Summary

Victor Bayne sees dead people for a living…and he sees them off the clock, too.  After all, ghosts don’t confine their appearances to a psychic medium’s work hours.

From the macabre to the mundane, from titillating to tender, these PsyCop shorts feature stolen moments between the novels. Get a glimpse of Vic’s life with Jacob between cases, from both men’s viewpoints. Gain new insight on their psychic talents by accompanying them on odd jobs, shopping runs and family visits, or simply enjoy some downtime in the cannery.

The twenty short works range in length from flash fiction to novelettes, woven together to create a novel-length narrative of Vic and Jacob’s relationship from a fresh perspective. The stories are gleaned from various sources: anthologies, newsletters, and web, with four all-new pieces to tie the collection together and delve deeper into your favorite PsyCops' domestic life.

Coffee O’Clock
Thaw
Mind Reader
Stroke of Midnight
No Sale
Most Likely To…
Jock Straps On Sale
Piece of Cake
In the Dark
Let the Chips Fall
Memento
Impact
Everyone’s Afraid of Clowns
Waiting Game
On the Road
Wood
Off the Cuff
Locked and Loaded
Inside Out
Witness

Paperback is also available. Audiobook with Gomez Pugh for sale at Amazon - iTunes - Audible

Excerpt

Coffee O'Clock

 

I I was awake. I’d been awake forever. Contorted in a weird jumble of limbs with only the corner of one flat pillow to cradle my head, I’d watched the cheap plastic mini blinds go from dark-striped to light as I tried to tell myself everything was hunky dory, but the crick in my neck wasn’t buying it. All the while, mashed against my back, Detective Jacob Marks, big shot PsyCop investigator of the Twelfth Precinct, snored and snuffled his way through the wee hours of the night, blissfully unaware.

I’d been pleasantly surprised the first time he spent the night. Puzzled the second. Now I was downright suspicious. Nobody other than me ever tolerated my sagging mattress more than a single night in a row, but he’d stayed the better part of a week.

He was after something. But what? Try as I might, I couldn’t come up with anything he stood to gain from spending so much time at my crappy apartment.

If I craned my neck just so, I could make out the glowing green numbers on the clock radio, but I didn’t bother. I’d stopped checking somewhere around 4am when I determined that while time was not actually standing still, it was only moving forward in excruciating five-minute increments.

The room brightened further. A shadow up in the corner of the ceiling resolved itself into a cobweb. My place isn’t haunted, yet I was spooked by the thought of something lurking there all night just beyond my threshold of vision. I used to leave the lights on in the adjoining room when I slept. Jacob presumed I’d just forgotten, and “helpfully” turned them off. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t go turn them back on, either. And now look where I’d ended up.

Jacob sighed and squashed me even tighter against the wall. I should be counting my blessings. Sex. Right? I’d be an idiot to take sex for granted. Especially with someone who looked like him. Such enthusiastic sex, too.

Okay, sex was definitely in the plus-column. It was the fact he didn’t leave afterward that made me leery.
The alarm bleated and I flinched, and felt a twinge of pity for Jacob. Being roused from such a sound sleep was never fun. He didn’t budge, though. Already awake? The alarm kept on bleating. He burrowed his head deeper into the pillow…then snored.

 

PsyCop Ebooks

#1: Among the Living
What good is being a psychic detective if your murder victims aren't talking?

#1.1: Thaw
A heartwarming glimpse at a cold winter's day

#2: Criss Cross
Mysterious messages from Lisa lead Vic on a wild ride.

#2.1 Striking Sparks
Andrew's got cold feet about his upcoming wedding. He figures a palm reading is just the ticket.

#2.2 Many Happy Returns
It's the holiday season at SaverPlus, and customers have become incredibly demanding.

#3: Body & Soul
Three missing people. No bodies. No ghosts. At least the case gets Vic out of an awkward family dinner.

#3.1: Stroke of Midnight
For a PsyCop, missing out on festivities to process a crime scene is all in a day's (or night's) work.

#4: Secrets
Is someone watching Vic's every move, or is he imagining things? Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

#5: Camp Hell
Vic delves into his repressed memories of Camp Hell and dredges up more than he bargained for.

#6: GhosTV
Lisa's gone missing, and Vic and Jacob head to PsyTrain for some answers.

#7: Spook Squad
Victor has been avoiding the exorcism he owes the FPMP. Now it's time to pay up.

#8: Skin After Skin
A sweeping look at the PsyCop series from Crash's empathic point of view

#9: Agent Bayne
Victor might be through with the Chicago PD, but is he ready for the FPMP?

PsyCop Briefs: Volume 1
Join Vic and Jacob off the clock in 20 PsyCop shorts