The Undertaker

inconspicuous boxed ad that I had been staring at off and on for most of the past hour. “Ace and Sweet Pea, come on home,” and it was signed “Gino”.

I refolded the section, stuck it in the middle of the tall stack, and walked over to the bin where we kept the kindling we used to start the fire. I dropped the Times inside, where it joined what was left of the last three issues before it.

I walked back to the baby, picked him up, and carried him into the middle of the courtyard where we could both look up at the sky. For the most part, it was a clear blue, except for a handful of soft, white, puffy clouds passing to the east. I stared at them and squinted. The pattern slowly changed and I swore I saw Terri's face up there, but only for an instant. This was the first time in many, many months that I had seen her. She was so far away, but yeah, it was her. It was nice to know she was up there, that she was smiling, and I didn't need to be a “rocket scientist” to figure out why.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William F. Brown lives in Columbus, Ohio. As the Vice President of the real estate subsidiary of a Fortune 500 corporation, he traveled widely in the US and abroad. A native of Chicago, he earned a BA in History and Russian Area Studies and a graduate degree from the University of Illinois. He has been active in politics and numerous civic organizations over the years.

He is the author of two published suspense novels and two that are presently out with publishers. Beaufort Books published his first novel, The Allah Conspiracy in hardback. His second novel, Thursday at Noon is a Joan Kahn Book published by St. Martin's Press in hardback, in paperback by Harlequin's Gold Eagle, and in various foreign editions in the UK, Brazil, Canada, and Australia. It was reviewed favorably in the New Yorker and in many other major publications.

In addition to the two novels, he has written four screenplays. They won First Place in the suspense category of the Final Draft contest, Finalist in Fade In, First Place in the Screenwriter's Utopia -Screenwriter's Showcase Awards, Second Place in the American Screenwriter's Association, Second Place at Breckenridge, and others. One was optioned.

In addition to golf and painting, he has traveled widely in Russia, Germany, the Caribbean, England, Ireland, Scotland, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Austria, Egypt, and Israel.

He is presently writing his fifth novel, another fast-paced domestic thriller.