Animals

Crime Fiction by Rider Lemmond I have always been fascinated by death–so has everyone else, but not to my degree, I think. Religions say the soul leaves the body upon death and that this process could be observed. I even heard about an experiment where someone was weighed the moment before and after death. TheyContinue reading “Animals”

Teddy Bear

Crime Fiction By Stuart Stromin Even when I was a cop, I was a criminal.  It’s not what you think, I wasn’t on the take.  I wasn’t corrupt in that systemic way, when there’s a brown envelope on the desk every Friday, in exchange for someone to look the other way.  That sort of thingContinue reading “Teddy Bear”

The Canary, The Shadow and The Knife

Crime Fiction By Gratia Serpento My steps echo down the slippery stairway, tapping the growing moss and mold. I need to come back down and clean, get on my hands and knees and scrub the wood with soap and water, but I hate coming down here. I hate it. Terrible conditions but I won’t makeContinue reading “The Canary, The Shadow and The Knife”

Plausible Deniability

Crime Fiction by Richard L. Matta I’m ocean fishing for striped bass (“Stripers”) … deliberately within cell phone range of home, where they’ll be another battle on her birthday. Conscience restrained me before, but sometimes events push you beyond your tipping point—tear away decency, set actions in motion which can’t be undone, exposing you toContinue reading “Plausible Deniability”

Last Meal

Flash Fiction by Matthew Senn I sit down to the smell of steak and skunk beer. There’s a greying woman behind the saloon bar flipping meals and meat with a rusty fork. She turns and smiles holding out a finger for me to wait. “Take your time. There’s no hurry.” “Cold out there?” “Yes, ma’am.”Continue reading “Last Meal”

Warhawk Road

Crime Fiction By Ken Wheaton Tyler’s shadow stretched before him in the moonlight, landing on his girlfriend’s back. The first time they’d driven up 285 into the mountains just west of Denver, they’d picked a moonless night and the dark was too much. It pressed, it smothered. Every sound was amplified, every crackling twig aContinue reading “Warhawk Road”

Discretion

Flash Fiction By M.C. Herrington I was sure I’d seen the face before. The illustration looked like a police composite, maybe hand drawn in pencil, maybe computer generated– I couldn’t tell which from the TIF. I received at least fifty new illustrations for the magazine each week, and I had a slush pile of aContinue reading “Discretion”

Racqueteering

Crime Fiction By John Mahoney Therese Masters cursed, abandoning a fifth attempt to call Sally, then tossed her smartphone into her black Nike-brand gym bag. “Just keep leaving me hanging,” she grumbled, squatting to zip the bag, before slinging it over a shoulder and using her other hand to grab her rented racquet from theContinue reading “Racqueteering”

Khaos on the Karnival Kruise

Crime Fiction By Derek Maldonado The boat docked at 2100. I stared beyond the eastern sky as the moon reflected off the silent sea. A look back down at the clipboard in my hands showed a list of every passenger on the cruise, all 37 of them. The Karnival Platinum Express had finally finished itsContinue reading “Khaos on the Karnival Kruise”