The Brass Key
“…I have been keeping it in the safe since the second of June, 2019,” Mr. Bianchi said, and he turned the dial of the black iron strongbox in the back …
The Brass Key Read MoreBlog
The Hidden Dial
“…four, seventeen, eleven,” I whispered, and the little gray dial clicked into place beneath my trembling thumb, and a door no bigger than a cigar box swung open in the …
The Hidden Dial Read MoreThe Church Bulletin
“…I did not approve anything,” I told Derrick Hall, and I pressed James folded church bulletin into his palm, with the list of forty two names printed on the back. …
The Church Bulletin Read MoreNovember Seventeen
“…there is a note on your file, Mrs. Haines, from yesterday afternoon,” the clerk said, and she turned her monitor a few degrees so that I could read it. I …
November Seventeen Read MoreThe Group Chat
“…inside the envelope you will find three documents,” Rebecca had said on the telephone that morning, “and you should read them at the table, slowly, after the food comes and …
The Group Chat Read MoreNogalitos Street
“…Henry Castellanos, by power of attorney held by Raymond Castellanos,” the county clerk read, and I sat on the curb in front of my old house on Nogalitos Street with …
Nogalitos Street Read MoreThe Phantom Pharmacy
“…Mrs. Odessa Pruitt, from the Wednesday prayer circle,” I told Shanice, and I tapped the first name in my church directory with one finger, because it was the first name …
The Phantom Pharmacy Read MoreThe Fifteenth
“…belongs to Dale Voss, my daughter Karen friend,” I said aloud on the Greyhound bus to Minneapolis, holding the yellow sticky note flat against my knee, because I had worked …
The Fifteenth Read MoreThe Back Eighty
“…I told him the back eighty was not for sale, not for any price, not to any man who ever wore a necktie,” Doc Pruitt said, and he set his …
The Back Eighty Read MoreThe Denny Napkin
“…that lien is still good, Joanie, and any title company that missed it will be sorry,” Ed Kowalski said in his gruff old voice, and I pressed the telephone against …
The Denny Napkin Read More