"The Last Good Man"
Convinced that one last score can put his criminal life behind him for good, Vuke hooks up with Shy Mehlman, the old-school to the core boss of Youngstown’s Jewish crime syndicate. As he tries to stay one step ahead of the mob boss he owes a gambling debt, the girlfriend he owes affection, the vulnerable ten year-old street urchin he knows can only drag him down, the secret service agents protecting a mysterious shipment he has his eyes on, and – ominously – the increasingly real visions of the demon (Pasglav) that has haunted his dreams since youth, Vuke agrees against his better judgment to help pull a job that was so easy he knew it had to fail.
"Frank out of the way as they rushed to student watering holes before the happy hour lines got too long. As he was tossed about by the crowd like a rotting fish carcass in the brine under the freight docks in the Port of Oakland, Frank fumbled in his coat pockets until he produced a black-framed pair of sunglasses that he placed on his nose. After a couple blocks, he was able to break free from the throng of students and breathe again. It was only four blocks from Frank’s office to the library, but it seemed like eight. Even after he was freed from the need to dodge the crowds, Frank’s feet still followed a meandering and serpentine path, wherein each step covered as much ground going east to west as north to south."