Overtime in the Woods

By Ryan Sean O'Reilly

Private Investigator, Rich Lacey, is hired to get incriminating evidence against a man fraudulently collecting insurance money on a worker’s compensation claim. Rufus Stamford’s case leads Lacey deep into the backwoods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where Stamford has been setting up a new life for himself. Everything goes fine until Lacey suspiciously develops a flat tire out in the middle of nowhere, forcing him to get Stamford’s help. The two end up spending the evening together, where Lacey hears the other side of the story. Suddenly, Lacey finds himself in the unusual position of weighing out the morals of his profession.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ryan Sean O'Reilly
• Release date: Aug 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9780985426521

Ryan Sean O'Reilly

I took to books at an early age and can still remember my father reading J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit to me at bedtime. When I could read on my own, my mother brought home books from the library for my siblings and me. She tells me, that I would look at the covers and say "not interested", but if she left them on my night stand I couldn't help, but devour them--the genres and titles didn't seem to matter. Growing up the oldest of five children outside the city of Chicago, our house was always teeming with activity--so it may be no wonder that I enjoyed staying up late to read when things were quiet. There was always something transcendent about disappearing into another world while the rest of the house slept. Books taught me so much about myself and the world around.I've crossed through a few different genres trying to find my voice but mostly dwell in fantasy, science fiction, and literary fiction. A few authors who have inspired me are: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Frank Herbert, Richard Adams, J.K. Rowling, Douglass Adams and William Shakespeare.Official website: www.ryanseanoreilly.comWhen I'm not writing, I cohost the podcast: "No Deodorant In Outer Space" (www.nodeodorant.com).

Book preview

Overtime in the Woods

a novelette of suspenseful fiction

By: Ryan Sean O’Reilly

Website: http://www.ryanseanoreilly.com

Artwork by: Daniel Gracey

Editing by: Tammy Salyer

© Copyright 2012 Ryan Sean O’Reilly, All Rights Reserved.

Smashwords Edition

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN-13: 978-0-9854265-2-1

ISBN-10: 0985426527

Acknowledgements: The Southland Scribes

Special Thanks: Jack O’Reilly, Michael O’Reilly, Daniel Gonzalez, Lydia T. Ponczak,

Sherry Scarpaci, Linda Roche O’Reilly, and John Doyle

OVERTIME IN THE WOODS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover Art

Website Info

Start

Middle

End

After snaking through the leaf debris on the forest floor for nearly an hour, Rich achieved his objective. There it was. A gray pick-up truck parked less than a hundred yards away on a dirt and gravel driveway. He had spent half the night waiting for the vehicle to show up, and the other half following it. Heck, before working the case yesterday—a dead end for so long—Rich would have been happy to see the UPS man make an appearance.

Now he lay on his belly behind a pile of fallen trees in a shallow depression on the ground. His breathing was labored, despite the slow, deliberate crawling he’d done. Picking away dry leaves, he cleared away a patch for himself. Overhead, dawn was graying out the night.

Rich pressed his palms into the soft, silent dirt and raised his body until his eyes cleared the top log. White and brown feathers littered the top, and he gently blew them away. Next to the driveway was a well-built, reddish-brown cabin topped with a green, metallic roof.

Yesterday the vehicle, a Ford F-150, was parked about eight hours south outside a ranch-style house in Janesville. Rich didn’t have confirmation, but it was a good bet the owner of that truck was the same person he’d been hired to investigate. Unfortunately, things hadn’t heated up until after office hours.

Rich slid down, turned over, and rested his head against the log. He ruffled his fingers through his dark hair and pulled out a few of the brownish feathers he’d found, wondering what kind of bird they were from. He had no idea where he was. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, he knew he was way north. Probably