We Deliver

By Kevin L. O'Brien

Checkers Pizza is very popular among the students of Keekishwa University in Delasalle, Illinois, because it offers guaranteed 30 minute or the order is free. Business is usually brisk each night, even during the summer, but one night it died early and might have stayed that way, if a bizarre gentleman hadn't ordered 24 pies and paid with a solid gold coin.

Just one catch: he wants them delivered to the gate of a haunted cemetery....

In the Bonus Story, a woman passing through a cemetery late at night is assault by a couple of ghouls, who fight over her, allowing her to escape. But then they start to court her....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin L. O'Brien
• Release date: Mar 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310539091

Kevin L. O'Brien

Kevin L. O'Brien was born with a pen in his hand.Well, not quite, but he has been writing for as long as he can remember, at least since First Grade. Writing has always been his first, true love, but it hasn't always been his career. He worked for 15 years as a biomedical researcher, then for 3 years as a web designer. However, after 30 years of trying to be published in print with little success, he has decided to try his hand at self-publishing.He writes primarily speculative fiction -- fantasy, science fiction, horror, and their sub-genres -- but he also likes to try his hand at thrillers, suspense, mystery, and even westerns. However, his stories tend to have a fantasy element, no matter how subtle.Most of his stories involve the following three main characters:Medb hErenn (http://www.medbherenn.com/) -- One-time queen of Ireland, she is over 3500 years old. A warrior and a sorceress, she cannot be harmed by any weapon made by the hand of man.Eile and Sunny, Team Girl (http://www.teamgirlforever.com/) -- They are two adorable, vivacious, fun-loving young women whose motto is ONWARD TO ADVENTURE!!! Yet trouble follows them like a love-sick puppy wherever they go.Sir Differel Van Helsing (http://www.sir-differel.com/) -- The descendent of Abraham Van Helsing and King Arthur, she heads the Caerleon Order, the premier monster-hunting organization of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. She commands Dracula, the most powerful vampire extant, and the greatsword Caliburn, better known as Excalibur.He also writes a series of sword & sorcery stories set in an alternative universe known as the Lands of the Dreams of Men.Kevin lives in Denver with his family and 4 cats.For more information, see his website: http://www.kevinlobrien.com/

Book preview

We Deliver

Kevin L. O'Brien

Smashwords Edition

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Text Copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

Cover design and typography copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

Longdon Decorative font distributed under a charityware license by Roger White

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License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. It is licensed for your personal enjoyment and remains the copyrighted property of the author. This ebook may not be sold, reproduced, or copied, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes, but it may be given away if no changes are made. If you enjoyed this book and would like to share it, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from Smashwords or their favorite online retailer, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support, and for respecting the hard work of this author.

Please consider writing a review for this book on the retailer's website.

If you see any misspellings or typographical errors, please notify Kevin L. O'Brien using one of his online social networks. Thank you.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents, including those based on the real world, are either products of the imagination of Kevin L. O'Brien or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Because some ebook platforms do not support special characters, certain words may appear misspelled, but this was done deliberately to avoid the problem of the platforms deleting the characters. Also, the LRF platform used by older models of the Sony Reader does not permit the use of links to external URLs, whereas the PDB platform used by Palm reading devices does not support any form of linking whatsoever.

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Table of Contents

Preface

We Deliver

Bonus Story: Love Triangle

About the Author

Other Books by Kevin L. O'Brien

Connect with Kevin L. O'Brien

Sample Excerpts

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Preface

Aside from being a writer, the one thing I always I wanted to be was a scientist. While I was interested in many different disciplines, my college advisor convinced me to study biochemistry, specifically protein chemistry, because there was a need for such in the pharmaceutical industry (biotechnology was just getting its start then). After I received a bachelor's degree from Purdue University, I enrolled in the graduate program at Northern Illinois University. For the first couple of years I received a teaching assistant stipend, but during the summer of the third year I had to find other employment, so I took a job as a delivery driver for Domino's Pizza.

That experience formed the basis of this story, both in regards to the protagonists' work, and the details of the two college towns. However, the plot itself was inspired by The Funeral, by Richard Matheson, or rather the Night Gallery episode based on the story. It was also heavily influenced by the Cthulhu Mythos, specifically the ghouls from H. P. Lovecraft's story, Pickman's Model (which, incidentally, was also made into a Night Gallery episode). Though I did not experience this particular chain of events, it would not have been unexpected.

In the Bonus Story, Love Triangle, a woman tells of how she was assaulted one night in a cemetery by two ghoulish creatures, but managed to escape when they fought each other over her possession. She thought she was safe, until they showed up at her house bearing gifts and seeking to court her.

Back to TOC

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It is a curious biological event, but whenever someone enrolls at a university, metabolic changes occur within every cell, creating a nutritional need for pizza and beer. Fortunately, most students revert to a normal biochemistry upon graduation, but some never fully recover.

Pizza is big business in Delasalle, Illinois. There are over two dozen parlors alone, and virtually every restaurant offers pizza in some form on its menu. Yet by far the most popular store is Checker's Pizza. It is a small shop, without a parlor; instead, it bases its entire business on delivery. While other establishments make deliveries as an optional service, at an extra charge, Checker's makes it a way of life, at no extra charge. The owner, Michele Horne, believes that what students want most is dependable delivery right to their door. So, she makes it standard policy to guarantee 30 minute delivery to any spot within the Delasalle or Tamarack city limits, or that order is free.

I joined Checker's as a driver after losing my teaching assistantship because of poor performance. I studied biochemistry at Keekishwa University, and I had depended on the stipend to support myself. Summer was not Checker's best season. With no dormitory students on campus, and relying solely on the permanent residents of Delasalle and Tamarack for business, Michele could afford to hire only a total of five drivers and work only three a night. Business would usually be brisk until 10:00 P.M., but afterwards she always sent one driver home and the other two filled the empty time between deliveries as best as they could.

I remember that particular Wednesday vividly. It had been Checker's busiest night so far that summer, but as usual, orders dropped off after ten. In fact, business became so slow that by eleven Michele sent the other driver home, leaving me to deliver any orders that might come in. None did, and by midnight Michele had exhausted all ideas to keep me busy. So, while she caught up on her paperwork, I simply waited for a telephone to ring.

Typically for central Illinois in high summer, the evening was warm and humid, though not unbearably so. Yet the interior of the store felt intolerable. Michele had turned off three of the four ovens located at the rear of the shop, but the heat from the one still stifled. I stood in the open doorway, seeking relief through any small breeze. Outside, beyond the semicircle of light from the entrance, the night looked absolutely black. The parking lot lights had been turned off a few minutes earlier as the other stores prepared to close. Far across the street, I could see the tiny glow of lights above an apartment front; nothing filled the emptiness between. Even the street seemed deserted of both cars and pedestrians.

I turned around and took a few steps inside, just enough to peer into the office. Michele sat at the desk, a fan blowing her loose blond hair about her oval face. Her long fingers effortlessly worked the desktop calculator as she totaled the day's receipts. Michele struck me as being a pretty woman, let's make no mistake about that, but she stood taller than I did, with virtually no figure. Besides, her husband could have been the inspiration for Bad Leroy Brown.

She paused and looked up at me, her green eyes slightly magnified by her wire-rim glasses.

I was just wondering if you wanted me to start cleaning up.

One corner of her thin mouth turned upward a little. What time is it?

I looked over my shoulder and up at the clock over the door. It had black plastic cards with white numbers attached to a rolodex-style spool. I watched as the minutes spool flipped from eleven to twelve.

She frowned when I told her. I had a good idea of what she thought. Ordinarily she preferred to stay open as