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  The only ones absent are Darren and James—Darren who is still recovering from his ordeal, and James who refuses to leave him—and Moon. No one specifically excluded Moon from the proceedings; they didn’t have to, as Moon was more than happy in his shame to exclude himself.

  “I saved it once. Hara’s life. A long time ago. He felt he owed me for that. He would’ve followed me to the fire at the end of the world if I asked him to. That’s who he was, and that’s what he believed. But I can’t tell you where he came from, or who his people were, what he did or where he’d been that brought him to the point in his life when we met. I don’t know about any of that. I don’t imagine there’s a living soul on this planet who does.”

  Standing closest to the coffin, Cindy’s eyes are dry. Anger is her version of grief, and the scowl she wears is for Allensworth, for Moon, but more than anything for death itself.

  “But I do know who Hara was,” Ritter continues. “And I think that’s more important. He had the sharpest mind I’ve ever encountered, but he never spoke unless he had something to say. He was a desert rider. He always returned to the desert. That existence appealed to him because there are no false pretenses among desert riders. They live simple. They live honestly. They live in motion, in a confluence of circles that always bring them back to the beginning. Hara found purity in that. I wish we could all be so content.”

  Not everyone chooses rage. Lena weeps for the stoic giant, and for a lot of other things. Nikki cries the same tears she’d pour for any of them, all of them.

  Even Bronko feels the hot, wet sting on his cheeks.

  “I’m not sad for my friend. I’m sad for myself, and for the rest of us left behind. We’re left without him, and still in danger, still with wars to fight. Hara is beyond that now. He’s found the peace that eludes the rest of us. And I’m happy for him because of that.”

  Ritter finishes speaking. He turns and walks behind the casket, reaching inside his pocket and removing the key to Hara’s Gunbus motorcycle. He kisses the brass and places it atop the lid.

  As they all stand in silence for the departed, Ritter joins Lena and Cindy, bowing his head with the rest.

  Instead of thinking about Hara, Ritter imagines somewhere in the world at that moment, there’s a rare and much-needed rain falling on distant sand.

  He hopes something grows there, the way it can’t grow in the city.

  Acknowledgments

  This is the penultimate volume in the Sin du Jour series, yet I haven’t run out of folks to thank; indeed, the list grows longer with each book. My thanks to my editor, Lee Harris, for the explodey things and for cleaning up my big messes. My copy editor, Richard Shealy, for cleaning up a lot more of my little messes. My agent, DongWon, who keeps me on point. My fiancée, Nikki, who keeps me on point when nothing else, including my agent, can possibly do the job. Irene Gallo and Peter Lutjen, who just keep topping themselves with each cover they produce for Sin du Jour. Tor.com Pub’s swag master, Mordicai Knode, and ace marketing whiz, Katharine Duckett, who keep pushing to bring the books in this series to the attention of the masses. I also want to thank Sue and Del Howison of Dark Delicacies in Burbank, who continually invite me to celebrate the releases of these books in their amazing shop. My mother, who drives all the way from Phoenix and rallies everyone she’s ever met to fill my book signings, just in case. Finally and most important, thank you, Sin du Jour’s regular customers, whose visits keep the lights on the stoves burning. I’ll see you for the final course.

  About the Author

  Photograph by Earl Newton

  MATT WALLACE is the author of the Sin du Jour Affairs, The Next Fix, The Failed Cities, and the novella series Slingers. He’s also penned more than one hundred short stories, some of which have won awards and been nominated for others, in addition to writing for film and television. In his youth, he traveled the world as a professional wrestler and unarmed combat and self-defense instructor before retiring to write full-time. He now resides in Los Angeles with the love of his life and inspiration for Sin du Jour’s resident pastry chef.

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  Also by Matt Wallace

  THE SIN DU JOUR SERIES

  Envy of Angels

  Lustlocked

  Pride’s Spell

  Idle Ingredients

  Greedy Pigs

  THE SLINGERS SAGA

  Slingers

  One Fall to Finish

  The Victim Hold

  Where Gods Cannot See

  Savage Weapons

  The Failed Cities

  Galactic Football League: Title Fight (with Scott Sigler)

  Rencor: Life in Grudge City

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  PART I

  WELCOME HOME

  FAR FROM HOME

  HOME INVASION

  HOME SECURITY

  HOME VISIT

  PART II

  SLACK

  THE NEXUS OF SPIDERS AND SPIRITS

  BRING HITHER THE FATTED CALF, AND . . .

  GET MORE

  ONE WILL NOT COME BACK

  THE FUTURE IN THIRTY MINUTES OR LESS

  TONIGHT’S SPECIAL

  PART III

  FLOCK OF SEAGULLS

  EXECUTIONER’S CHOICE

  WALK-INS

  DOUBLE-BOOKED

  GO

  WILLING DONOR

  MOONLIGHTING

  SINS OF THE MORNING

  EPILOGUE: DESERT RIDER

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Matt Wallace

  Copyright Page

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novella are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  GLUTTONY BAY

  Copyright © 2017 by Matt Wallace

  All rights reserved.

  Cover illustration by Peter Lutjen

  Cover design by Christine Foltzer

  Edited by Lee Harris

  A Tor.com Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates

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  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor.com

  Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.

  ISBN 978-0-7653-9321-0 (ebook)

  ISBN 978-0-7653-9322-7 (trade paperback)

  First Edition: November 2017

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