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The Legend of Deputy Jim Blitz

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The Last Enemy Series, Prequel
Crime / Action / Mystery
Date Published: September 2019
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Jim Edwards always thought he’d join the military when he graduated from high school. But then he snuck off and married his high school sweetheart the middle of their senior year and his wife Linda got pregnant right away. Jim did not want to leave his new family and get deployed halfway around the world, but he still wanted to serve his country. That’s when he decided to go into law enforcement. He talked to his dad about it and he reached out to and old friend for his son. Sheriff George Manning of Sheridan County Wyoming told him that if Jim went to Junior College and got an associate’s degree in criminal justice he would give him a chance in his department. Jim worked nights and weekends for two years at a local restaurant to support his young family and also got his degree at Sheridan Community College. Jim was also a damn good heavy weight amateur boxer in Wyoming and even tied the State Champ in a local match before joining the department.
Jim rescued Sheriff Manning and a couple of civilians from a bunch of bikers that had them cornered on a mountain road just before he joined the Department. Later when one of them threatened his wife and child in retaliation Jim’s temper got the best of him and he throws the biker a beating he won’t ever forget. That starts a series of events that pits Deputy Jim Edwards against the notorious Wild Wolves’ Biker Gang and its two leaders. Now Jim has a big problem and even though Sheriff Manning and his top Lt. Al Freeburger think that Jim is the best Deputy they’ve ever had they don’t know if Jim can survive the Wolves vendetta against him. Jim finds himself pitted against not only a notorious biker gang but South American cartels, and corrupt politicians. Jim is smart and good, but he is also young and inexperienced. When it comes to his family’s safety he won’t compromise and he won’t back down. His enemies know this and will try to use this against him. They are going to lure the young Lawman into a death trap and all Jim has is his grit and his wits to see him through.
But this all happened back in 1974, and Jim Edwards is alive and well. He has just recently returned from helping rescue his son, Commander Jacob Edwards from Maximillian’s prison down in Central America. Captain Tommy Williams the leader of the rescue has known for a long time that there is something very interesting about Jims past service in the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Department. So he uses and opportunity to visit that town with the Edwards family to go there and find out for himself why some “old law dogs” around Sheridan still call it “The Legend of Deputy Jim”.
Other Books in the The Last Enemy Series:
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The Good Fight
The Last Enemy, Book 1
Published: December 2018
Danielle Edwards is no damsel in distress, she’s got some big shoes to fill. Being the daughter of the hero of Cozumel Commander Jacob Edwards of the United States Coast Guard put a target on her back. Now she is in the fight of her life. Her parents have been gone for three years. Can she rise up and be what she needs to be. It’s going to be a good fight.
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The Cartel Crusher
The Last Enemy, Book 2
Published: December 2018
Marnia Gonzalez, oldest daughter of one of Mexico’s most popular Presidents, is rescued at sea from being raped and killed by a cartel connected Caribbean pirate, Dominik Thrace. Her rescuer, Commander Jacob Edwards of the U.S. Coast Guard, known as the “Hero of Cozumel” in Mexico, befriends her. The Cozumel incident causes Marnia to abandon her destiny of becoming a well-connected, high-society powerful woman in politics. Once content with being a member of Mexico’s influential, elite upper-class, she decides instead to be like her hero and fight against evil no matter the cost. Her sights are set on the cartels that terrorize people and breed ruthless monsters like Thrace. She fights against expectations of female roles as she graduates from Mexico’s Heroic Military Academy and becomes an officer in the newly formed Anti-Cartel Task Force. Not allowing anyone or anything to hold her back for being a woman, she takes on the ruthless cartels in their own backyards and proves herself capable, becoming called by the people, “The Cartel Crusher”. While investigating cartel child sex-slave trafficking, she comes face-to-face with the reality that her own mother’s family is the more significant secret power behind the cartels. As she turns her attention to Mexico’s most powerful Santiago cartel, a rising power in the secret society orders her death. As the remaining cartels unite to take her down, will she be able to trust her relationship with the son of one of the South American rival crime bosses? Will he help her, as promised, or betray her? She needs to dig deeper than ever before to withstand the combined onslaught. Will Santiago prevail yet again, or will Marnia survive the mass assassination? The future of her hero’s family depends on her more than she yet knows.
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The Last Enemy
The Last Enemy, Book 3
Published: July 2019
Danielle Edwards and Marnia Gonzalez have one huge thing in common. They both adored, loved, and looked up to Commander Jacob Edwards. Although Jacob is Danielle’s real father and not Marnia’s she still looks to Jacob as a father figure. Danielle was raised by the Hero of Cozumel and Marnia had her life saved by him. He has deeply impressed both of these young women with a high moral compass and a passion to do what is right no matter the cost. Now, after three years of believing he is dead Marnia has found proof of his being alive. Not only Jacob, but his wife, and mother somehow survived the tragic plane crash over the pacific ocean three years earlier. In book three, The Last Enemy, these two incredible women will join forces and along with the help of family, friends, and one of the most formidable Seal Team commanders alive embark on a quest to rescue The Hero of Cozumel.
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About the Author

