chapter Twenty-five
Five Years Later…
Toby Liberman placed his feet atop his giant oak desk as his intercom crackled to life.
“Toby, you have a call waiting on line two,” the secretary announced.
“Tell them I’m busy kissing babies and stuff, Janie,” Toby replied.
“It’s Katie,” Janie persisted.
Toby slammed his chair forward and slapped his feet against the hard-plastic mat that kept his chair from ripping the carpet.
He grabbed the phone quickly. “Katie Bear!” he greeted her. “How’s college, honey?”
“Hey, Daddy, I miss you. It’s going great. All of those sports scholarships paid off a little too well.”
“That’s my girl!” he bragged. “Are you staying out of trouble? Austin is a pretty weird city, you know.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I actually went out last night and only got mugged, carjacked and murdered three times!” she joked. “Everything’s cool, Daddy, I promise.”
“Well, you know, I had to ask,” he explained. “It’s this whole Sheriff thing. It makes me think the worst.”
“I know, Dad,” she assured him. “But if I get into a tight spot, you know I have an ace up my sleeve.”
Toby grew quiet as he realized it had been a long time since he and Katie had discussed “the curse.” He’d almost forgotten she shared it with him.
“Look, Daddy, I’ve got to go to class. I just wanted to check in with you. Tell Becky I love her.”
“I will, Tiny Dancer. Be safe,” he held back a tear. “And try to keep your feelings in check. I want to see you at Christmas and not on some news report about animals missing from the zoo.”
“I will. I promise.”
Katie Liberman exited the quiet bathroom where she’d made the call in solitude. She emerged from the doors of the restaurant onto the streets of New York City. She had no idea how much longer she could keep lying to her father regarding her whereabouts, but she knew her time was limited.
“Mom, what are you doing?” she spoke with confused curiosity.
The spectral image of Jessica Liberman was showing no reflection in the slightly mirrored glass of Tiffany and Co.
“I’ve always wanted to stand in the exact spot where Audrey Hepburn stood in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Jessica replied. “It’s too bad that I can’t see myself or even have breakfast for that matter. I still can’t believe they elected your father Sheriff.”
Katie laughed at her mother’s musings. She was very happy she wasn’t on this mission alone.
“We’ve got to hurry. My job interview is in half an hour, and his office is just around the corner. Let’s make sure he doesn’t see you and pray that he doesn’t recognize me. Mr. Kurt Jimmerson and I are long overdue for an introduction.”
So, to all of you who took advantage of my daily posts, I just gave you every chapter of my 2010 novel A Taste of Home absolutely free. Like I said day after day, if it were about the money, I would never have become a writer in the internet age. Writing isn’t dead. We are.
Want to know where the story goes from here?
A Curse Beyond Comprehension. A Power Beyond Belief. A Girl Far From Home. Katie Liberman is your typical eighteen-year-old college student…or at least that’s what her family thinks. Picking up five years after the events of A Taste of Home, Katie has dropped out of school and embarked upon a dangerous quest to find Kurt Jimmerson, the New York City attorney responsible for her family’s werewolf curse. Unknown to her, the attorney’s grip on the ‘City That Never Sleeps’ is tighter than imagined and she’ll need any and all help available to be victorious. But… where do you find friends when you’re Far From Home?
PERSONALIZED, AUTOGRAPHED COPIES MAY BE OBTAINED FOR $15 (SHIPPING INCLUDED). EMAIL GONZOWOLFPRESS@GMAIL.COM FOR AVAILABILITY.
C. Derick Miller's Gonzo Journals 
Leave a Reply