Last Time: A smile returned to Cody's face. He was happy his Dad had the patience to properly teach him as he graduated from playing with his little green Army men to his new real pistol, that fired real bullets, that killed real people. Earl Anthony Schroder beware!

The playing field was soon leveled.


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From the moment Earl Anthony Schroder walked into the whore's room in the brothel he was in a sour disposition. He wasn't quite ready for their tryst. That should have been a red flag for the petit brunette, Sonya Davidson. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't. She would never turn another trick.

"Is that your last word on the subject?" she asked.

Thinking he was teasing when he told her no, her emerald green eyes cut to the tall stranger standing next to her beside the canopied bed. She'd never been refused by a john before, especially one who had already laid money down on the table. Realizing he meant what he said, Sonya's temper flared.

"You won't get a second chance at a delightful dish like these twins again!" she stated in anger.

Earl Anthony Schroder watched her button up her blouse. He playfully reached out with his hand and slapped her breasts.

"It'd be like trading a hundred dollar bill for a quarter," he remarked.

He retrieved a shiny knife from the inside lining of his rain slicker. He despised the rain that fell in Astatula that steamy afternoon, but, his slicker always provided a place of concealment for the razor-sharp blade he plied his trade with. It was the same lethal weapon he'd used the day he carved up Peggy Morris. She was the last woman to cross him.

Observing the knife in her customer's hand, the prostitute screamed in terror. It was no use. She couldn't be heard. Hysterical, she was almost in tears as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Please. I didn't mean anything by what I said. I'm begging you, please don't hurt me!" They were her final words.

Earl Anthony Schroder laughed an eerie chuckle. He loved the sensation being the powerful one in control of a dangerous situation afforded him. WHAM! BAM! Thank you ma'am. In, out, and he was gone. His one small thrill enjoyed after the slaughter occurred.

He never knew what to make of the female persuasion. He'd spent his whole life dwelling on the notion and still did not understand what made them tick. As far as actions regarding them went, he took his own. He did not like mysteries or sharp surprises.

The woman he'd barely spoken to before following her upstairs for their encounter laid dead on the floor at his feet. Earl Anthony Schroder reached out and kicked her hard in the head with the point of his steel-toed boot.

"It's a real good thing you know how to keep your otherwise big mouth closed," he told the bloody corpse, "because if you opened it right now you'd probably drown."

As he walked out of the backdoor of the brothel unnoticed, the rain slackened and little rainbows formed in the few droplets that still fell as the sunlight reflected off them. Water dripped slowly from the brim of the Stetson hat on top of his head. It was a trophy of his visit to the Beyer's Department Store earlier that morning.

Earl Anthony Schroder still possessed his rugged good looks, including his golden locks. These were traits that one could easily see he'd passed on to his only progeny.

He made his way to his parked SUV in the alley behind the brothel and pondered, "Where is that miserable excuse for horse dung anyway?"

As he climbed inside the vehicle, he reached up on the dashboard. There, he picked up the Wanted Poster he'd absconded with from the Astatula Post Office.

"Not a good decision, Daniels," he said to himself, "the little pile of excrement that taped this up will pay dearly for doing so."

Slowly, he backed his vehicle up and drove away from the whorehouse without a care in the world. Meanwhile, standing on the back porch of his home, Cody reached up and wiped a smudge of dirt off his cherubic face. Since returning from the firing range, and mastering his new pistol, he'd become slightly more comfortable with his surroundings. The winds of time would soon change how he felt.

Cody knew whatever his mountain was he'd have to climb it.




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Cast of Characters:

Cody Schroder - Blond munchkin and main character of the book.

Sheriff Brock Daniels - Long time Sheriff of Astatula and Cody's Dad.

Peggy Morris - Brutally murdered girlfriend of Justin Martindale, the Maintenance Manager for the Castillo Metalworks Corporation in Astatula.

Sonya Davidson - Savagely murdered whore who's dead corpse was sexually assaulted by Earl Anthony Schroder.

Earl Anthony Schroder - Cody's biological sperm donor. Put Cody through ten years of hellacious physical, mental, and sexual abuse in Palo Pinto.

Chapter Word Count: 920

Book Word Count: 16,326