Flash Fiction by Scott McKinnon Penny sits on a warehouse floor, handcuffed to a pallet stacked five feet high with cheap towels emblazoned with the words: I stole this from Alcatraz. The fluorescents above cast a flat light over mountains of tacky novelty items and three humorless thugs standing over her. The leader has aContinue reading “Hard Luck Penny”
Tag Archives: Crime
Someday You Will
Spy Fiction by Tom Milani In 1966, after nearly six years in Hamburg, Richter had gone back to what he did best. An intelligence agency provided him with housing in Virginia. His job was to photograph foreign assets in compromising positions, the agency’s penchant for irony apparently unlimited. The work was sedentary in nature. ToContinue reading “Someday You Will”
Aileen and the Aliens
Crime Fiction by Hillary Lyon “I woke to the sound of dresser drawers opening. Someone was in the far corner of our dark bedroom, riffling through drawers. You were in bed next to me, sound asleep. “Who are you,” I said aloud, sitting up on my elbows. “What are you doing here? What do youContinue reading “Aileen and the Aliens”
The Backstabbers
Crime Fiction by Robb White Tre’Mayne stood there, eyes boxing the room same way he did every time, all five-foot-six inches in raggedy-ass wifebeater and high-tops. Mondair didn’t say a word, just held out his hand for his latest rap effort. Tre’Mayne was a one-man rap machine and he was harder to get rid ofContinue reading “The Backstabbers”
Thou Shalt Not Lie
Flash Fiction by Jim Harrington I’ve been in his apartment many times. It always starts with dinner and a drink or two at Luigi’s Bistro or Leonard’s. I dress as he requests, in a short dress or skirt, “and no underpants,” he says, with a half smile and a wink. *Good luck on that lastContinue reading “Thou Shalt Not Lie”
Jakob’s American Dream
Historical Fiction by James Bremer, Sr. In 1935 I was a year out of law school and an Assistant Prosecutor on New York District Attorney Thomas Dewey’s staff when I got a call from him asking, “Mr. Jensen, how would you like to help me send that bastard Charles Luciano up the river?” I replied,Continue reading “Jakob’s American Dream”
A Fate Worse than Death
Flash Fiction by Tyler Marable Clarence Whitley had another nightmare, like the one that came before, and the one that preceded that one. This time, he sat bound and gagged in a chair. A little girl with blonde piggytails stood in front of him, holding a knife. She looked no more than ten. His heartContinue reading “A Fate Worse than Death”
Taking Care Of Business
Detective Fiction by James Clar Honolulu, 1948 My chair creaked as I lit a cigarette and leaned back to make myself comfortable. I had some foot-dangling to catch up on. I was out of practice. The overhead fan in my office above a pawn shop on Hotel Street did little to blunt the odors fromContinue reading “Taking Care Of Business”
Kayfabe
Crime Fiction by Gregory Meece A sharp clang cut through the arena—brass on bone. Wild Bill Brewster crumpled, wide-eyed, staring at nothing. John McMurphy didn’t flinch. The fans roared—at first. McMurphy knew how they worked. They’d buy the blood, revel in it. Then doubt would creep in. Too real. Too much blood for a convertedContinue reading “Kayfabe”
A Rare And Fragile Flower
Speculative Crime Fiction by Floyd Largent Sometimes, Kenbe Bilundgren thought he understood humans beings; other times, he was certain he did not. In the ten months since he had been manumitted by Master’s death, he had made a continuing attempt to comprehend the greater society of which he was now a part. One thing heContinue reading “A Rare And Fragile Flower”