“You better arrest him right now for stealing my house, Detective Jurgis.” Cap Warner’s arthritic fingers knotted around the pistol pointed at Boost McClaine, “Or I’ll shoot him dead here myself.” This wasn’t like Cap. People had been acting unlike themselves a lot in the year since the Storm. I took in the situation I’d […]
Garry Packard sat mutely, inwardly sighing between mouthfuls, while his partner, Don Haggerty, complained to a waitress about his burger. Having worked together for the last nine years, Packard had grown used to the man’s tetchiness, but that didn’t mean he had grown to like it. Fortunately, for Packard, his partner would be retiring at […]
You don’t wind up on the streets without bad luck and you don’t survive them without some good. The rummy that appeared to be sleeping one off outside the parking garage on 3rd Avenue had his share of both. Prior to getting laid off and coming to the self-realization that any hour of the day […]
The dude was looking at me like he wanted to cause trouble, get into a fight, do some damage to my face – hurt me. I don’t think he knew me, but I sure knew him. I had just pulled into a gas station. He was filling up a primer-grey pickup, weaving back and forth […]
“Beer,” I say. She wipes down the bar in front of me. What kind, she says, approaching the tap. “Whatever.” She fills a mug, slides it to me. That’ll be six dollars, she says. I pull out my wallet, slide a C-note over. She freezes, eyes the gold shield before I flip the wallet closed. […]
Detective Peter Eckert looked down at the girl and shook his head. “I know her,” he said to his partner. “Hannah Kean. Used to be in youth group with Jess.” Eckert had met Hannah three years ago. She was 14, eyes bright and eager, ready for life’s adventures. A couple days after Christmas the next […]
“This ain’t Halloween,” Chaz said, revolver cocked and pressed into the intruder’s neck. Chaz had been nursing a warm beer in the dark trailer, watching the lanky man trudge through the howling nor’easter with alarming ease, robbing the double-wides across the unplowed lot, the contents of the burlap sack slung over his shoulder growing with […]
Christmas Eve. The snow had been falling lightly all day, and the Hancock Building shimmered in the distance through the milky gauze. It was a postcard scene, but in my neighborhood, good tidings were hard to find. Grimy cabs bounced through rutted streets, splashing mud and filthy snow on the skeleton crew of hookers looking […]
As the bright spring afternoon melted into evening, Dr Shearing’s office grew darker. As did Lee Madison’s thoughts. ‘13 Ghosts?’ said Dr Shearing. He pulled sharply at his shirt cuffs. ‘I can’t say that I’m familiar with that particular film, or Mr William Castle’s oeuvre as a director, to be honest.’ Lee Madison cringed as […]
When I first came into this crazy crime addled community I scoped out the alpha dogs, the guys running the show. There weren’t any bigger than Big Daddy Thug, Todd Robinson, founder of THUGLIT and launcher of more than one career. Looking at his magazine, I decided at the moment I was going to be […]
Tomasso “The Bull” Scavolini rocked back and forth, back and forth, letting the gentle squeak from an ancient plank on his porch slowly put him to sleep, part of a daily ritual here on the old family place now that he told himself he was retired. The old lady in the kitchen, the one that […]
“Got one for you,” said Mary Alice. “How many clients does it take to change a light bulb?” “Hooker jokes,” said Diana. “Okay, I’ll bite.” “Just one, but he has to tell you he’s never done this before.” Mary Alice seemed so proud of herself that Diana felt obligated to chuckle. “Why do they always […]
