Uneven Advantage
by
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The late evening train, filled to capacity, rumbled along the tracks and up and out of the darkness of Center City Philadelphia. A raw wind splattered droplets of rain against the windows as passengers gazed voyeuristically into lighted office windows. Shortly they would see only the inky void that was the Delaware River. The rhythmic clacking of the train was hypnotic. Riders’ bodies swayed in time as the train climbed to the top of the Ben Franklin Bridge. This westbound New Jersey train met an eastbound Philly train at the apex of the span like a roller coaster ride at Six Flags. The bridge spans were lit from below and as the train descended into the mouse hole of a tunnel in Camden County, New Jersey, the conductor blew the whistle. That sound grew more haunting as the train disappeared into the tunnel. Riders disembarked at each stop. At Woodcrest station in Cherry Hill, a handful of people got off and headed for the stairs to the parking lots below. A tall man carried a loaded briefcase, the large square kind that lawyers sometimes use at trial. He strained visibly against the downward pull of its weight and tried to keep his balance by extending the opposite arm. It wasn’t working. A camel hair topcoat, his personal success symbol, collected beads of mist as he trundled into the night. Arriving at his car he extracted a set of keys from his outside coat pocket and unlocked first the drivers door and then all of the other doors with the flick of a switch. He carefully removed his thick coat and folded it in half, laying it gently on the sumptuous leather back seat. Climbing into the driver’s seat, he re-locked all of the doors, fearful of the recent increase in car jacking in Camden County. As he pulled away, the car just behind his burst into flames. He stopped, looked in the rearview mirror and drove on.
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About the Book
"Labels are deceptive. You pick at the --Naomi Booker Uneven Advantage is a story of suspense that explores the tension between unbridled ambition and personal integrity. Disillusioned lawyer Toby Eppes is quickly drawn into the investigation of a series of car bombings when her friend, Naomi Booker, becomes a suspect. While the first two bombings cause property damage, the third is fatal. All three bombing victims share a common thread: three years ago they sat as jurors on the same criminal case. And the defendant is now out on parole.
sticky stuff underneath, you get the truth."
About the Author
Toria Gaunt, a native of Los Angeles, California, has been writing since she was ten. She has published both fiction and non-fiction and her short story, Just Jake, will be published in an anthology of animal stories called Pawprints on My Heart, due out in fall/winter 2000. Toria is currently editing her second book, Bitter Tastes, a young adult mystery, and has begun the organization of a short story anthology tentatively titled Eccentricities. She lives in Middlesex County, Virginia with her husband, Matt, their two dogs, and three cats.