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  AfterMath

  A collection of Short Thriller Stories

  __________

  E. A. Maynard

  AfterMath

  Copyright © 2021 by E.A. Maynard & Gremlin Publishing.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously for satirical purposes. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For information contact:

  E.A. Maynard

  [email protected]

  http://www.eamaynard.com

  Book and cover design by E. A. Maynard

  ISBN- 978-1-7343265-5-0

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Preface

  Chapter One | No Road Home

  Chapter Two | Bar Fly

  Chapter Three | The Father's Sins

  Chapter Four | For the Love of it All

  Chapter Five | Becoming a Hero

  Chapter Six | Going Solo

  Chapter Seven | Tales of a drunk assassin

  POSTSCRIPT

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  Also By E.A. Maynard

  About the Author

  Dedication

  In my years, I had many friends that has come and gone. Some of them meant a lot to me and some were only around for a short time. This book is dedicated to my friends. They are the reason I asked the question “what happens after the story”.

  Telling the stories in this book is a reminder that the end of a story is only the beginning of another story that provides hope. It reminds me that even the hard times in life will pass.

  Those who I have called friends have all gone on to make their own stories just as I have. I hope and pray they have the best life they can have. No matter where they are, I hope someday we can meet again, even if it is to tell our stories to each other.

  To my friends, you helped me live the story of my life (and some of my writing,) and I would not change a thing. Thank you for all the time you shared with me.

  Preface

  There are always lives and stories to tell after one story ends. What you will hear here are the stories of those lives changed in ways they didn’t expect. For these people, everything changed when a sunny day in Risingsun, Ohio became a day of mourning for so many. This is a collection of stories that follow the book Country Secrets.

  Jon Riggs starts us off with his story looking for answers. Not every answer is what you expect. Jon set out to see if he could return home again. What will he learn about the past he left behind? What will he do when he finds all the truths?

  After Jon’s story, we hear from Mick. Mick did not leave town like Jon and so many others. Mick stayed and continued roaming around the old towns he knew so well. The problem with staying in your hometown is that your past is never far from you.

  With his past so close to home, Mick will face his past that is trying to grab and drag him back into a life he was leaving behind. There are many choices for Mick to make and each choice will lead him down different roads. Find out if Mick will rebuild the drug empire Scott Bearman left or will he leave the empire to its ruins?

  Time has passed for everyone in these Stories, but for Adam (Duke) Byrd, time has passed enough that his oldest son had graduated with his master’s degree. Adam is found in the back of a church by his oldest son.

  In the wisdom Adam had gained through his life, he decided to share a story of his past with Scott Bearman. Adam shares a story of hardships, fear, and thrilling turns.

  Even with such important members of Country Secrets, for Scott Bearman, one of the most important was Rose. Rose took the loss of Scott Bearman harder than others. She took her rage towards the person she felt was responsible for everything and became a lawyer.

  Rose, as a lawyer, worked to take down any criminal she could find. She had a good life till she got the chance to take down the one person she wanted to take down the most. The problem with going after a king is that the king will come after you, too.

  Next, Mark Himlee has a surprise from his past come find him. Mark didn’t tell many people where he went and the visitor from his past was someone, he never thought that he would see again.

  Once Mark meets with his long lost friend, there were no more secrets. Some truths are revealed and like good friends do, they told one another what had been happening.

  Mark, unlike his friend, had left their hometowns to find a life of doing good things for others. Mark had even became a local hero. This is the story of how Mark’s life found everything he needed.

  Join Mark as he tells his tale. What Mark confesses to his friend is an example of how even good men need to do bad things for the greater good.

  As exciting as the stories are that you’ll hear from Jon, Mick, Adam, Rose, and Mark, Scott Bearman who is now known as Thomas Norris, gives you an adventure that is worth following. Thomas shares an adventure of his new life as a fixer. Go with him as he talks about his first solo job down in Raleigh.

  What should have been a simple job becomes filled with betrayal, surprises, and the birth of the Revenant.

  Finally, we are given a look at the man who took a chance that led Scott Bearman into a world of other people’s problems. This man is seen as being as hard as his name suggests.

  Mr. Stone took Scott Bearman off into a world unknown to most and taught him everything he knew. Now he sees his end coming and while sitting in a hidden away bar located in Baltimore, he lets his drinks get the best of him and he tells a stranger a tale.

  A tale of no good choices, but it is that tale that was the beginning of his ending. Charles Stone is not someone that is friendly to a stranger or allows others to know anything about himself.

  This stranger just happened to there when Mr. Stone wanted to confess the one sin to him. As most men do, he wanted to let go of what held him for so many years. Maybe he believed you can’t go to heaven with that kind of weight holding you down.

  Chapter One

  No Road Home

  Years had passed since the day Jon Rigg had told his friends goodbye, then left for the Marines. What was once a skinny hundred-and sixty-pound brown haired teenager, he now stood on his mother’s street at just under a two-hundred-pound man full of defined muscles.

