Farther Down Kingsley Drive
Farther down Kingsley Drive a massive orange fireball suddenly lit the sky. Nick and Caroline heard the first narrow crack of the explosion, then the broader dull echoes of the blast which bounced between buildings on the narrow street. Farther down Kingsley Drive, a...
Shakey’s Pizza On Sunset
Shakey’s Pizza on Sunset was short on critical acclaim but you couldn’t help but admire its longevity. Fifty years and counting. Nick and Caroline were in Shakey’s parking lot. “He’ll have another phone with him to track his devices,” said Nick. “I don’t think we...
Never On Kingsley Drive
Never on Kingsley Drive had such intrigue unfurled so quietly. It was as if a trance had captured the street. Caroline left the apartment building pulling what Nick recognized as the Cypriot detective’s luggage. A backpack was slung over her left shoulder. She...
Later On Kingsley Drive
Later on Kingsley Drive, a callous gust swept away the illicit pizza aromas billowing out of Shakey’s. They swirled up through a crack in the sky. The detective from Cyprus and the young woman Nick figured was the man’s daughter passed through the big front door of...
The Silver Hyundai
The silver Hyundai pulled in off Sunset. It groaned with the unmistakable anonymity of a rental car and wedged into a parking spot across from the old apartment house. Nick watched a small man with improbably long arms retrieve his luggage from the trunk. He moved...
The Shadows On Kingsley Drive
The shadows on Kingsley Drive should have fallen softly and gathered slowly. But they did not fall softly and spread so suddenly Nick shuddered. It was as if an hour had passed in a minute. If he had fallen asleep it couldn’t have been for long. The shadows on...
Tacos Guelaguetza on Melrose
Tacos Guelaguetza on Melrose should be enshrined. It reinforced Nick’s love of simple food. He ate slowly and watched the front of the apartment house on Kingsley Drive. Then it occurred to him the Cypriot detective could be dropped off by an Uber driver. This hadn’t...
Waiting For The Cypriot
Waiting for the Cypriot detective to show up to visit his daughter, Nick considered the difficulties and cataloged the challenges. He had a clear view of the front door of the apartment building on Kingsley Drive which the man would presumably enter. But he couldn’t...
The Kingsley Drive Stakeout
The Kingsley Drive stakeout was about to unfold. He stopped at Tacos Guelaguetza on Melrose for a bag of chicken tacos to go. Then Nick cut down to Sunset and drove east to Kingsley. He wasn’t looking forward to this. Then again, he had never been on a stakeout. ...
Kingsley Drive
Kingsley Drive never made the front page. It wasn’t that kind of street. Even the Armenians who had moved in to the neighborhood didn’t pay it much mind. Nick found her apartment just off Sunset. It overlooked the drowsy street from the ground floor of a small but...
East of the Hollywood Freeway
East of the Hollywood Freeway on Melrose Avenue, Nick weighed the pros and cons of catching up with the detective from Cyprus. If this could unravel and expose the illegal duplicities of a big oil company, that’s the only way it might possibly prove worthwhile....
Off Bel Air Road
Off Bel Air Road Nick holed up in cramped quarters over his uncle’s garage. He was ready to get back on the trail of the Cypriot private detective. Off Bel Air Road, the scent of the Eucalyptus after the rain was just as good as he remembered.
Outside Tucumcari, New Mexico
Outside Tucumcari, New Mexico, Dorothy had an early dinner at the Mexican restaurant she’d read about. It wasn’t what she had in mind because they were out of hatch chiles. She missed the Santa Monica Mountains and the camaraderie. Outside Tucumcari, New Mexico,...
Breakfast In Burbank
After breakfast in Burbank, Sarah drove to the bank. It was one of those branches with just one teller perched behind smudged panes of bulletproof glass. There were no managers, assistant managers or loan officers, nobody to help customers except an overworked and...
Up The Road From Harvey’s, Lake Tahoe
Up the road from Harvey’s, Lake Tahoe, Caroline hung a sharp left at the cluster of mailboxes. After that, when the narrow road curved, she took the fork down the long hill. It was so familiar she played the game of anticipating every dip, bump and rough spot. Just...
Outside Angel Fire, New Mexico
Outside Angel Fire, New Mexico, the savvy old ranchers heard the damnedest thing, those seven crescendos all firing off at once. To their untrained ears the blasts struck notes of perfect harmony. Cecile and Nick were miles away, sharing a pizza on the patio at the...
Her Copy Of The Land Of Little Rain
Her copy of The Land Of Little Rain sat on the kitchen table and escaped the worst of the wine spill. The party the night before didn’t run late. It just ran steady. When they began to discuss Felton, Caroline unfolded the map of the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park...
The Wreck On Hilgard Avenue
The wreck on Hilgard Avenue was just down from the church. Given her druthers, Cecile would have moved back into her bungalow at the Hotel Bel-Air. But to return to the scene of the crime, a crime she had not committed, wasn’t in the cards. She was no longer on the...