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Dan Hendrickson was born in Sheridan Wyoming near the rustic Big Horn mountain range in 1962 to Carl and Helen Hendrickson. Dan went to school in the Sheridan School District graduating from Sheridan High School in 1981. He spent his athletic time participating in boxing, martial arts, wrestling and a little track. His father Carl owned a small eight lane bowling alley that he ran until Dan was 12 years old. After losing the business to the bank he was forced to go back to school and finish his masters in English. Dan picked up on his father’s love of the written word and enrolled in Casper Community College in 1982 majoring in journalism. Although he found that he had an aptitude for investigative reporting he decided that his desires lied in other areas. He went on to do much volunteer Christian ministry work throughout the United States most of his adult life and continues to pursue those endeavors to this day. During that time he gained another degree in Practical Theology and throughout his many ministry assignments work several secular jobs. Most notable were his auto detailing endeavors. He and his wife Cheryl have owned three different detailing businesses throughout the country the last of which they still run to this day. Recently he has returned to his passion of telling stories and has several books in the process of being published.
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Detective Madison Knight Series Tour

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 Mystery Detective, Police Procedural, Crime, Suspense
Date Published: Between 2011-2019
Publisher: Hibbert & Stiles Publishing Inc.
Murder. Investigation. The pursuit of justice. Do you love trying to figure out whodunit? How about investigating alongside police detectives from the crime scene to the forensics lab and everywhere in between? Do you love a strong female lead? Then I invite you to meet Detective Madison Knight as she solves murders with her male partner, utilizing good old-fashioned investigative work aided by modern technology.
This is the perfect book series for fans of James Patterson, Michael Connelly, and JD Robb to name a few. This series is also bound to entertain those who enjoy Law & Order, CSI, Blue Bloods, Rizzoli & Isles, Women’s Murder Club, and Hawaii Five-O.
Read in any order or follow the series from the beginning: Ties That Bind, Justified, Sacrifice, Found Innocent, Just Cause, Deadly Impulse, In the Line of Duty, Power Struggle, Shades of Justice, Life Sentence (Bonus Prequel).
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Book Overview:

The hunt for a serial killer begins…

Detective Madison Knight concluded the case of a strangled woman an isolated incident. But when another woman’s body is found in a park killed with the same brand of neckties, she realizes they’re dealing with something more serious.

Despite mounting pressure from the sergeant and the chief to close the case even if it means putting an innocent man behind bars, and a partner who is more interested in saving his marriage than stopping a potential serial killer, Madison may have to go it alone if the murderer is going to be stopped.

 

Available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

For more retailer links visit: https://carolynarnold.net/ties-that-bind.

 

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A Strong Female Detective Struggles with Her Past

“Detective Madison Knight…a seriously tough cookie but rightfully so. Madison had been through a lot in her life…”

–Nanette’s Book Whore-ish Obsessions

Our experiences shape who are and also have the ability to haunt us. For Detective Madison Knight, she faced a lot on the job most people would never want to see, let alone handle. 

Her adult life has been devoted to finding justice for murder victims at the cost of all else. She’s visited countless crime scenes, sacrificing a social life to doggedly pursue killers. She’s stood up to her superiors at the risk of losing her job to ensure that the right man was placed behind bars. But her stubborn nature isn’t without its downside. 

She couldn’t let go of that one cold case that haunted her. It taunted her to find closure, but that reward came at the highest price. At least, it almost did.

Captured by the Russian mafia, she was saying her final good-byes in her mind, thinking about her loved ones, but also making promises to herself if she got out alive. Thankfully, she was freed from the chains, but she now suffers an emotional bondage.

