Dewey froze, fear rising in his gut. It was the way the man talked. He did not sound the least bit nervous. Who the hell had sent him?

  “Hey man,” Dewey said. “I got a pound of weed in the kitchen. It’s all yours. Take it. Just let me be.”

  “Get up,” the man repeated. This time, his voice took on an edge that Dewey really didn’t like. Best to do what the man says.

  “I’m going to do you a big favor, Dewey,” the man told him.

  Oh, shit, Dewey thought. How did he know his name? “What’s that?” he asked in a shaky voice.

  “I’m going to let you relieve yourself first.”

  What the hell did that mean? Dewey rose slowly, unable to take his eyes off the man’s gun. He didn’t recognize the make or model, but it was big and the barrel was long—made even longer by whatever was screwed to the end of it. He stared, not quite comprehending.

  “Yes,” the man said calmly. “That’s a silencer. Now move.”

  Never a quick thinker, Dewey had trouble processing what was happening. He thought maybe he had overdone it the night before. That switching out the beer for a bottle of Jack had been a mistake, and maybe he’d taken a little too much rocket fuel.

  “Move,” the man reminded Dewey. “I don’t have all day.”

  Keeping his eyes on the gun, Dewey backed slowly toward the bathroom, his hands held high in the air.

  “Put your hands down, you dumb shit,” the man said. “I said go take a piss. I didn’t say you were starring in a cops-and-robbers movie.”

  “I don’t know you,” Dewey said. He could hear the whine in his voice, and he was ashamed. He didn’t know who this fucker was, but the man’s size enraged him. Who was he to order him around? Dewey had a good hundred and fifty pounds on him.

  On the other hand, the man had a gun.

  Dewey’s mind raced through the possibilities. Maybe he would claim to be a minister. Or… or… Dewey desperately searched for something, anything, to save him. A veteran. Yes, he’d say he’d been in Iraq. The man looked like ex-military. He could appeal to the brotherhood.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” Dewey began. “You don’t know me. You don’t…”

  “Trust me. I know you,” the man interrupted. “I first met you when I was six years old, and you held a lit cigarette to my face until my mother agreed to suck your dick. In front of all four of us kids. I met you again when I was ten and you raped my little sister when my mother was at work, then tried to say it was because of the crack. When I was fourteen, there you were again, grinning as my mother introduced you. But you beat her up so badly a month later I had to throw myself in front of a cab and beg the driver to help me get her to the hospital in time. Then I met you for the last time when I was seventeen, and you came into my house as if you were the man of the hour, slapping my mother with one hand, grabbing my sisters with the other, and trying to kick me out onto the street. That didn’t end too well for you, did it? But at least I got a career out of it. So, yes, I do know you. And no matter how different you may look on the outside, you’re always the same on the inside. Now get the fuck into the bathroom and take a piss, or I’ll make this even harder on you than it needs to be.”

  When the man smiled, Dewey knew it was all over for him. “This is about Lana, isn’t it?” he guessed. “Listen, man, she’s not worth it.” Dewey knew he sounded desperate, but he was past caring. “She’s one step away from being a whore, and a bad one at that. Look at her. She’s pushing thirty-five, and she’s got a mouth on her. Trust me, she’s not worth the ammunition.” He gave the guy a man-to-man look, confident he would understand.

  “I tried to give you some dignity,” the man said, shaking his head. “Let the record reflect that I tried.”

  The last thing Dewey saw was the look in the man’s eyes. The last thing Dewey heard was a pop like a champagne cork on New Year’s Eve. The last thing he felt was a pain in his gut. The last thing he knew was darkness. Dewey went down hard, arms splayed to each side, a bullet hole no bigger than a pencil eraser marking a spot in the center of his forehead.

  Quinton Shakespeare shook his head. Bullies always thought he’d be on their side. Bullies never saw it coming when it was their turn to die. Bullies always begged in the end.

  He stood, staring down at the mountain of man-blubber that stunk of sweat and urine. In a moment, Quinton would plant dime bags of shabu and LBJ around the house. He’d scatter weed all over the kitchen and overturn a few chairs, then leave the front door open a crack to make sure the body was discovered soon. But for now, he just wanted to look. He wanted to make sure that the monster who had crawled out of his dreams at age six and haunted him ever since was dead. He needed to know that he’d never get up again.