  It has been almost a decade since he left and has not talked to anyone since he left. His high school sweetheart broke up with him in a dear john letter. Then when he asked his family about his friends, the subject was changed. Now that he had come back to his hometown, he could find his old friends and catch up with them.

  First, he had to go to his mom’s house and see her for the first time in two years. Jon took the steps he needed and walked up on the porch. He couldn’t help but think how different it felt to be home.

  He didn’t walk in because it was no longer where he lived. The porch was the same porch he sat on with a girl named Becky and this was where they both shared their first kiss. The doorbell still had the same obnoxious tone that would make him jump up when his favorite pizza was being delivered. In fact, nothing really had changed. Even the new coat of paint looked the same as the old paint.

  This was his home, but it was not his house. The last time he had seen his family was for a week at a midpoint between Northwest Ohio and his short stay at the Marine base in Beaufort, SC. Before this day, he had not thought about coming back. He really felt as if he came back, he would get stuck like so many he knew.

  Now that he was back, he wanted to find Dan and see how he was doing. Maybe see if Scott and Rose had had a bunch of kids. There was also Duke and Jenny, who seemed as if they were going down the road to get married, too. Jon thought about all the possibilities and what had changed in those years.

  The door opened followed with a high pitched scream. His mother was hugging him and kissing his check. His sister and brother came out to join in welcoming him home. Other family members would be coming over later, but his siblings came over to be the first to welcome Jon home. Without a question, that is exactly what they did. His family had a bond, and they would hold that bond till the end of their days.

  Before Jon realized it, he had been back for eight days. In that time, Jon expected his old friends would have heard he was back. It was not like much happens in a small town without everyone knowing. He remembered hearing about people coming back from the military that he didn’t know, and that was before technology made it so easy to spread the word.

  Finally, tired of waiting for his friends to come to him, he decided he would go find Dan first. He was his closest friend before leaving and figured he would be the first to come see him. In any small town, the first place to go to find someone would be their parents’ house.

  Jon had driven to Dan’s house so many times, that he could almost drive there with his eyes closed. Except this time, when he pulled into the house he knew, it looked and felt different. It had been painted a different color and there wasn’t any landscaping. Dan’s mom always made sure there was flowers and the property looked welcoming.

  Now the greyish blue house had stones wrapping around it. All the flower beds had been removed and nothing remained other than Jon’s memories. For some reason, Jon knew th
at he would not get his answers by knocking on the door. None the less, he still made the attempt.

  With three quick knocks, he stepped back and waited. It was not even thirty seconds when a guy that looked to be in his mid-forties answered. A well-built man but he had most likely not worked out for some time. With a demanding voice, he asked what he could do to help.

  Jon asked about his friend Dan and Dan’s family. All the guy could tell Jon was how he got a great deal on the house five years before. From what he heard, the couple was going through a divorce, and neither of them wanted the house. Jon thanked him and left.

  Instead of going home, Jon went to a local bar in Fostoria. It was a place on route 199 and from what he remembered, it used to be a popular spot. Since it was late in the afternoon and the party crowd wouldn’t be out yet, he wanted to see the place and get a beer. Pulling up to the red building, he found a few cars parked in the lot. Looking around, he would have guessed about six cars were there.

  Walking in, he saw an old guy at the bar, a couple at a table holding hands, and a group of guys who seemed to have started drinking way too early. Jon had no interest in dealing with any of them. He sat down at the bar taking plenty of space for himself, so no one Would sit next to him. “What do you want to drink? Just know my mix drinks suck, but I make a mean whiskey on the rocks.” The bartender told him.

  “I am not much of a whiskey guy, but I will take a corona. Thanks”, the bartender gave Jon a serious look before turning around to get the corona as he asked. When he returned, he put down the beer and a shot of vodka. Then said “You remind me of a guy I used to kind of know that liked his vodka. So, this one is on me.”

  Jon didn’t respond and the bartender went back to prepping for the late-night crowd. It was not long when one of the drunken guys came up to him trying to make small talk. The guy smelled horrible and could not get more than three words out without slurring.

  Jon made small talk and the drunken man offered Jon to join him and his friends. Before he was able to answer, the drunk guy yelled at the bartender telling him he wanted another round and it was on his new friend.

  Jon knew this old trick and was in no mood to play. The bartender must have noticed the look on Jon’s face and told the guy that he was cutting them off. With the logic you find from a drunk person, he started to yell at Jon about doing something to get him cut off.

  It was annoying and this was not what Jon wanted. Hell, he just wanted to have a beer, then maybe see if he could find his friends Scott or Duke. Finally, Jon had enough, put a ten on the counter and went to leave. When he turned to go out the door, the drunk guy grabbed his shoulder.

