Edwin Masters has spent his entire life lusting after one car -- a 1962 Alfa Romeo Spider 2600. When he finally buys one, it changes the entire shape and meaning of his world. The car comes with a guest, and the restless spirit is awakened by Edwin.<br><br>Cooper James, the young man who died behind the wheel forty-seven years earlier, haunts the Spider and he wants a life. He wants Edwin. So he reaches out, sucking Edwin into a deepening abyss by exploiting demons from a past Edwin can't break from.<br><br>Edwin resists, struggling against the phantom in favor of an attractive, exciting young man who wants to be with him, Carson Heston. Carson holds the key to Edwin's salvation, but every time he gets close, Cooper terrorizes him. Edwin knows he'll be lost forever if he submits to Cooper's dark promise of release and relief, but that might be the only way to save Carson's life.

On a Bruised Road

Edwin shook his head. What was he thinking? He’d meet Cooper at lunch because he had agreed to and he had no reason not to keep his word. But he wasn’t going to make the meeting into anything more than it was. He wasn’t going to get caught up in thinking it would be some sort of mythical meeting. He wasn’t going to have any expectations at all. No reality—even in the Alfa Romeo—could touch the dreams he had been having, anyway.


But what if reality could match his dreams? Edwin sighed at the thought. He supposed if being with Cooper in the car was better than in his dreams, he was in real danger of never leaving the car.


The chime above the door pulled him from those thoughts. He happily greeted the regular customer and turned his attention to his job. Cooper, and thoughts of Cooper, could wait until later12


Chapter 46