A swollen red sun

by Matthew McBride

In Gasconade County, Missouri -- once called the meth capital of the world -- Deputy Sherriff Dale Banks discovers $52,000 hidden in the broken-down trailer that Jerry Dean Skaggs uses for cooking crystal. And he takes it. Banks knows what he did was wrong, but he did it for all the right reasons. At least, he thinks so. But for every wrong, there is a consequence. Jerry Dean can't afford to lose that $52,000 -- he owes it to his partners, a crooked cop, and the fearsome Reverend Butch Pogue, who controls the town's meth production with an iron fist. To avoid the holy man's wrath, Jerry...