Steve Hamilton - Meeting Across the River

"Reason I ask," Lou said, "is that I think we could do a little business tonight. One quick trip to Windsor and back."

"In an ambulance?"

"A nice fast Packard ambulance," he said. "With you driving. Whaddya think?"

What I was thinking was that I was in some kind of big trouble. That I had no idea how I was gonna get myself out of it.

Synopsis:
"This collection of stories inspired by a haunting Bruce Springsteen song is edited by Jessica Kaye and Richard J. Brewer and includes work by Eric Garcia, C.J. Box, Barbara Seranella, David Corbett, Gregg Hurwitz, and Steve Hamilton, among others. Steve's short story One Fast Packard is set in Detroit during the Prohibition.

"Meeting Across the River," from Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run album, is a song with an evocative melody and lyrics that unfold like a noir fable: a man down on his luck but desperate to make things right with his girl tells his buddy, Eddie, that they have to get across the river for a last-chance meeting with someone, all in the hopes of a big score: two grand. With that money, our hero can win back his girl and all will be right with the world - but if he and Eddie screw up, the consequences will be grave. The stories are imaginative, heartbreaking, funny, and bold-all based on this classic American story of hope and despair, each a surprisingly different experiment with character and plot.