A short while later, he hears the door of his apartment open.
George closes his eyes and whimpers against his gag. Sweet Jesus, Nora… I’m so fucking sorry.
On Grafton Street, behind the bright red façade of the Temple Bar, Dr. Mell Mulloy sips her Russian Quaalude. Rain thrashes the windows. Positively bucketing. She savors George’s final expression: brónach.
The herpes angle always sets their hearts hopping.
And poor imaginary Nora? Her pièce de résistance: Send the luckless bastards out on a mega guilt trip.
Finding the Rope on George made it sweeter still-so so fine to find a fellow predator… yummy, happy accident.
Mell checks her watch: Time for one more. But nothing elaborate. The personal-ad gambit takes time… and time is always a dangerous commodity.
So something simple is in order: Pick up another mark… dope him. Entice the sucker to his car or an alley for an ostensible jaw-job and shoot the fucker.
Then it is probably best to move on.
The Garda Síochána will soon start putting two and three or thirteen together.
Mell sips her drink and tips her head back, shaking loose her hair, lifting it off the back of her damp neck. Mell plucks an ice cube from her drink and rubs it between her breasts, listening to Knopfler: “The Lily of the West.”
She winks at a strapping stranger across the pub.
He’s headed her way now.
She smiles, shifting her long legs and arching her neck.
Come the morning, she’ll make the crossing… start again, perhaps in Glasgow.
But now Mell smiles up at the stranger, says: “’Tis himself.”
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
RAY BANKS was born in the Kingdom of Fife, but currently lives in North East England with his wife and a quartet of despicable felines. He is the creator of Leith-born Manchester P.I. Callum Innes and his debut novel, The Big Blind, is out now. He can be contacted through his website: http://www.thesaturdayboy.co.uk
JAMES O’NEAL BORN is a career law-enforcement agent whose novels are published by Putnam, including Walking Money and Shock Wave.
KEN BRUEN is the author of many novels, including The Guards, winner of the 2004 Shamus Award. His books have been published in many languages around the world. He lives in Galway, Ireland.
REED FARREL COLEMAN was Brooklyn born and raised. His sixth novel, The James Deans, received rave reviews from the Washington Post and Chicago Sun-Times. Ken Bruen has said that Coleman has the soul of an Irishman and, with this story, he hopes to prove it.
EOIN COLFER is a teacher from Wexford, Ireland. He spends most of his time writing about leprechauns and other magical creatures. He is best known for his fantasy series featuring criminal mastermind teenager Artemis Fowl. Eoin lived in Dublin for three years and visits whenever he needs inspiration.
JIM FUSILLI is the author of the award-winning Terry Orr series, which includes Hard, Hard City, winner of the Gumshoe Award for Best Novel of 2004, as well as Closing Time, A Well-Known Secret, and Tribeca Blues. He also writes for The Wall Street Journal and is a contributor to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.
PATRICK J. LAMBE lives in New Jersey, where he works as a telephone technician and writes crime stories. Third-generation Irish, English was his grandparent’s second language and he hopes to one day stride the streets of Dublin, a city that lives large in his imagination as his ancestrial homeland.
LAURA LIPPMAN is a Baltimore writer best known for her series about Baltimore-based P.I. Tess Monaghan. She has also written two stand-alone novels, Every Secret Thing and To the Power of Three. A Baltimore Sun reporter for twelve years, she has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Slate.com. Her work has won virtually all the major prizes given to U.S. crime writers, including the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha, Shamus, and Nero Wolfe.
CRAIG McDONALD was a contributor to the 2004 New York Times nonfiction bestseller Secrets of the Code. His short stories and articles have appeared in the Mississippi Review and the Australia-based Crime Factory. Another short story won the 2005 Philadelphia City Paper mystery fiction contest. He is also the author of Art in the Blood, a collection of interviews conducted with twenty top crime fiction writers.
PAT MULLAN was born in Ireland and has lived in England, Canada, and the U.S.A. Formerly a banker, he now lives in Connemara, in the west of Ireland. He is the author of two novels, The Circle of Sodom and Blood Red Square. His poetry and other work appears frequently in The Dublin Writers’ Workshop (www.dublinwriters.org). For more information, visit him at www.patmullan.com
GARY PHILLIPS’S work has been influenced by the likes of Ralph Ellison, Rod Serling, and Stan Lee. With Jervey Tervalon, he coedited the acclaimed anthology The Cocaine Chronicles for Akashic Books. His story in this anthology is a prequel in the life of protagonist Zelmont Raines who previously appeared in the crime novel, The Jook. And taking his cues from Zelmont, Phillips is busy hustling his next writing gig.
JOHN RICKARDS is the twenty-seven-year-old author of Winter’s End and The Touch of Ghosts. He writes full-time and lives in the UK. He drinks an obscene amount of Guinness.
PETER SPIEGELMAN is the Shamus Award-winning author of Black Maps and Death’s Little Helpers, both of which feature private investigator John March. He currently resides in Connecticut, where he is at work on another March novel.
JASON STARR is the author of seven noir crime novels, which are published in ten languages. His novel Tough Luck was an Anthony Award finalist and a Barry Award winner. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York City.
OLEN STEINHAUER has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Edgar and the Dagger. His most recent novel is 36 Yalta Boulevard. He lives in Budapest.