whom he labored was a really decent guy. He did his own stints in the classroom, something a person with his seniority and publishing history didn’t have to bother with anymore. He gave credit to his research assistants, including Louis, when it came to including names on his scholarly papers. He even threw two or three memorable parties during the course of the school year.

All in all, he was as accommodating a boss and mentor as a grad student could want.

Being a bit of a greedy prick, though, Louis wanted more. He wanted fame and fortune. In the words of the late Jim Morrison, he wanted the world and he wanted it now. His decision to risk his precious backside had brought him an unexpected measure of approbation among the faculty and administration.

Most academics experienced the world at a safe distance, their feet firmly planted in libraries and laboratories. Interaction with the larger world did occur, but most disciplines didn’t require venturing near the brink of mortal risk. Those who did put their skin in the game were the ones whose books found large general audiences with the sales advanced by appearances on morning news programs.

Louis had already made his major media debut. Had been congratulated by people he was sure hadn’t known his name a week ago. He’d even detected hints of envy from his peers. Being a celebrity academic was one thing; achieving the status of a famous grad student was unheard of.

Perhaps best of all, he’d learned that both sections of the class he taught had reached their maximum number of students and both had a waiting list in case someone dropped the course. More than two-thirds of the students enrolled in each class were girls. He’d had a bit of undergrad fawning from coeds in the past — he wasn’t a bad-looking guy — but now he could imagine … all sorts of things.

Louis Mercer groupies. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Then, not twenty minutes ago, his agent had called.

Told him the damn Indians had robbed another bank, this one in Las Vegas.

“Are you sure it’s the same people?” Louis asked.

There was a moment of silence, then his agent said, “You know, that’s a good question. But even if they’re not, it’s still a problem. You had a great story, being a witness to an extraordinary robbery, but now it seems like you were just the guy who saw the opening act. The real story will be told by the guy who’s there for the finale.”

John Tall Wolf immediately popped into Louis’ mind.

That sonofabitch.

Hey, now, wait a minute, he thought. Could a working federal agent profit from doing his job? Hardly seemed fair. It’d be like double dipping.

It took barely a second for Louis to answer his own question.

Still, if the payday was big, a fed would have to be stupid to keep his job.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.