  Back to TOC

  Son of a mechanic and a librarian, GARY PHILLIPS has been a community organizer, a labor union rep, and delivered dog cages. He’s published various novels, comics, novellas, short stories, and edited or co-edited several anthologies including the Anthony-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir. Violent Spring his debut mystery nearly thirty years ago was named in 2020 one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. Phillips was a writer/co-producer for the final season of the Hulu streaming show Snowfall, about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central where he grew up.

  BOOKS BY GARY PHILLIPS

  Novels

  One-Shot Harry

  Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem

  The Be-Bop Barbarians (graphic novel illustrated by Dale Berry)

  Warlord of Willow Ridge

  Treacherous: Ruffians, Grifters and Killers

  Anthologies as Editor

  South Central Noir

  The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir

  Orange County Noir

  Scoundrels: Tales of Greed, Murder and Financial Crimes

  Anthologies as Co-Editor

  Jukes & Tonks: Crime Fiction Inspired by

  Music in the Dark and Suspect Choices

  with Michael Bracken

  The Cocaine Chronicles

  with Jervery Tervalon

  Black Pulp

  with Morgan Minor and Tommy Hancock

  Back to TOC

  ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

  An active member of MWA, Sisters in Crime, and ITW, MYSTI BERRY serves on the board of her local Sisters in Crime chapter (NorCal). Her short stories have been published in AHMM, EQMM, and several other anthologies. She is the editor and publisher of the Low Down Dirty Vote series, three volumes of short stories created to raise money for voting rights work. In fact, Faye Snowden’s story “One Bullet. One Vote.” from Volume 2 was accepted into Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021. Mysti is working on a historical crime fiction novel set during a labor riot in 1938 in Hilo, Hawaii, where her mother was born. She lives in San Francisco with artist/writer Dale Berry and a wee black rescue cat.

  Twitter: @MystiBerry.

  Instagram: mysti.berry.

  JEFF CARROLL is a writer, comic book creator and filmmaker. He is pioneering what he calls Hip Hop horror, Sci/fi, and fantasy. His stories always have lots of action and a social edge. He has written and produced 6 films, several comic books and over 15 science fiction and nonfiction books. His short stories have appeared in The Black Science Fiction Society’s anthology and their magazine as well as other anthologies. Jeff produces The Monster Panel, a traveling sci-fi panel which features writers of color in a lively discussion of comic books, movies and Black people. His comic book series Horror Streetz features a variety of black horror stories. He has written in novel, film and comic books.

  Twitter: @coachyojeff.

  Facebook.com/CoachYoJeff.

  Hip Hop Comix N Flix: hhcnf.blogspot.com.

  YouTube: youtube.com/ @RBGPromotions.

  EZRA CLAYTAN DANIELS is a mixed-race (black/white) American multidisciplinary artist and creator of the award-winning graphic novels, Upgrade Soul and BTTM FDRS. Ezra’s work has been featured on the Criterion Channel, at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum. Ezra currently resides in Los Angeles, where he writes for film and television, including Doom Patrol, for HBO Max.

  Instagram: ezracdaniels.

  JOHN M. FLOYD’s work has appeared in more than 350 different publications, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, and four editions of Otto Penzler’s best-mysteries-of-the-year anthologies. A former Air Force captain and IBM systems engineer, John is an Edgar finalist, a Shamus Award winner, a five-time Derringer Award winner, a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and the author of nine books. He is also the 2018 recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award for lifetime achievement in short mystery fiction. John and his wife Carolyn live in Mississippi.

  JohnMFloyd.com.

  Facebook.com/john.m.floyd2.

  JIM FUSILLI is the author of nine novels including The Mayor of Polk Street and its predecessor Narrows Gate that Mystery Scene magazine said “must be ranked among the half-dozen most memorable novels about the Mob.” Jim’s short stories that have appeared in many magazines and anthologies. His “Chellini’s Solution” appeared in an edition of the Best American Mystery Stories and his “Digby, Attorney at Law” was nominated for the Edgar and Macavity awards. The former Rock & Pop Critic of The Wall Street Journal and occasional contributor to National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” Jim is the author of “Pet Sounds,” his tribute to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys’ classic album. It was translated for a Japanese language edition by Haruki Murakami. For more, see JimFusilli.com.