  It should be understood that Jon had two things going in his favor. He had been in enough bar fights that he knew what was happening and was ready. The other thing was, he had been trained by the US government to defend himself and country.

  When Jon turned back, he already had a hold on the guy’s wrist. He twisted the guy’s wrist and turning his arm, pushed the drunk down and planted his face on the bar. Jon told the guy he needs to relax and let him leave, and three of the other drunk guys joined their buddy and tackled him to the ground.

  One guy kept punching the ground, while another guy punched his friend’s back, and the third guy was punching Jon and the floor. It looked to be something out of a Three Stooges’ film. The only difference was Larry, Curly, or Mo were not there. Instead, he had three drunks laying on him. That was until the bartender came around and pulled the guys off of him.

  As Jon began to get up, he noticed the first guy had his hands cuffed behind his back. The other guys laid on the floor with their hands on the back of their head. Looking up, the bartender was holding a pistol. Considering Jon was unarmed and still at a position that put him at a disadvantage, he put up his hands and went to lay down like the other guys.

  Before he did, he heard “Riggs, get your ass up. I know you didn’t start this.” Hearing his old nickname, Jon was taken back. He just could not place how the bartender knew him. He went to ask who he was, but a few cops came in the front door. As if this was not their first time, they walked up and picked up the four guys. While the guys were being dragged out, one cop stop and talked to the bartender.

  They talked for a while and were joking around. Who is this guy, Jon wondered? At least that was what Jon was asking himself. One of the cops came over to him and began to talk about the guys having a habit of causing fights. As the officer was wrapping up, he told Jon “I hear you’re a Marine. I won’t hold that against you. I was in the Navy. Don’t worry, your name will not be mentioned in the report. Take care of yourself.”

  With that, he was gone, the bartender was back behind the bar as though nothing happened, and a few of the late night crowd started to come in. Jon went to leave again, but saw he was being waved over by the mysterious bartender.

  All Jon could think about was how he just wanted to get out of the bar. Now the bartender wanted to talk to him. Considering the bartender could have let him get taken away with the other drunks, he felt he should at least thank him.

  As he got back to the old wooden bar, he heard “Riggs, right? That is what you use to go by if I remember correctly.” And that was not at all what he expected. He could only answer with a yes and a questioning stare.

  The bartender reached out his hand and finally laid it all out. “I am Mick. I don’t know if you remember me. It has been a while and we were not close. You spent your time with that Dan guy, Duke and my business partner Scott. I figured since you were friends with Scott, I owed him to help you. And really that is all I wanted to say. If you ever want to come in for a drink and some talk, I am here most nights and days.”

  As Mick walked away, Jon yelled for him. “I have some questions, like where is everyone? My family won’t tell me anything about anyone.”

  Mick began to look down towards the floor as if he didn’t want to share what he knew. Then said “Come back tomorrow around one. This is not the time; we can talk tomorrow when no one else here. I can answer everything for you then.”

  Jon went to say something but stopped himself. Realizing that the bar was filling up and it would be hard for Mick to talk, he left. While going back to his mom’s house, he decided to change his plans and started heading towards his brother’s house outside of Risingsun.

  When Jon pulled into the driveway, Frank came out. It was like he was waiting for him. Whether he was or not, Jon wanted to push for answers. He would be talking to Mick, but he needed to start getting answers. If he wanted to find out what happened, he needed to start hearing some of the stories.

  When Jon got out of his car, his brother just stood on the porch holding a brown bottle of beer. They didn’t say a word to each other until Jon got on the porch, when he noticed an old cooler. The blue cooler was nothing impressive and looked as it should have been thrown out years ago. There was even a small stream of water coming from the bottom corner.

  “So, do you plan to share or did you forget how to offer a guest something to drink?” Jon’s comment got Frank to laugh. Reaching down into the cooler, Frank asked “Are you able to handle another drink? You look like you already had a rough time and it smells like you’ve had a beer or two already. I thought you Marines were an unstoppable force.”

  After that, they sat on the porch watching cars go by and traded insults till Jon felt that his brother was relaxed enough and said “What happened when I left? Why is no one telling me about my friends?”

  “You know mom pushed you to go to the military because your friends had a bad reputation. Hell, if I remember right, one of them was running his own small crime family. When you left, we only heard rumors and not very often. I heard one of your friends was killed and another ran off.” Jon stopped his brother before he could go on.

  “What do you mean killed? One of my friends was killed?” Jon looked to be in shock and as his brother tried to answer him, Jon put up his hand. He could not believe that it could happen to one of his friends. He started to remember what they had gotten themselves into.

  Jon looked back to his brother and nodded his head. With that, Frank went on. “I don’t remember who did what. It has been so many years ago, it feels like an urban legend now. I can tell you that there is still one person who you hung out with back then who is still around. It’s that girl you were dating before you left. I saw her in Fostoria a month ago at Kroger’s.