Ash Man
by
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“Have you ever been inside with the furnace on a 110-degree day?” Ray asked.
Cochran smiled. “No. I can’t say that I have.” He reached for the sunglasses that were perched on his head.
Ray continued. “It’s quite uncomfortable to say the least.”
But his boss just admired the designer glasses in his hands. …“That’s your job. Deal with it.”
Ray watched his cruel expression. “Would you like to join me one summer afternoon with all three ovens running? I’m sure I can find room for you inside with me.”
Cochran glanced up with the challenge. He locked eyes with his employee. But he only blinked slowly, as if unconcerned, refusing to show any emotion. “Funny, Burner,” he commented, putting the glasses back on. “Just work your normal shift. … Those are the rules. You don’t like it, leave.”
Refusing to look at the man anymore, Ray instead forced his stare back to the plot near his feet. That was when he noticed Cochran’s placement.
“Move,” he said, motioning to his boss’s dress shoes. “You’re standing on top of him.”
Cochran looked down to where his employee was pointing. He rolled his eyes behind the glasses. “He’s dead.”
Ray saw the lack of concern even through the tinted plastic. His own eyes grew small with disdain. For a moment, it seemed a test of wills between the two men as they interrogated each other silently with only their gaze.
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About the Book
No one should play with the dead, especially when Raymond Faustanetti is around. For twenty-four years, the veteran cremator has burned bodies at the old cemetery; it’s a job he takes very seriously. However, not everyone shares his dedication to the deceased. His new boss, Everett Cochran, pompous son of the wealthy, new owner, doesn’t get Ray at all and insists on aggravating his freak employee whenever possible. But the cremator won’t back down. And that dark determination often creates sparks between them that rival the flames roasting the corpses.
When an attractive girl named Alex wanders among the tombstones, both men are drawn to her. Ray refuses his primal urges to keep his haunted past buried. But nothing stops Everett who is determined to have her. With Dad’s money as bait, he seems to get his wish.
Soon, a twisted relationship develops, and Ray senses impending trouble for the girl. All he wants is to be left alone, but circumstances thrust him into real life with every bit of evil that goes with it. As the demons of his past are reawakened, Ray must decide if vengeance is truly history or whether protecting the dead requires eliminating the living.
About the Author
Patricia A. Gray has written eight novels, including The Loner, Scarred, Ridder of Vermin, Binding Ties and The Fugitive Blues. A graduate of the University of Alabama, she resides in Southern California with her husband, daughter, and black lab, Panther.