  Cultural critic and short story writer MICHAEL A. GONZALES is a Harlem native. Born five blocks from the Apollo, his literary essays have appeared in The Village Voice, The Paris Review, Bitter Southerner, Catapult and CrimeReads. He has written about pop culture for Vibe, Longreads, Soulhead.com, Pitchfork, Maggot Brain, The Wire UK and The Source. Gonzales has published short fiction in Ellery Queen Mystery, The Book of Extraordinary Femme Fatale Stories edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Oxford American, Dead-End Jobs: A Hitman Anthology edited by Andy Rausch, Brown Sugar II edited by Carol Taylor and Bronx Biannual. Gonzales has been blessed to have seen James Brown in concert a few times. The last being in 2004 when The Godfather performed at Roseland in New York City with Lenny Kravitz and Slash.

  Twitter: @gonzomike.

  Instagram: bigmikeg151.

  GAR ANTHONY HAYWOOD is the Shamus and Anthony award-winning author of fourteen novels and dozens of short stories. His crime fiction includes the Aaron Gunner private eye series and Joe and Dottie Loudermilk mysteries. His short fiction has been included in the Best American Mystery and Suspense anthologies and Booklist has called him “a writer who has always belonged in the upper echelon of American crime fiction.” His novel In Things Unseen was shortlisted for the Next Generation Indie Awards and would best be described as a thriller for fans of non-traditional Christian fiction. Most recently, he co-edited with Gary Phillips the short story anthology Witnesses For the Dead.

  Twitter: @garhaywood.

  LISE MCCLENDON is the author of numerous novels, short stories, and articles, including the Bennett Sisters mysteries, Rory Tate thrillers, Dorie Lennox mysteries, and the Alix Thorssen mysteries. She wrote and directed the short film, The Hoodoo Artist, featured at the Telluride Indiefest. Lise has served on the national boards of directors for Mystery Writers of America and International Association of Crime Writers/North America. She serves on the faculty of the Jackson Hole Writers Conference and is co-founder of Thalia Press. She lives in the wilds of Montana when she’s not snowbirding in the California desert.

  LiseMcClendon.com.

  Facebook.com/LiseMcClendon.

  Twitter: @LiseMcClendon.

  Instagram: LiseMcClendon.

  BookBub.com/ authors/lise-mcclendon.

  Goodreads.com/author/show/641530.Lise_McClendon.

  LISA MORTON is a screenwriter, author of non-fiction books, and prose writer whose work was described by the American Library Association’s Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror as “consistently dark, unsettling, and frightening.” She is a six-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award®, the author of four novels and over 150 short stories, and a world-class Halloween and paranormal expert. Recent books include Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances and Haunted Tales: Classic Stories of Ghosts and the Supernatural (co-edited with Leslie S. Klinger); short story appearances include Best American Mystery Stories 2020, Speculative Los Angeles, and The Reinvented Detective. Lisa lives in Los Angeles and online at LisaMorton.com.

  Facebook.com/lisa.morton.165.

  Instagram: lisamortoninla.

  KATY MUNGER is a North Carolina-based writer who has published sixteen crime fiction novels to date, including the Hubbert & Lil, Casey Jones, and Dead Detective mystery series. Her work also appears in numerous short story anthologies. She has also been a book reviewer for the Washington Post and served as North Carolina’s 2016 Piedmont Laureate. Learn more at KatyMunger.com.