Debilitating flashbacks continue to haunt her on an almost daily basis, but she still has a job to do—and promises to keep to herself. Will she put able to push through and find focus so she that can find justice for the victims? You can find out from reading Deadly Impulse.

–Carolyn Arnold

Author of Deadly Impulse (Detective Madison Knight series)

Enjoy this excerpt taken from Chapter 7 of Deadly Impulse:

“The last time you were here we talked about these events you continue to experience,” Dr. Connor said.

Dr. Connor called flashbacks and nightmares events as opposed to episodes because she found the terminology friendlier.

“Have you experienced any more since your last visit?” Dr. Connor’s pen was poised over her notepad.

Madison’s natural inclination was to refuse acknowledging what had happened earlier in the day, how the brief recollection had hit her out of nowhere, how it had affected her viscerally. Maybe it was brought on by the fact that she was coming here this afternoon. She remained hesitant about speaking her feelings out loud, even to Dr. Connor. She might not be a stranger anymore, but she was another individual. And verbalizing emotions made them real. They were easier to ignore when they remained unsaid.

“I sense that you did have an event.”

“I did,” Madison said.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I have a choice?” She attempted to smile but wasn’t sure it showed.

“You always have a choice, Madison. But I assume you continue coming here for a reason.”

And they both were aware of what that reason was: being held hostage by members of the Russian Mafia, having a revolver pressed to her temple, and almost being raped three months ago. The whole thing had changed her perceptions of life, of herself, and of her limitations. And it brought up a lot of unresolved anger.

Before all this, she had been strong-willed, determined, and unstoppable. Now, she was at the mercy of flashbacks that would catapult her back in time at any given moment. And they were so clear they encompassed all five senses. She heard the Russians’ voices. She felt the pressure of the gun’s barrel against her head. She smelled and tasted her own blood. 

“Madison?”

She slowly lifted her eyes to meet the doctor’s. “I had a brief event this afternoon.” She paused to build her strength. “It went back to when Anatolli had the revolver to my head.”

“Ah, yes, Russian roulette?” she confirmed.

“Yes, without the Russian part.” Her saliva thickened to paste.

“We simply call it roulette when we play. The Russian part would be redundant.” Sergey paces the room. She catches the flicker in his eyes. “Anatolli’s going to pull the trigger. If you live, we will take our time with you. If you die…” He shrugs. “Well, I suppose, game over.” 

Both men laugh.

The chills came over her in a flash. She rubbed her arms, the hairs standing on end.

Dr. Connor scribbled something in her notebook. “And how did this make you feel?”

“Cold.”

“Did you just have another event?”

Madison shook her head.

Dr. Connor angled her head to the left. “This only works if you’re honest with me.”

The doctor held the eye contact. Madison looked away first.

“Yes,” she admitted.

“Share with me.”

Madison slid her hands up and down her arms vigorously as she explained. The movement sounded like two sheets of sandpaper rubbing together. “This afternoon, it was, ‘On the count of three, pull the trigger.’” Her heart palpitated.

You’ve reached the end of the excerpt, but Deadly Impulse is available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover from popular retailers.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

Book Overview:

Looks aren’t the only things that can be deceiving…

 

When a sixty-eight-year-old woman is found dead outside the hospital in a wheelchair with an anti-abortion sign strapped to its back, Detective Madison Knight expects it to be an open-and-shut case. On the surface, there are no signs of foul play, but the deeper she digs, the more convoluted the homicide becomes. And when two more bodies appear, including those of a girl just barely old enough to drink and a homeless man, the direct links between the three murders are anything but simple.

 

Without a consistent MO, Madison doesn’t buy that a serial killer is on the loose, despite the conviction with which her ex-fiancé and fellow detective try to convince their superior. But Madison already has enough to juggle without having to defend her reputation. Debilitating flashbacks of being held hostage by the Russian Mafia mere months before haunt her on an almost daily basis, and the promises she made to herself while in captivity are becoming more and more difficult to keep. Learning to trust is hard enough without constant reminders of what destruction—fatal or otherwise—trusting the wrong person can cause.

 

Now, as both personal and professional friction within the department mounts, she and her partner, Terry, must figure out what motivation could span generations to cause someone to murder these people. But catching this killer is like grasping at straws, and grabbing the wrong one could mean losing not only her pride but also her boyfriend, her credibility, and her faith in humanity…

 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Goodreads

About the Author

CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international bestselling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has four continuing fiction series—Detective Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher FBI, McKinley Mysteries, and Matthew Connor Adventures—and has written nearly thirty books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from cozy to hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures.
Both her female detective and FBI profiler series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and entertaining, leading her to adopt the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.
Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.
She currently lives in London, Ontario, with her husband and beagle and is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime.
 
