Missy smiles. “I’m feeding my good wolf.”
Astrid’s explanation was fuzzy in spots, but it wasn’t her usual brand of evasiveness, and I saw in her a vulnerability I’ve never seen before. She was sincere. She was sorry.
That’s why I voted to let her stay on the team — after a probationary period, which is only sensible. Sincere or not, she has some amends to make, and trust to rebuild.
“Come on, Carrie, I’ll walk you to the transport,” Concorde says. Before we step onto the elevator to the subbasement, I glance over my shoulder to see Nina take Astrid into her arms. Nina throws me a nod.
“Wonkavator. It’s officially the Wonkavator,” I tell Concorde.
“The Wonkavator?”
“You know, from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
Concorde makes a disgusted noise. “Hated that movie.”
“You hated Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? The thing’s a classic!” I say. Matt would be so proud of me, laying into someone for hating a great movie. “I don’t know you anymore. Soulless monster.”
“Wait, are we talking about the old one with Gene Wilder or the new one with Johnny Depp?”
“The old one. The good one.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry, got them mixed up. Yeah, that is a great movie.” He chuckles. “Hm. Wonkavator.”
“What do you know? There is a human being in that suit,” I say, nudging him playfully. “Well, I already knew there was a human being in there.”
“Watch it.”
“You better watch it. Calling me in on big cases, showing me your face, making me the deciding vote on sensitive internal matters...might give a girl the impression she’s valued or something.”
Instead of shooting me down and putting in my place (you know: the norm), Concorde says, “You handled yourself well during this crisis.”
I should simply accept the compliment graciously, but instead I say, “The whole team did well, not just me, and they’d really appreciate hearing that. Especially Matt — who, I would like to remind you, figured out how to stop the spell, and in doing so, healed the bitter rivalry between the disciplines of science and magic.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” I wait for Concorde to throw the Squad a bone, but it quickly becomes clear that isn’t going to happen. I leave HQ feeling more than a little irked over the slight, so in that respect, things are back to normal.
I like normal. Normal is good. Normal is comfortable.
Speaking of good, comfortable normal, it’s time to go home for a nice family dinner.
Except, apparently, this is not going to be a family dinner.
“Carrie, hi,” Mom says, rising from the couch. The guy sitting next to her also gets up. He’s dressed nicely, in a dress shirt, and he anxiously smoothes his khakis out as he stands. Mom is likewise acting twitchy.
“Hi,” I say. “And hi.”
“Carrie, this is Ben,” Mom says. “He’s a, uh, co-worker of mine, he’ll be joining us for dinner.”
“Hi, Carrie,” Ben says, switching his wine glass into his left hand so he can offer me his right. “Christina’s told me all about you. I feel like I know you already.”
“Uh. Yeah. Sorry, I can’t say the same,” I say, but I’m looking at Mom when I say it.
“Well, we’re going to take care of that tonight,” Mom says before dashing off into the kitchen. “You two get comfortable. I’ll let you know when the lasagna is ready.”
Nervous mother. Strange man, groomed to make an impression. Top-notch meal.
Oh, my God.
I’m having dinner with my mother’s new boyfriend.
I want to go back to fighting demons.
BONUS!
You’re not done yet! Go to author Michael Bailey’s official website (innsmouthlook.com) to read a brand-new Action Figures short story.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When I decided to self-publish the first Action Figures novel in the fall of 2013, I didn’t know what to expect. I know what I hoped to see -- people falling all over themselves in the mad scramble to throw money at me -- but I kept my expectations low.
To say I was pleasantly surprised by the response would be an understatement. Not only did people actually buy the book, a triumph in and of itself, they raved about it, and the question on everyone’s lips was, “When does the next book come out?”
Yes, I got the “George R.R. Martin, write faster!” treatment. It was deeply gratifying.
It also gave me ample motivation to proceed with book two, which I wanted to write, but when you’re an indie author, you’re responsible for a lot of the costs that would normally be assumed by a publisher. You have to be a bit of a mercenary, for practical reasons.
Still, I am a greatly humbled mercenary, and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all the people who supported me by grabbing a copy of Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins, talking it up to their friends, and leaving some glowing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
As always, I’d like to thank my beta testers for reviewing the manuscript, and pointing out all the flubs and flaws: new test-reader Rachel Prue, and returning readers Kate Sokol, Rob Isaacson, Julie Tremblay, and, of course, my wife Veronica.
Big thanks also go out to my sister-in-law Tori Fullard and my bud Tricia Lupien, who returned to the team to provide the editing and the cover art, respectively.
Finally, thanks to my fellow indie writers on the Kindle Authors Helping Authors and Marketing for Authors Facebook groups. They’ve proven a tremendous resource, and I’d recommend them to anyone out there considering venturing into the wild world of self-publishing.
I hope the whole Action Figures team, and my readers, are ready for more, because book three is already in the works.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Bailey was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts and raised on a steady diet of comic books, Dungeons & Dragons, Saturday morning cartoons, sci-fi television, and horror movies…which explains a lot.
An effort to parlay his love of geek culture into a career as a comic book artist failed when he figured out he wasn’t that good, so he turned to writing as means of artistic expression. Since then, Michael has written several scripts for New England-area renaissance faires, as well as a number of articles based on faire culture for Renaissance Magazine.
In 2013, Michael left his job of 15 years as a reporter and blogger for his hometown newspaper, the Falmouth Enterprise, to pursue his writing career. His debut novel, Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins made its debut in September 2013.
Visit Michael online at www.innsmouthlook.com, and find him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
Table of Contents
Copyright
PART ONE: WRAPPED IN AN ENIGMA
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
PART TWO: CULT OF PERSONALITY
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
BONUS!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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