Story Of An Encounter

Crime Fiction By Paul Perilli It’s not a surprise my friends and neighbors no longer bring up the once famed and much-discussed case of an unsolved murder in our quiet Brooklyn neighborhood. Shocking as it was at the time, it went the way of most news. Other topics came up. What took place over aContinue reading “Story Of An Encounter”

Visiting Mom

Flash Fiction By Seamus O’ Leary Nubs drove his grey 1990 Lincoln Town Car through the toll plaza on I-90 in Chicago, while holding his cell phone to his ear with the three fingers of his left hand. “I’m going to visit with my ma. I’ll only be a little bit, and then I’ll meetContinue reading “Visiting Mom”

Do No Harm Or Injustice

Crime Fiction by C.D. Baxter Marquis fired potshots from his Glock as the rattlesnake wound across the floor toward the pile of ballooned-up black tar heroin tucked inside his living room fireplace. He’d come home jacked-up, nodding in the entryway. The heaven of his high vanished once he blasted a round into his right footContinue reading “Do No Harm Or Injustice”

A Scene Illuminating the Perils of Truancy

Crime Fiction By B.W. Carter So, yeah, this boy, he’s standing on his usual corner, right, watching traffic dissolve into the vast white wash of the sun. The day is loud as a concert and very bright. The boy is slouching against a streetlamp. Squinting into the beeping, belching exhaust-sweet bustle, he smokes his lastContinue reading “A Scene Illuminating the Perils of Truancy”

A Fast Weekend

Crime Fiction By William D. Higgs III Some people called me a “private detective,” but I thought of myself as a fixer. People came to me with problems, and I fixed them. Someone thought their husband was screwing around, so I’d follow the bastard, take a few pictures of him going into a seedy motel,Continue reading “A Fast Weekend”

Hey, Nice Hat!

Speculative Fiction by Donovan Douglas Thiesson Mitch and Arty had walked past the basement apartment dozens of times, never once paying it any mind. This time, however, something was different. Not a noticeable change for most people, but Mitch and Arty were not most people. The curtains hung open. More importantly, just within sight, inContinue reading “Hey, Nice Hat!”

Dead Giveaway

Flash Fiction by William Kitcher As soon as she sat beside me at the bar, I was skeptical. Too calculatedly down-market. I definitely liked the look of her: unusually beautiful face, very high cheekbones, a slight overbite that caused her smile to be intriguing and confusing, a vague scar that meandered from the side ofContinue reading “Dead Giveaway”

Fossil

Flash Fiction By Steve Saulsbury They noticed the older man at the beach where people went looking for fossils. He was fiddling with his pack on a picnic table. Shane sprawled in the sand, puffing a crumpled cigarette. Lacey splashed along the shoreline. “Find any fossils?” Shane asked the man. “No. Just enjoying the scenery.”Continue reading “Fossil”

Tiny Soldiers

Crime Fiction By Anthony Ventre Fabian and Joe Bottom just left. They split, both of them, a few minutes ago. A couple of creeps! Sniff! Sniff! Fabian’s cheap cologne permeates the curtains, my clothing, the entire cottage. Joe Bottom stood right over there by the china closet, lips slightly parted, baring his keyboard ivory teeth.Continue reading “Tiny Soldiers”

How My New Life Began

Crime Fiction By Andy Betz He eventually had to come to work again.  He knew I was waiting here for him.  Where else would he go?  I just wish he would not take so long.  We had a long night of discussions and decisions ahead of us. He did walk in at 9:15.  No moreContinue reading “How My New Life Began”