Vespasian Moon's Fabulous Autumn Carnival

By Berthold Gambrel

Federal Agent Jane Raczyck is tired of her job. So is Sheriff Sixtus Davis, the head law enforcement officer in the town of Turpin’s Gulch. But when Raczyck’s agency sends her to work with Davis on combating the drug epidemic in the small Appalachian hamlet, the two are compelled to investigate the local carnival and its mysterious impresario... even though they’d much rather be doing other things together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Berthold Gambrel
• Release date: Oct 16, 2019

Book preview

Vespasian Moon’s Fabulous Autumn Carnival

Berthold Gambrel

This is a work of fiction. Characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual places or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright  2019 designX6, LLC

All Rights Reserved.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

(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 your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Epilogue

Also by Berthold Gambrel

Chapter 1

Jane had already been having a shitty Wednesday morning. She’d overslept her alarm after being out late the night before, she’d spilled coffee on her blouse in her rush to get to the office, and her swipe card wasn’t working in the garage. She hoped she could avoid yet another reprimand from her boss if she got right to work on the reports that overflowed her inbox. So when, after about five minutes of looking righteously busy, she was summoned to Agent Rex’s office via intercom, it was barely surprising, though still annoying.

Grumbling, she picked up her notepad and nearly-empty coffee cup and hurried down the hall, ignoring the glowers of her annoyed co-workers.

Rex’s office was huge in comparison to hers, with a giant picture window that looked out onto Washington D.C. All the famous landmarks were visible from here, and Jane thought to herself that it would be better used as a sightseeing venue.

Rex was a tall, thin man with a pale complexion and dark hair, which gave him that Nixonesque five-o’clock shadow look. He probably would have been flattered by the comparison—Rex was distinctly an old-school guy, as evidenced by the fedora he insisted on wearing when outdoors, even though everyone always pointed out that G-men had stopped doing that in the early ‘60s. Jane eyed the battered old hat hanging on the coat rack as she entered his office.

Agent Raczyck, her superior said in his flat, nasal growl, staring at her, his knitted fingers resting on his worn grey briefcase, I’m afraid your performance has once again fallen short of expectations.

She knew he wanted her to dispute the point, so she said nothing.

You have been repeatedly lax in your assignments regarding following-up on threats against VIPs, you have repeatedly failed to apprehend known embezzlers, and you have repeatedly made light of the notion of providing security for top government personnel. He said, indicating each offense by holding up his fingers and counting as he enumerated her transgressions.

What can I say? she replied. I’m just not feelin’ it lately. Most of these politicians are grade-A assholes who are guilty of most of the same crimes they want me to protect them from.

Rex looked at her severely. How dare you accuse our civilian leaders of such things, Agent Raczyck! Our whole system depends upon faith in the honorable conduct of public servants, from the office of the President to the greenest of field agents!

Mm hmm, she said. Do you ever watch the news?

Never! I find it interferes with my reading of intelligence reports, which are far more detailed, far more in-depth, and approved by the chain of command, he said shortly. You would do well to learn to do the same, Agent.

So, am I like fired and stuff, or what? she asked. She had just been through a break-up, and if she was going to lose her job as well, she wanted to get moving on to the next chapter.

Ordinarily, yes; I would have you fired and very possibly charged with criminal negligence, he said sternly. However, our funding is not what it once was, and if I voluntarily shrink my force, it will be difficult to justify hiring a replacement. So instead, I am reassigning you to new duties.

Oh joy.

I need someone to do field work in a place called Turpin’s Gulch. It’s a little former mining town to the west. It’s overrun with opioid addicts, madmen, criminals and unemployed ex-miners. By all accounts, it’s a horrid assignment.

I bet.

Every agent we send there complains about the false reports and downright bizarre nonsense that they have to deal with. The locals aren’t exactly highly-educated, you see, and still seem to believe in phantoms and other supernatural hokum. You might find yourself being asked to investigate vampires and werewolves.

I see.

Rex never smiled, but sometimes his sneer curled upwards when he was feeling especially pleased. It did so now as he said, I expect you’ll quit within two weeks, and I’ll have a chance to hire your replacement.

Something in Jane’s head almost made her want to do a good job to prove him wrong, but another part of her couldn’t quite imagine putting forth that much effort. Rex said he’d send her the file on Turpin’s Gulch and told her she’d better review it on the plane—he’d booked her a flight leaving for Morgantown in two hours. From there she could take