“A beautiful child you have there,” said Horvath. “Think so? Really? Take her. Be my guest.” It was mostly a tough crowd and everyone knew Jeanie and her broken-glass sort of banter. But the room went quiet. “I mean it,”… Continue Reading
Clarice was the kind of child who enjoyed picking out the soft insides of a bun. That’s what made her ideal for performing autopsies. The human body is rather like a hot dog bun, she used to say. The skin… Continue Reading
“Am I in trouble?” The boy raises a thumb to his mouth. Chews. There’s a layer of blood under the nail and he licks at it. Wipes it clean. The detective puts the boy’s file on the table. Flips to… Continue Reading
Theodore Brooks couldn’t believe his luck. A large white Victorian house located near downtown, and the owner was offering it at fifty percent off its appraised value. The wraparound porch, the turrets and the slate roof blew him away. If… Continue Reading
Bella Codreanu came into my kindergarten in the middle of the school year. She’s a weird-looking girl who wears peasant dresses and scuffed black shoes to school, and has her dark hair braided in pigtails. If she knew any English… Continue Reading
He was trying to escape, and not for the first time. It had replaced the rising and setting of the sun, for him; a way of delineating future from past, although he knew that soon enough, even this would begin… Continue Reading
There is a loud thud. The door trembles, and Lucy looks up at Vivian with wide, terrified eyes. “I told you not to open the box!” Vivian hisses, pressing her shoulder against the door so hard it aches. “I’m sorry!”… Continue Reading
The door banged against the wall as I bounded in. Valerie stood frozen with her aluminum bat clenched tightly. My arms wrapped around her as I looked to the shadowy lump on the floor. Some neighbor’s kid? I flicked on… Continue Reading
When I first met my ex-girlfriend’s new guy, I leaned in and whispered into his ear, “Zahoth Xin Haagra.” He looked at me questioningly, but I didn’t repeat myself because my throat suddenly hurt. Anyway, he had heard. A week… Continue Reading
I met the man named Luis at an extravagant party in an extravagant Tribeca loft. The host’s name doesn’t matter, but I was flattered to be invited. Yes, I knew I was a long way from Omaha, but I quickly… Continue Reading