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LEOPARD’S DAUGHTER – Release Blitz

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Leopard's Daughter
Series: Were-Leopard Series Book 1
Genre: Crime, Fantasy
Publisher: Azure Spider Publications
Publication Date: September 15, 2018
Spine-tingling were-leopard fun
Leopard’s Daughter is a markedly original crime novel with elements of the occult. In a world where vampires and werewolves exist, but are extremely rare, Bobby Sandar, his wife, Olivia, and their two oldest children are were-leopards. Bobby and Olivia are Secret Service agents. Following Bobby’s death, Olivia feels the need for a fresh start. She takes a job as a detective in the sheriff’s department of a rural western county. Olivia’s first assignment is to go undercover as an exotic dancer in a nightclub run by gangsters. She has to battle mobbed-up criminals, a terrorist leader who is aware of Olivia’s history and abilities, and human traffickers to save her family and herself.

Excerpt

“That’ll just give them one more hostage,” Kardmelli protested.
“I can be very persuasive,” Olivia said with a feral grin.
Kardmelli stepped back and shivered. The hairs on his arms and legs stood straight up. The pulse on his neck was beating a mile a minute. Nickford was standing hunched over with his eyes wide open and his lower jaw hanging down.
I scared the crap out of both of them, Olivia thought. Nickford looks as if he’s about to pee his pants.
Kardmelli started to speak, but then had to clear his throat. “We’ll do whatever you want,” he said.
“You are ready to do what we asked?” an accented voice asked when Kardmelli buzzed the galley with the intercom.
“We have a woman who wants to speak with you.”
“You know what we want. We will not talk to anyone else, especially a woman!”
“Please just let her in to talk to you. She won’t be armed. What can another five minutes matter?”
There was a brief pause, and the voice said, “She wants to come in here? We will allow that, but five minutes is all she will get until time starts again.”
“You must assure me you’ll allow her to leave if you cannot come to an agreement,” Kardmelli said in mild attempt to remove suspicion of a trap.
“Of course, of course,” the voice said. Olivia knew he was lying. He wouldn’t want to pass up the opportunity to get one more hostage.
***
Olivia entered the galley, now very crowded with eight people in it. The door was slammed shut behind her by a man holding a gun. The captain was lying on the floor, clearly dead, with his throat slashed. So much for their promise to release him. Two of the attendants were crying, being watched over by a second man, standing to the side, wielding a knife. The third attendant, more defiant, was being held by a third terrorist who had one arm wrapped around her body and a knife to her neck. He relaxed slightly when he saw how small the new hostage was.
Olivia quickly assessed the situation, and decided she could probably handle it without changing and all the crap that would ensue if a leopard were to suddenly appear, apparently out of nowhere. She took two steps toward the man holding the attendant. He looked her over. An evil grin came to his face.
Moving so fast she was a blur, Olivia grasped the arm holding the knife, twisting it and breaking the wrist, grabbed the knife as it fell, and plunged it into the man’s heart. She shoved the body toward the man with the gun, and leaped toward the third man, who was too stunned to react immediately. She took hold of his head using both hands and twisted violently, snapping his spinal column. She caught his knife before it hit the floor and threw it at the terrorist with the gun, now entangled with his dead companion.
He ducked away from the flying knife. That gave Olivia time to move forward, grab his gun, and yank it out of his hand, dislocating his elbow in the process. He screamed in pain. Before he could react in any other way, she broke both of his clavicles with a two-handed karate chop, keeping him alive for questioning, but rendering him helpless.
“Holy Mary Mother of God,” one of the attendants murmured. Her eyes were opened wide. Her pupils were dilated. She was taking deep breaths and her hands were shaking. Beads of sweat were on her face, even though the room was cool. “Who are you?” she croaked.
“Secret Service,” Olivia replied as she opened the galley door.

