《The Mechanical Mechanic 》作者：Sarah K. Castle【EPUB】

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The Mechanical Mechanic His Apprentice and the Judge by Sarah K. Castle quotNo business after sixquot Lewis yelled from his chair next to the milling machine. The shop hadbeen closed for an hour and Epictetus was the only company he wanted tonight. After a minutethe polite knocking resumed. Smiling at the irony he traced a passage from The Discourses with a titanium finger. When you close your doors and make darkness within remember never tosay that you are alone for you are not alone nay God is within and your genius is within. God and genius were damned tonight whoever was at the door needed a mechanic. He lurched upright using the pile of books next to the chair for support. The rewired nervesin his hip always took a while to wake up leaving him unsteady on the prosthetic leg. He tookthe clean coverall hanging on the drill press handle and pulled it over his worn jeans and t-shirt to cover his steel arm. quotCant read the goddamn sign or whatquot he grumbled passing the dusty metal shelves piled withcar parts on his way to the front door. Paula Larsen from the Alma Township Council stood outside her fist raised ready to knockagain. A bulky young man stood several paces behind her. quotMr. MacBain sorry to disturb you.quot quotLike the sign says I conduct all of my business at the gate Ms. Larsen.quot quotIm not here to discuss the cars.quot quotThe gate.quot He shut the door firmly and walked to the side door cursing himself for havingnipped into his whiskey stash tonight. If Council sent Paula they wanted something. Whiskey onhis breath would give her more leverage to get it. It was probably about the fight at the TopDeck last weekend. Theyd want him to come to a prayer meeting to account for himself anddecide on a restitution for that young fuck. Lewis would make the restitution if it keptcouncil out of his business and him out of those goddamned prayer meetings. Alma needed vintagerace cars and he had the materials and knowledge to produce them. He made cars for their trackand in return asked only to be left alone. That was the deal. He didnt need or want to go tomeetings to praise God Alma and Country. Hed done his service for the country forty yearsago and if anything he figured this grass-roots theocracy owed him on several counts. Fromthe way itd grown wild across the whole country Lewis knew they could afford to pay. Larsenstood arms crossed on the other side of the razor-