  Though he is mostly known to general audiences as the co-creator/co-writer of Spider-Man Noir for Marvel Comics (with David Hine), FABRICE SAPOLSKY is first and foremost a versatile creator. He released five creator owned graphic novels including fan favorites Intertwined and Lady-Bird through his inclusive imprint FairSquare Comics. Through his 25+ years in publishing, Fabrice served as Editor and packager for multiple companies in France, his home country, and the US including Albin Michel, Heavy Metal, Panini to Jungle Comics, but also DC Comics, Humanoids, Tapestry Productions and Ablaze Comics. Founded in 2019, FairSquare Comics develops, publishes and distributes original comic books and graphic novels, mostly from immigrants, minorities and under-represented creators of the world; an objective emphasized in our company’s mantra: “Comics from the rest of us.” In 2021, FairSquare Comics debuted Noir Is The New Black, its hit anthology featuring 16 noir stories by 40 Black creators. Recently, the label expanded its horizon with a flurry of new titles, from middle grade to slice of life. Fabrice Sapolsky lives in New York, where he writes, draws, edits, publishes, and sometimes sleeps.

  Instagram/Facebook: @fabricesapolsky.

  For FairSquare Comics: Facebook.com/ fairsquarecomics.

  Instagram: fairsquarecomics.

  Twitter: @fairsquarecmx.

  ROBERT WARD, born and raised in Baltimore. His novel Shedding Skin won the National Endowment of the Arts Award of five thousand dollars as one of the best first novels of 1968. His second novel, a feminist western called Cattle Annie and Little Britches was made into a film with Amanda Plummer, Diane Lane and Burt Lancaster. His book of New Journalism called Renegades was called “A must for fans of the new journalism” —Publisher’s Weekly. Pieces on Mitchum, Marvin, Larry Flynt, Reggie Jackson, and many others. His third novel Red Baker, won the Pen West Award as the best novel of 1986. His fifth novel Four Kinds of Rain was nominated for the Hammett Award for best thriller of the year. He was a writer producer for two years on the great show Hill Street Blues. He was the showrunner on Miami Vice for one year. Currently he’s writing a new thriller and two scripts.

  JAMES W. ZISKIN is the author of the Anthony, Barry, and Macavity Award-winning Ellie Stone Mysteries. The latest in that series, Turn to Stone, won the 2021 Barry Award for Best Paperback Original and the Macavity Award for Best Historical Mystery. Ziskin’s books and short stories have also been finalists for the Edgar, Agatha, Lefty, and Sue Grafton Memorial Awards. A linguist by training, he studied Romance languages and literature at the University of Pennsylvania. His thriller, Bombay Monsoon is set in 1975 India during the Emergency. For more information, go to JamesWZiskin.com.

  Back to TOC

  Here is a preview from Drums, Guns ’n’ Money, the third Lou Crasher thriller by Jonathan J. Brown.

  Click here for a complete catalog of titles available from Down & Out Books and its divisions and imprints.

  Chapter 1

  It wasn’t my first dead body.

  It was the first time I’d ever been the one to discover a corpse.

  Trix Rockland was a smart-mouthed, drop-dead-gorgeous singer, with raspy power Janis Joplin would have envied. Trix was also my friend, my good friend, and now she was facedown in a pile of cocaine. Every book, movie, and Italian opera said I should have backed out of her apartment and called the law. But, like my uncle Curtis used to say about me: I always march to my own drum.

  I didn’t like it. Trix wasn’t into blow. Even an amateur could tell there’d been a struggle. It looked like she went anything but quietly—Atta girl! I grasped a handful of her thick black locks and gently supported her chin with my other hand. Her nose was badly broken. It could have happened from passing out into the mountain of cocaine, but only a fool would believe that. Her head had been smashed into the mound. Repeatedly would be my guess. I laid her head back down as if not wanting to wake, or hurt, her.

  “Don’t fucking move, asshole! Hands in the air and turn around slowly! Do it fucking now!”

  It was a miracle the cop didn’t shoot me for the way I jumped when he startled the crap out of me. My hands went up but I kept my back to him.

  “I’m gonna turn around. Don’t shoot,” I said. “It’s not what—”

  “I said turn around, asshole, now!”

  I turned as if I were a tai chi master and faced the uniformed cop. Sweat ran down his cheek from his brush-cut. He had the gun in a two-handed grip. Still, the gun bobbed up and down. Nerves. He looked like he’d just graduated high school, went through the academy, and crept up on a brother standing over a corpse during his first day on the job. He barely looked old enough to drink alcohol.