Top Suspense

by Top Suspense Group

  The guy facing Lauren moved his eyes. They dropped down to his weapon. Armed it with a slide and a click. Lauren acted without thinking. She bent down, scrambled to grab the Kimber, lined up on his groin and fired. Her aim was as terrible as usual, up and a bit to one side, but this time her last slug took off part of his skull in a spray of blood and bone. He dropped. She ran over, pried the 9mm Glock from his hands. Lauren felt giddy. Yawn. Another body, another gun.

  The engine cut off and she heard a car door open and close. No voices. Nothing. A shot! Two! Three! Four! How many guys out there? The doors would burst open any second and she had to be ready. She'd seen it on TV a hundred times. She got against the front wall, took a sturdy stance, holding the Glock with both hands. Which side of the door would open?

  She widened her legs and held her breath. Waited. Panted. Her arms shook. She propped her elbow on her hip and struggled to keep her trigger hand steady. Sweat ran between her breasts.

  After two lifetimes, her arm dropped to her side. All dead? Doubtful. Just waiting for her head to appear.

  She glanced around. Light slanted from above, gleaming on Paolo's tan forehead. Other than the sagging roof, the barn seemed sturdy. Odd timing, but she remembered a similar barn. Darrell, unsnapping his overalls. Mmm. He was a hot treat, but being a country wife hadn't appealed to her, stoking the wood stove and snapping beans, chasing after grubby kids with their green-snotted noses. Church on Sunday. Hell, maybe coming back was all a mistake, not just the way she'd done it. There was life in LA.

  She gave the door a kick, knocking it open a few feet. Nothing. She charged through and stopped fast in front of a rusty pick up with huge muddy tires. The windows were half down, a collie whining inside. "Sweet baby," she said.

  The collie was docile enough. Even more docile was Frankie, sprawled in the late model job alongside the pick-up. Frankie was a little guy who'd splattered a lot of blood onto the driver's side window; he'd taken three hits, two in the face and one in the throat. The latter wound was gurgling a little.

  Looked like the pick-up truck's driver had slid up to a stop next to the newer vehicle and just started firing away through his open window.

  Somebody didn't like intruders....

  Yet no sign of the driver. And that fucking collie hadn't shot anybody. Lauren looked all around - the day had died on her, but visibility was fine in a clear blue dusk long with shadows. She circled the barn; gun in hand, till she came back to where she started.

  Nobody.

  If Frankie's killer were the occupant of that farmhouse (where a couple lights were on), she'd need to hustle. She quickly returned to the barn, opened the trunk of her car, got rid of the extra suitcase - like Paolo himself, excess baggage - and gave the brown carry-on filled with Jimmy's money a loving little pat.

  She was just about to open the barn doors and drive the hell out, hoping for room to squeeze past the two parked vehicles out there, when the rugged-looking Marlboro man with the plaid jacket and blue baseball cap and double-barrel shotgun stepped inside.

  "Hold 'er right there, missy," he said, face blank as a hay bale.

  "Oh, thank God," Lauren said. "I never thought I'd live through it. I'm so grateful you killed him."

  "Never mind that. What's your connection to them?"

  She knew better than to tell him anything. She had a bad girl/good girl switch somewhere in her brain. Good girl was in charge now. Sobs. Tears. The stereotypical, hysterical chickenshit woman.

  "What the hell's wrong with you?"

  Fucking good girl switch. It must not be feeding her full power. She had to make the good girl switch work. She went back to sobbing. Then she pretended to start to faint.

  He was right there to save her and right there to listen to her after he carried her over to a hay bale and set her atop it. The story he got should have made him sympathetic—bad guys chasing her and almost killing her—but she could see that he, looming over her, remained skeptical.

  Then she stood up and fell into his arms, her fingers nimbly finding his crotch. Hard already. So he had been paying attention like a good doggie. Then why did he push her away?

  "I want the truth. Now."

  "All right. You're a fucking cynic, here's the deal," she said. Then she told him about the big pay day he'd get if he'd move the cars so she could get out and not call the cops on her for four hours. "That's a lot of money."

  He was obviously thinking it over. What was he going to say?

  As it turned out he didn't have to say anything. The nasty smile and hungry look he flashed her answered her as well as words. Lauren started to unbutton her blouse, but Marlboro man turned her around and shoved her against the hay bale. There was a moment where he must've been fumbling with his pants, then her skirt was pushed up and her panties yanked down. He was rough as he entered her, his fingers digging into her thighs. Once again she was being used. Just like all those men at the club where she danced before she met Jimmy, and then Jimmy in those early days. How he'd trick her out so he could bust in and rob the sap while they were screwing. And later what Jimmy used to make her do with his business associates.

  She caught his reflection in a glass pane, and she knew this time was different. Not just with how he was keeping his shotgun at arm's length, but from the cruel twist of his mouth. She realized something else also.

  "That guy in the tractor who ran me off the rode. You look like him. A cousin of yours? A brother?"

  He didn't say anything. Just pounded harder into her like she was nothing but meat.

  "What's your game? You run rubes off the road, so you can rob them of their cars and money?"

  "Shut up!"

