The arrest of Sam Johnstone’s mentor Press Daniels had Sam feeling restless, irritable, and discontented. He pouted and slouched around the house until he sullenly looked in the refrigerator and found only a jar of jalapeños, a stick of butter, a pitcher of sweet tea, and a rotting onion. Despite knowing he was only one … Read more
“Brock, are you there? I can’t see you!” There was screaming in the background of the call, and Yara’s face was stricken with terror. She frantically searched for Brock’s face, the screen crackling a little indicating the signal was bad. “Yes, we’re here. What the hell is going on, Yara? Are you on the plane?” … Read more
DARKNESS. Suffering. Prison. Of the mind. His soul in chains. His body in solitary confinement. Nothing but darkness. All life is suffering, Reece remembered. How long have I been in here? Days? Weeks? Certainly not a month. It was hard to tell when you were living in darkness. But he wasn’t living in silence. The … Read more
The hit, deep inside the Russian client state of Belarus, had required a tremendous amount of planning in a very short period of time. The target would be moving soon. Once the window had closed, no one knew when or where it would open again. The final go/no-go call was left to the team leader, … Read more
THE NYPD BOAT lurched and I almost slipped on the deck. The waves made a monotonous slapping sound against the boat’s hull, like an uneven drumbeat, as we cut through the choppy water. I sucked in a deep breath and could practically taste the Hudson River. The toxic odors of rotting fish and garbage didn’t … Read more
From then on whenever he heard the song he thought of the death of Munson. It was the Jackson 5 after all who put Ray Carney back in the game following four years on the straight and narrow. The straight and narrow—it described a philosophy and a territory, a neighborhood with borders and local customs. … Read more
To Live Is… “A thousand years in the past, a thousand years in the future—no matter where you live or how rich or poor you are—the four phases of a woman’s life are the same,” Respectful Lady says. “You are a little girl, so you are still in milk days. When you turn fifteen, you … Read more
1900, Travancore, South India She is twelve years old, and she will be married in the morning. Mother and daughter lie on the mat, their wet cheeks glued together. “The saddest day of a girl’s life is the day of her wedding,” her mother says. “After that, God willing, it gets better.” Soon she hears … Read more
We just needed a place to get away from it all. That was the reason why I decided to book a night’s stay at the converted barn house in the Kent Downs, a part of England designated as an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a part of the country that plenty of other people … Read more
Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. ‘Police, fire or ambulance?’ ‘Hi, yes, I don’t know. I’m not sure really. I don’t know who I need. There’s no fire, I mean. Obviously there’s no fire because of the rain.’ ‘Can you tell me why you’ve called emergency services today, sir? ‘There was an accident, I mean… a pedestrian was hit. … Read more