Book Tour Schedule

November 28 – December 11, 2018
Visit each tour stop daily and discover more features, excerpts, reviews, interviews, fun facts and more! To check the latest tour schedule, visit the Leopard’s Daughter Book Page at Book Unleashed.
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About Stephen J. Tillman

Stephen J. Tillman

Stephen Tillman is an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at Wilkes University, where he taught for forty-two years, and holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Brown University. As most scholars of mathematics, Stephen has always dreamed of writing a novel. Although he started writing fiction relatively late in life, he is still younger than the folk artist Grandma Moses when she began her artistic career. Stephen is an avid reader of mysteries and science fiction and has published short stories in both genres.
Social media links: Facebook

Giveaway

WIN FREE COPY OF LEOPARD’S DAUGHTER
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Prizes up for grabs:
Free Copy of Leopard’s Daughter
Contest runs from November 16 – December 11, 2018.

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One for the Price of Two – Blitz

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Fiction, Thriller, Crime
Date Published: March 15, 2018
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He’s a special forces operator, a trained assassin. He marries into an organized crime family. Not an ordinary crime family, but one with a tradition and specialty in murder for hire.

 

About the Author

Howard Weiner is a recent addition to the literary genre of fiction. Writing mysteries, thrillers, crimes—with a touch of romance—an approach described by one reader as “one bubble off.”
Many authors sharing the genre have characters whose fortune is determined by others. They literally have dodged the bullet that otherwise would have killed them. Weiner’s characters make their own fortune—good or bad—and they live with the results.
Weiner’s own experiences are blessed with no small number of noteworthy characters and events. He brings these slightly off-kilter individuals to life, complete with their own stories and dramas. Like the child prodigy in his first novel, “It Is Las Vegas After All”, who comes to the starting edge of adulthood and then loses the approval of his doting parents, the sponsorship of one of America’s great institutions of higher education, and gains the enmity of his girlfriend’s father—an international arms dealer—to become a home-grown terrorist operating on U.S. soil.
A survivor of rich, nuanced bureaucracies in the public and private sector, Weiner writes about characters whose career choices and decisions are morally questionable. A student of personal behavior in complex circumstances, Weiner brings these often cringe-worthy characters to life. Some are amoral, others immoral in a narrow slice of their lives, yet they otherwise look and act like people we all know from work or even childhood. Like one of the female leads in his novel, “Serendipity Opportunity”, an out-of-the-box thinker who flunks most of life’s basic relationship tests, yet she is someone you never want pursuing you in the cause of justice. There’s a former foreign security official who uses his protected status as a witness for federal prosecutors to provide cover for his own mayhem and murder in Weiner’s third novel, “Bad Money”.
Many of Weiner’s stories are born out of real life events: The mix-up in luggage claim at the airport in, “Bad Money”, the chronic high school slacker in “Serendipity Opportunity” whose one stroke of good fortune creates his opportunity to perpetrate a complex series of frauds, or the brilliant student in “It Is Las Vegas After All” who uses his prodigious talents toward an evil end.
As a former federal official, Weiner can neither confirm nor deny having the highest security clearances in classified security programs. Yet, his knowledge of the dark web, criminal organizations, and security organizations takes stories from the popular press to the next level.
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Fade Out & Dead Air – Blitz

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Fade Out
Mystery / Crime
Date Published: Fade Out: March 2016
Publisher: Short on Time Books (www.ShortOnTimeBooks.com)
 
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Young radio reporter Lisa Powers has a lot to learn, but in her zeal to cover the big city crime beat, finds herself facing down criminals in addition to reporting on them.
From the dark streets of the metro Phoenix area to the peaceful red rocks of Sedona, Lisa dodges bullets investigating the cold case of a kidnapped bank executive found murdered, and discovers horrors she never imagined while tracking down a missing father.
She’s first on the scene of a massive fire that destroys the opulent mansion of a reclusive pharmaceutical heir, but her career is jeopardized when the story gets way too hot.

Dead Air
Mystery / Crime
Date Published: Dead Air: March 2017
Publisher: Short on Time Books (www.ShortOnTimeBooks.com)
 
