The Accidental Hero

DAWN TREADER PRESS

Smashwords
Edition

Copyright © 2010 Joshua
Graham

This book is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the
author's imagination or are used fictiously. Any resemblance to
actual locales, events or persons living or dead is entirely
coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of
this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed
or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in
or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the
author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Praise for Joshua Graham’s
bestselling debut novel

BEYOND JUSTICE

“…
A riveting legal thriller….
breaking new ground with a vengeance… demonically entertaining and
surprisingly inspiring.”

~PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“…
hits the ground
running…handled by a deft hand.”

Adrian Phoenix, IN THE BLOOD
(Pocket Books)

“This tense, fast-paced story
of outrageous injustice, insidious evil, and looming disaster has
everything the savvy reader should expect, and more. [Graham]
belongs to a new, emerging wave of writers who dare to color
outside conventional lines. And he does so with
style!”

Glen Scorgie, THE JOURNEY BACK TO
EDEN
(Zondervan)

“…
a genuine page-turner with a
twist that makes it stand out from most thrillers and legal
dramas.”
“…What sets this
thriller apart is the deft handling of
religion.”
“…When Graham turns to courtroom
drama, the writing is tense; when he’s inside Sam’s mind, the
emotions are wringing.”

~Author Magazine

“This book was so much more
than a mystery novel; it was an exercise in faith, understanding,
joy and mercy in their purest forms.”
“…twists, turns and surprises to be found
here.”
“…filled with so much in the way of
emotion.”
“…Take the time to read this book.
You will not be disappointed.”
~Suspense Magazine

…A MASTERFUL LEGAL
THRILLER
…A book worthy of
a feature length Hollywood movie…
…Graham has
intricately woven together these elements of cyberspace and our
criminal justice system in a way that keeps avid mystery readers
spellbound.
…Graham’s BEYOND JUSTICE is the
best mystery novel that I have ever read.
…a
plot worthy of Hollywood, told by a fantastic author with a deft
touch and feel for intrigue!
…a fitting climax
in true John Grisham form.
…a powerful
testament to faith and religion, woven into a masterful murder
mystery.

~East County Magazine

“This is not a tame Christian
book, it’s full of heart wrenching scenes that will make you
shudder.
There’s one
surprise after another and it’s a “can’t put down” thriller…the
ending was brilliant!
“This is Joshua Graham’s
first book and it is a doozy!!
I can’t wait to
read more from this very talented author.”

~
ReadingAtTheBeach.com

“…
a riveting legal thriller
that has heart and a fabulous message.”
“…really intense
suspense!”
“ I was…balled up with emotions and
intense suspense from start to finish.”
“…a
great legal thriller…”
“… great drama and
romance as well.
“…tied together with a
fabulous message of love and redemption.“

~
A
Life in Review

“…
Superbly
done!”
“…a legal suspense
thriller beyond any other.”
“…Filled with page
turning, edge of your seat twists.”
“…most
definitely a 5 star novel by an incredible
author”
“… this suspense novel will pick you
up in one place, carry you through thrilling turns and emotional
rides, and will set you down at an unexpected place, all the while
leaving you with a powerful message that will set your mind to
thinking. About life. About loss. About justice. About
everything.”
…Joshua Graham has become an
author who I will be collecting books by for a long time to come
and has made me anxious for his next book!

~
Reviews
by Molly D. Edwards

Connect with Joshua Graham at:

http://
www.joshua-graham.com

http://
www.facebook/J0shuaGraham

http://
www.twitter/J0shuaGraham

THE ACCIDENTAL HERO

Joshua Graham

In all the years
I’ve spent here at Salton Sea State Penitentiary,
I swear I never met a scarier man than Big Pete. Ain’t no one in
this place—in this world—like Big Pete, you feel me? Man, one look
at him and you don’t start peeing yourself just a bit, you better
go and get your pulse checked cuz you’re probably dead. If you know
the stuff he did before he came here, you’d be too scared to even
breathe the same air as him.

When Big Pete first arrived here at
Salton’s death row, everyone said to me, “Yo, B! (my name’s Brian,
but that ain’t so cool, so all my brothers calls me “B” instead)
What’s it like being Big Pete’s cellie? You scared he gonna kill
you in your sleep?” I just smiled and let them guess. It gave me
some respect with the other inmates that I was a brother sharing a
cell with the big, white, killing machine—and was still alive every
morning. But they didn’t know Big Pete like I do. And I’m sure
gonna miss him when he’s gone.

