Excerpt from A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens by Raul Palma, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Is it really you?" Hugo asked. "The attorney on the bus benches?"

When the voice chuckled and responded, "Wow! Yes. That was me. A long time ago," Hugo took Barbara's gift and walked off, even though he hadn't sipped his coffee or paid. He paced the lot, weaving in and out of parked cars; then he paused and whispered into his phone, "Do you know who I am, you son of a bitch?" Before Alexi could respond, Hugo raised his voice and said, "You need to stop calling me! What do I got to do to get your people to stop fucking calling me?"

"Hugo ..."

"It's every day. Every fucking day. And you hide your number on caller ID. Isn't spoofing your number illegal? Tell me, Alexi. Should I file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission?" He yelled all of this, even with police officers nearby. Hugo's indebtedness, which had been trying to latch onto him all day, slunk to the ground and pooled around his feet. Hugo stomped through it, kicking it so that it felt, for a moment, as if he'd actually conquered his debts once and for all.

Alexi didn't hang up. He waited for Hugo to stop yelling; then he delicately explained why he'd called: "Look. I get it. I'm a debt collection attorney. But I'm being haunted. And it's not just me. I have a wife, a daughter. There's more to me than the work I do. Can you please help me?"

Hugo sat in his car considering the attorney's plea. He pitied him. But even with his indebtedness festering and crawling on his skin like worms, he said, "I'm sorry. I won't help you."

Excerpted from A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens by Raul Palma. Copyright © 2023 by Raul Palma. Excerpted by permission of Dutton. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.