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Young radio reporter Lisa Powers follows her hunches to help solve criminal cases, but at the risk of denying her own emotional health.
She comes face to face with a suspected cop shooter, but refuses to admit how the harrowing experience continues to haunt her.
She’s resolute in the search for a violent rapist in a 15-year-old cold case, unwavering in her mission to bring closure to the tormented young woman who was sexually abused when she was four.
Lisa introduces “L.N. Pane, P. I,” the lead podcast character in a 1940s film noir saga of a gritty female gumshoe gunning to finger someone trying to bump off a gent.
Excerpt
Chapter 1
MONDAY, APRIL 8
“ … with mostly sunny skies and an expected high of about 87 today. More news from KWLF News Radio right after this.”
It’s still dark outside KWLF-FM, a small radio station in Chandler, Arizona, and I’m the only one at work at the ridiculous hour of 4:45 a.m. Most 20-somethings I know would’ve been out partying last night and would be sleeping in or at least going to work at the normal time of 8 or 9. I’m sitting here in this tiny anchor booth, all by myself, these headsets smashing my long hair, talking into a mic, probably to no one. I mean, who is up listening to the radio except for insomniacs and maybe the few surviving farmers in this mostly urban area?
Time for a commercial. I touch a button and music starts, followed by a male announcer’s voice hawking cars for a used auto lot.
I gingerly push an antiquated square audio cart into the machine. One of these days we’ll get real digital equipment. Of course, I think that every time I handle a piece of this older KWLF equipment, afraid it will crumble in my hand and we’ll go off the air and…
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Grant Pope, our news director, enter from the back of the station. He takes off his hat and sticks it on a coatrack near the door. I wave, he waves back, but he looks tired as he heads to his desk. He’s a short, thin man, with graying hair and a lot of lines on his face. These days his step isn’t as springy as it used to be, and is he actually having trouble sitting down onto his chair?
He’s been an institution here for more than 20 years, and one who has a “nose for news.” I hear he came up through the ranks in the early days of radio as a reporter, anchor and then news director. He still writes frequent news stories, but several of my co-workers and I wonder when he’s going to retire. He looks up, but I pretend I wasn’t staring at him.
Another 30 seconds. I thumb through the news stories, change the order. The music and announcer’s voice ends, and I turn my attention back to the microphone.
“This is KWLF news. I’m Lisa Powers, filling in for Pat Henderson. In this exclusive KWLF story, an East Valley woman says her father is missing, and she suspects foul play,” I read from my script. “Joan Rogers-Hartley says her dad, 67-year-old Mark Rogers, took off early Sunday morning to drive to Northern Arizona for a bird watching trip—but never arrived. According to her, she thinks something is very wrong.”
I tap a red button on the cart machine marked ROGERS-HARTLEY SOT, which starts Joan’s voice.
“He was supposed to meet some friends of his in Clarkdale, where they were going to look for northern cardinals and red-winged hawks for a couple of days,” Hartley says, sniffling. “But they said he never made it.”
I continue. “Rogers-Hartley says Chandler police are quote ‘dragging their feet,’ unquote. KWLF Radio will follow this story and bring updates throughout the day. Anyone with any knowledge of the whereabouts of Mark Rogers is asked to call police.
“In other local news, the Chandler City Council meets in study session tonight to discuss rezoning of a large parcel of land initially slated for commercial development to be changed to residential. Grant Pope has details.”
I hit a button and Grant’s voice is heard. I lean back and listen.
Grant opens the door to the booth and pokes his head in.
“Was that missing man story on the wire?”
Uh-oh, I knew he’d ask that.
“Nope, the daughter called last night while I was here working on another story.” I could tell by Grant’s frown he wasn’t pleased. “I know, I know, we don’t usually do missing person stories until the police are called in, but that woman was really spooked. She seriously thinks he’s in trouble. And we did get the exclusive…”
“All right, stay on it.”
Yes! “Of course, I’ll follow up as soon as Pat gets here. He is going to be in today, right?”
“As far as I—”
I hold up a finger to indicate silence, as the tagline “Grant Pope for KWLF Radio” is heard. As Grant slips out the door, I turn back to the mic and continue to read more news.
About the Author

Laurie Fagen is a long-time “writer by habit” who has written for radio and television news; corporate video, films and documentaries; and magazines and newspapers.
An honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine’s Mysterious Photograph short story contest and a life-long love of reading whodunits led to three published short stories in Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter anthologies. She’s published two crime fiction mystery novels, “Fade Out” and “Dead Air,” and has book #3, “Bleeder,” in her “Behind the Mic” mysteries out in Spring 2018, along with a “Tawnee Mountain Mysteries” multi-author series novella called “Deadly Misfire,” also due in Spring 2018.
Former publisher of a Chandler, AZ community newspaper with her late husband, Geoff Hancock, she is also a jazz singer and artist.
A member of Sisters in Crime (SinC), Fagen lives in the Phoenix metro area.
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