Far as I know, Big Pete’s story began
like this:

Five years ago, in the Japanese
Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, two men wearing black sunglasses,
pastel Polo shirts, and khaki Dockers met with Big Pete by the Koi
Pond. These clean cut looking guys weren’t what you’d expect. They
were businessmen who were worse than any of the Bloods or Crips I
ever met—and believe me, I met more than a few of them in my life.
These men hired gangstas on a regular basis to do crap for them.
But when they needed a real important job done? They called the
best. Big Pete.

“
So, you okay with this,”
Bill Dawson said to Big Pete, who was sitting on a bench, not even
looking at them.

“
Why wouldn’t I be?” Pete
clicked his tongue.

Tom, a guy who owned three Beemers, a
Benz and a Ferrari, sat down next to Pete. “You don’t have a
problem taking out a man of the cloth?”

Pete shrugged, spit out a toothpick
into the pond. “I ain’t religious.”

“
You sure?” said Bill.
“You’re not going to get all superstitious about killing a
minister, and bail at the last minute?”

Without even standing up, Pete slipped
his hand under his arm and jabbed the point of his knife straight
into Bill’s side—just enough to puncture his pastel Polo and prick
his skin.

Bill leaped to his feet, holding his
side. “Dammit, Pete!”

Still staring out into the
pond and never raising his voice, he scoffed. “That’s
Big
Pete to you, you
weasely turd. I’ll gut and fillet you right here, right now and not
even blink. You want me on this hit or not?”

Tom stepped forward between them
holding up a hand. “Okay, we get it. You’re the right man for the
job. Ten thousand now, and the other ten when it’s
done.”

Pete finally turned his head and
stared right into their sunglasses. The two homies didn’t even know
they took a step back. “That’s not what we agreed to.”

Bill elbowed his partner. “The hell,
Tom?”

“
You trying to renegotiate
terms, boys?” Big Pete stood slowly. His shadow covered both of
them as he straightened out. He stood a head taller than both of
them.

Tom sputtered. “Twenty thousand seems
a lot for one friggin’ pastor of a church.”

“
Are you crazy, Tom?” Bill
muttered. “You wanna die? Huh? You wanna?” To Big Pete: “You gotta
forgive my idiot brother here, Big Pete,” he glared at Tom, “he’s
gone and lost his brains. Temporary insanity. Isnt’ that right
Tom?”

Tom shrugged. “Shut up.”

Like the wimp he was, Bill pulled out
a thick white envelop and handed it to Big Pete, who glared down at
his hand and cocked an eyebrow. “You guys sure about
this?”

Tom huffed and twisted his lip to the
side. “Oh, who’s getting soft now, Big—? OOF!” His brother Bill
interrupted him with an elbow in the gut.

“
I’m just saying,” Pete
said, “You two better not get cold feet and call this off because
you went on and got religion or some crap like that. You do, and
I’ll come for the rest of the money, cut both of your nuts off
before I slice you into tender vittles for my cat.”

The envelope was shaking in Bill’s
hand now. “No, no. We aren’t going to back out. This Pastor Rick is
killing us, killing our cash flow. We’re honest businessmen, you
know? We provide a much needed commodity to the community. And just
because some right-wing religious nut don’t think so highly of
adult entertainment and literature, doesn’t mean he has the right
to take away our business.”

Big Pete didn’t care for porn any more
than he cared for religion. He just cared about his reputation,
doing his job and getting paid for it. “All he’s doing is standing
on the corner of your smut shop, handing out flyers and talking to
anyone who wants to talk. For this, you want him dead?”

“
You want this job or not?”
Tom said, trying wisely not to appear too challenging.

“
Shut up,” Bill said. To
Pete: “You think he’s just saying ‘Hi, howya doing?’ to those
people? Since he started hanging out on my street, I’ve been losing
thousands of dollars every month. Business is at its all time low!
This stupid sonofabitch can’t keep his goddam religion to himself.
No, he’s gotta come and mess with my livelihood. I got a mortgage,
a family to feed. What about that?”

Pete grabbed the envelope
and shook his head. He didn’t like whining women, but he
really,
really
hated whining men. “I don’t care. Why don’t you go and
complain to your wife and your two little girls about how the mean
old preacher man is taking away your fine, upstanding customers who
would otherwise enjoy all the fine porn you have to offer them?” He
slapped Bill across the head with the envelope and walked off.
“Un-frikkin-believeable.”

~~~

That night, Big Pete went back to his
apartment in Hillcrest and ate his In-N-Out cheeseburger and fries.
He sat in the dark, looking out the half-closed window with
yellowing paint peeling and chipping off the frame. Big Pete didn’t
like it when there was too much light on at night. In his line of
work, he preferred the darkness and had gotten used to it. The only
light in his studio was from that annoying street lamp right
outside his window which always made it hard for him to fall asleep
at night. ‘Specially nights before a hit.