  "How many rubes you got buried out here?"

  He grunted as he pulled out of her. "I'll shut your mouth for you!" She didn't fight him as he grabbed a fistful of her hair and guided her toward him. She went willingly. As far as she was concerned she was only going to be biting a sausage in half.

  Marlboro man let out a scream. Lauren spat out a lump of flesh and scrambled to the shotgun while he stumbled a step backward while clutching his bloody stump. His eyes grew wide for a brief moment and then the shotgun blast obliterated them, as well as the rest of his face.

  Lauren decided she was sick of Kansas. She adjusted her panties and skirt and then fished a set of car keys from Marlboro man's jacket. With the money she had she was going to leave an ocean or two between her and Jimmy. No one would use her again. She couldn't help smiling at what happened to the last few men who tried.

  # #

  To find out which Top Suspense Authors wrote which story segments, visit

  www.topsuspense.com/TheChaseRevealed.php

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  MAX ALLAN COLLINS has earned an unprecedented fifteen Private Eye Writers of America "Shamus" nominations, winning for his Nathan Heller novels, True Detective (1983) and Stolen Away (1991), receiving the PWA life achievement award, the Eye, in 2007. His graphic novel Road to Perdition (1998) is the basis of the Academy Award-winning 2002 film starring Tom Hanks. He has written a number of suspense series, including Quarry, Nolan, Mallory, and Eliot Ness; is completing a number of "Mike Hammer" novels begun by the late Mickey Spillane; and collaborates with Matthew Clemens on the J.C. Harrow serial killer novels. His many comics credits include the syndicated strip Dick Tracy; his own Ms. Tree; Batman; and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, based on the hit TV series for which he has also written ten novels that have sold millions of copies worldwide. He has written and directed five feature films and two documentaries, and co-scripted The Last Lullaby, based on his acclaimed novel, The Last Quarry. He and his wife Barbara collaborate (as "Barbara Allan") on the successful "Trash 'n' Treasures" mysteries - their Antiques Flee Market (2008) won the Romantic Times Best Humorous Mystery Novel award in 2009.

  BILL CRIDER is the author of more than seventy published novels and numerous short stories in multiple genres. He won the Anthony Award for best first mystery novel in 1987 for Too
Late to Die. His story "Cranked" from Damn Near Dead was nominated for the Edgar award. His first private-eye novel, Dead on the Island, was nominated for a Shamus, and his children's book Mike Gonzo and the UFO Terror won the Golden Duck Award for best juvenile SF novel. He has written six acclaimed western novels, including Ryan Rides Back, and as Jack MacLane he published a series of horror novels with Zebra Books, all of which, beginning with Goodnight Moom, are now available in e-book format. He is also writing for the Rancho Diablo e-book series and the Dead Man e-book series created by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin. Check out his blog at http://billcrider.blogspot.com and his homepage at www.billcrider.com.

  STEPHEN GALLAGHER was described by London newspaper The Independent as "the finest British writer of bestselling popular fiction since le Carré ... Gallagher, like le Carré, is a novelist whose themes seem to reflect something of the essence of our times, and a novelist whose skill lies in embedding those themes in accessible plots." The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Since Valley of Lights, he has been refining his own brand of psycho-thriller, with a discomforting knack of charting mental disintegration and a razor-sharp sense of place." Winner of British Fantasy and International Horror Guild awards, Stephen Gallagher's screen work began with Doctor Who and includes miniseries adaptations of his novels Chimera and Oktober. He created TV's Eleventh Hour, with Rufus Sewell taking on Patrick Stewart's role in Jerry Bruckheimer's CBS remake. His most recent novel is The Kingdom of Bones from Random House.

  LEE GOLDBERG is a two-time Edgar Award nominee whose many TV writing and/or producing credits include Martial Law, SeaQuest, Diagnosis Murder, Monk and The Glades. As an international TV development consultant, he's worked for production companies and broadcasters in Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands. His books include The Walk, My Gun Has Bullets, Successful Television Writing, The Man With with The Iron-On Badge, The Dead Man: Face of Evil, and the bestselling Monk series of original mystery novels. He's also the co-founder, with Max Allan Collins, of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers. www.leegoldberg.com

  JOEL GOLDMAN is the Edgar and Shamus nominated author of two thriller series, one featuring trial lawyer Lou Mason and the other featuring former FBI Special Agent, Jack Davis. His novels and short stories have been optioned for film and television. His next Lou Mason novel, Final Judgment, will be released in March 2012. His newest novel, Liberty Park, featuring Public Defender Alex Stone, will be released in 2011. He is also proud to be writing an upcoming installment in Lee Goldberg's and William Rabkin's new series, The Dead Man. Joel can be reached at www.joelgoldman.com and on Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In.

