Eye Patch’s feet danced down the stairs toward street level as Harold tried to keep up without falling headlong into his master. The man in black reached the front door and started to head west to the end of the block. Harold snatched at Eye Patch’s sleeve, stopping his progress. The inky stranger gave a…
Athens, Kansas lies on the eastern edge of the Flint Hills. It is nestled between two rivers, the Neosho to the north and the Cottonwood to the south. Native mythology exists that it is these two mild-mannered rivers, which protect the original town from destructive tornadoes. It was founded as the American fascination with setting…
I am painting myself out of the proverbial corner. Partly, it’s the dreaded “time to pay the piper,” and partly it’s a thrill. Ending up in this situation isn’t a surprise. There is even a delight in answering the “how are those problems going to get worked out” question. Much like paying with credit, it…
In February 2023, I paused the weekly postings of my podcast “Chapter by Chapter” because I ran out of runway. Frankly, I was stuck and not enjoying the writing process. The original plan was to write/edit/publish the third book of The Pearl Saga in the background while I continued to release episodes. However, numerous setbacks…
Evan Gold entered the Commercial Street Diner and looked for Lt. Abrams, but his mind was on Katherine. Was she safe, and how could he tell her to keep her new necklace under wraps without spooking her and possibly making matters worse? He caught a wave of Abram’s hand and started to walk back to…
Sunlight streamed through a window and onto Evan’s face. It was nearly ten o’clock in the morning, and Evan’s eyes had stayed closed long enough. His brain spent the sleeping time trying to make sense of the past several days and played snippets of disjointed memories till his mind hurt and brought Evan back to…
Claire buried her face in her hands. Her whole body shook under the sobs. “You need to get yourself together,” Evan said. “The police will be here soon, and we still don’t have the story straight.” She turned to look at him. “Why are you accusing me?” “Because we’re both looking down the barrel of…
As soon as the door latch clicked closed, Evan rushed to the telephone. His fingers quickly and deftly circled the rotary until all the numbers were dialed. At the same time, he saw Claire trying to make a quick escape from the apartment. Evan grabbed her by the elbow and held on tight. He looked…
“Katherine, what are you doing here? This isn’t a good time.” Evan said, grabbing his wife by the elbow. “Who are your friends?” Katherine said, looking at all of the new faces gathered in her husband’s apartment. “It would take too long to explain.” It was then that Evan realized Katherine wore the pearl pendant…
“Now that that’s settled,” the stranger with the silver eye patch said, glaring his one good eye at Evan, “where is the pearl?” “Yes, I was just coming to that,” Evan said. “But first, I want to talk about the money.” “This again!” the stranger growled. “My patience is wearing more than a little thin,…