  Kirkus called ED GORMAN "One of the most original crime writers around." While Gorman has worked in a number of genres, suspense fiction is his favorite genre to write in and read. Gorman's novels The Poker Club and The Haunted have both been filmed. Author of more than thirty novels and ten collections of short stories, The Oxford Book of Short Stories noted that his work "provides fresh ideas, characters and approaches." The Rocky Mountain News called him "The modern master of the lean and mean thriller." Gorman's thrillers include Blood Moon and The Marilyn Tapes both available as part of the Top Suspense Group (TSG). His novel Cage of Night, also available on TSG, is one of Gorman's personal favorites. The sites Gravetapping and Good Reads noted "It is truly a classic of the macabre—part mystery, part suspense, and entirely chilling and haunting." Gorman is now busy on a suspense novel he hopes to finish this year. Gorman can be reached at New Improved Gorman

  http://www.newimprovedgorman.com/

  LIBBY FISCHER HELLMAN, an award-winning crime fiction author, released her 7th novel December, 2010. Set the Night on Fire, a stand-alone thriller, goes back, in part, to the late Sixties in Chicago. She also writes two crime fiction series. The first, which includes the hard-boiled Easy Innocence (2008) and Doubleback (2009,) features Chicago P.I Georgia Davis. In addition there are four novels in the Ellie Foreman series, which Libby describes as a cross between "Desperate Housewives" and "24." Libby has also published over 15 short stories in Nice Girl Does Noir and has edited the acclaimed crime fiction anthology, Chicago Blues. She has been nominated twice for the Anthony Award and once for the Agatha. Originally from Washington DC, she has lived in Chicago for 30 years and claims they'll take her out of there feet first. More at her website: www.libbyhellmann.com

  VICKI HENDRICKS is the author of noir novels Miami Purity, Iguana Love, Voluntary Madness, Sky Blues, and Cruel Poetry, the latter an Edgar Award finalist in 2008. Her short stories appear in many collections, including Otto Penzler's Murder for Revenge, Susie Bright's Best American Erotica 2000. The complete collection of her short fiction, Florida Gothic Stories, was published in 2010. Hendricks has an MFA in Creative writing from Florida International University. She lives in Hollywood, Florida, and has been teaching writing at Broward College for thirty years. Her plots and settings reflect participation in adventure sports, such as skydiving and scuba, and knowledge of the Florida environment. Currently, she is working on Fur People, an animal hoarder love story. Dennis Lehane has named her "the high priestess of neo-noir, a fierce and fearless talent" and Michael Connelly recommends Miami Purity as "a modern noir masterpiece." Her website is www.vickihendricks.com, and she has recently started a blog for aspiring writers at http://vickihendrickscrime-noir.blogspot.com/ Find her first four novels and story collection on Kindle and Nook at www.topsuspense.com.

  NAOMI HIRAHARA is the Edgar Award-winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series, which features a Japanese American gardener and atomic-bomb survivor who solves crimes. Nominated also for Macavity and Anthony awards, the novels in the series include Summer of the Big Bachi, Gasa-Gasa Girl, Snakeskin Shamisen and Blood Hina. Her first novel for children, 1001 Cranes, was chosen as an Honor Book for the Youth Literature of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in 2009. A graduate of Stanford University with a degree in international relations, she served as the chapter president of the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America in 2010. Her web site is www.naomihirahara.com.

  PAUL LEVINE, the author of the Jake Lassiter series, has won the John D. MacDonald Award for fiction and has been nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, International Thriller and James Thurber awards. He wrote more than 20 episodes of the CBS military drama "JAG" and co-created the Supreme Court drama "First Monday," starring James Garner and Joe Mantegna. His books, To Speak for the Dead, Night Vision, and Fool Me Twice have all been number one bestsellers on Amazon Kindle's Hardboiled Bestseller List. His newest novel, Balllistic, a story of nuclear terrorism, is an e-book original. His next novel, Lassiter, will be published in hardcover and as an e-book by Bantam in September 2011. www.paul-levine.com

  HARRY SHANNON has been an actor, a singer, an Emmy-nominated songwriter, a recording artist in Europe, a music publisher, a VP of Carolco Pictures and worked as a free-lance Music Supervisor on films such as "Basic Instinct" and "Universal Soldier." His books include Dead and Gone, Daemon, the Mick Callahan novels Memorial Day, Eye of the Burning Man, One of the Wicked, and Running Cold, as well as the thriller The Pressure of Darkness. His Stoker-nominated short story collection A Host of Shadows got this rave from Publisher's Weekly, "Impeccable pacing and an eye for the terrifying will leave the reader shaken and unsettled." Shannon has won the Black Quill for Short Fiction and the Tombstone for Best Horror Novel. Harry can be reached via his web site at www.harryshannon.com or via Facebook.

  DAVE ZELTSERMAN won the 2010 Shamus Award for Julius Katz and is the acclaimed author of the 'man out of prison' crime trilogy: Small Crimes, Pariah and Killer, where Small Crimes was named by NPR as one of the five best crime and mystery novels of 2008, and Small Crimes and Pariah (2009) were both picked by the Washington Post as best books of the year. His recent The Caretaker of Lorne Field received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, calling it a 'superb mix of humor and horror', has been short listed by ALA for best horror novel of 2010. Outsource
d (2011) has already been called 'a small gem of crime fiction' by Booklist and has been optioned by Impact Pictures and Constantin Film. Look for his upcoming crime thriller, A Killer's Essence in the fall of 2011. Dave can be reached via his web site at www.davezeltserman.com.