Check Mate in 4 Supplied by Chess.com

Chess

Supplied by Chess.Com

Black to move. Checkmate in four. The key here is to use the black bishop as a decoy.

Supplied by https://chess.com the #1 chess website. Used with permission. For more chess puzzles please visit https://chess.com You can find answers for this activity on the Mom’s Favorite Reads website here:

WebCam

by Ross G. Homer

It is six o’clock in the afternoon, St. Louis time. Grinning, he sets up the camera and takes an extra moment to adjust the focus as perfectly as he can, making it crystal clear in his small LED screen. The target would soon be in the room across the way. A half-hour later, the unflinching eye of the camera catches the scene: a person deep in shadow and a woman. A slashing knife. Deep red gouts of blood splattering the room. This scene is being sent live over the Internet for many unsuspecting people to watch. One of them was Rona Windsor. This is her story.

As she stared at the computer screen in front of her, Rona Windsor took off her glasses and rubbed her dark eyes and thought about a break. She was a programmer for a company that paid well enough for her to work by telecommuting. Glancing at her desk clock, she saw that it was a few minutes before three on a sunny Seattle afternoon, and decided, as she usually did, to take a tea break. Standing and stretching her shapely, five-foot three-inch frame, she left her upstairs home office and walked down to the kitchen. She decided that Earl Grey was the tea for this particular afternoon. Rona entered the kitchen and walked across the red oak parquet floor to her newly installed blue-veined marble countertop. She loved the way the color of the countertop accented the red-oak color of the cabinets and flooring. It had been expensive but damn, it was worth every penny. Smiling, she put her water on to boil and fetched the container of the tea she loved. Opening the jar, the aroma of the Earl Grey tea pleasantly rose to greet her. As she filled the tea ball, she looked out her kitchen window into the warm afternoon over Seattle and the Puget Sound below. Flowers were blooming and it was another gorgeous May day. Her quiet contemplation was rudely interrupted when Tommie, her fifteen-year-old daughter, came crashing into the house from school and as all teenagers seemed to do, hollered, “Mom, I’m home!” The screen door slammed into its frame as Tommie tossed her backpack full of schoolbooks and other odds and ends onto the couch. Rona Windsor called from the kitchen, “Why don’t you take out an ad in the paper to announce it to the world and, baby girl, would you please stop letting that screen door slam?” Tommie laughed as she entered the kitchen. Her sixteenth birthday was coming up next month, in June, and that license was dangling out there begging for a new driver. All she had to do was continue keeping her grades up and together, she and her mother would hit the DMV. She was saddened, a little, that her father was no longer in the picture to see it happen. On the other hand, that delicious hunk, Ed O’Malley, was hanging around more and more. Rona and her daughter hugged for a moment. When the kettle began to whistle, Rona took it off the heat and let it cool just a second and then poured the water into her large bright blue mug, the one with “Seattle Seahawks” inscribed on it. Adding a dollop of honey, she said, “Tommie, I have more work to do. Have some tea and do any work you have down here. Okay?” “Sure, Mom.” She grinned evilly. “Can I have some of your really, really, good stuff?”

Shocked, Rona snapped, “No! Absolutely not, young lady.” The really, really good stuff was orange pekoe tea laced with THC that Rona used to fight monthly cramps. She was so happy now that it was legal in Washington. As she headed back upstairs for a few minutes of “slacker time” as she called it, she heard Tommie laughing. Rona ignored her because it was time to check into eBay, catch up with her small circle of friends on Facebook, maybe read some news, before heading back into the gnarly bit of programming she was doing for her company. Rona settled into her chair and clicked on eBay and then into the Fine China Collectibles. She was looking for a rare teapot to complete a service she had been building for fifteen years. Nothing today, she saw. Tommie came in with a cup of orange and rose hips tea, its strong aroma leading the way. She sat beside Rona and said, “Still can’t find that pot?” “Nope.” “I’m sorry. By the way, Elaine wants me to come over this weekend. Mind if I go? Saturday we’re going to do some hard training with some of the others.” “Of course. You know me…be careful out there. You can’t race with something hurt.” “I know Mom.” She grinned at her sometimes over-protective parent. Elaine was a lifelong friend of Tommie’s and Rona had no problem with her daughter spending the weekend with her. It was a frequent occurrence now that both girls were teenagers. Tommie would go there; Elaine would come here. The thought of her daughter being gone for a couple of days and nights sent a tingle through Rona’s body. Maybe, just maybe, Ed would finally move from just kissing to more. Rona smiled at the screen. A lot more. Tommie and Elaine were also mountain bike racers and they frequently trained together. Rona smiled. Tommie was also far better at it than her girlfriend. Sighing, she clicked into another favorite site, www.webcamsrus.com and selected ‘random views.’ This selection was interesting because she never knew what she was going to see. Sometimes it was pretty cool, she thought, smiling as she sipped her tea, and sometimes not. Once she had seen what could only be described an eye-popping X-rated scene in the bed of a pickup. It had been exciting for exactly three minutes, the time each webcam had before moving on. Nothing interesting was happening on the site and as Rona moved her mouse to exit out, the next view popped up. In an instant she realized she was seeing a woman being stabbed.

Startled, Rona plopped her tea mug down on her desk and slopped a little of the hot liquid on to the back of her right hand. Blowing on the scalded area, she stared at the image. While she couldn’t see the assailant plainly, the naked woman was crystal clear, as was the blood covering her and flying off the knife blade as it rose and fell. She was silently screaming and trying to fight off the knife. A flashing yellow neon light outside the room gave a strobe-like, otherworldly psychedelic affect to the scene. Tommie screamed! “What the fu…what the hell is that?” They watched the horrifying scene together. The knife plunged into the nude woman’s body again and again. She fell across a bed, facing the camera, her eyes fading. With quick presence of mind, Rona hit ‘Print Screen’ on the keyboard. She prayed that it would save the scene.

The scene dissolved into a warm, sunny beach that could have been Hawaii or any other tropical location. Rona looked at the tropical scene and tried to digest what she had just witnessed. That can’t be real, she thought, blowing on her hand again. She leaned forward and opened a draw program. Hitting “ctrl-v” on the keyboard, the image she hoped she had saved pasted itself into the program. Good, she thought. She couldn’t clearly see the assailant, but she felt that the partially shadowed person was staring straight at the camera. Rona thought, what in hell do I do? Call 911? I don’t know if this is real or not. I don’t even know where it is. She stood up and paced a step or two then looked again at the screen. Tommie made the decision for her. “Mom! Call Ed. He’ll know what to do.” She nodded and grabbed up her phone and dialed Lt. Ed O’Malley’s cell phone number from memory. Ed O’Malley recognized her number and answered, “Hey, Rona. What’s up?” “Ed,” Rona said with a shaky voice, “I’ve… Tommie and I have just seen something from a webcam feed that, well, looks like a murder being committed. Could be kids play-acting but I’d sure like it if you could come over now, if you can, and take a look. I managed to get a screen print of it.” He smiled into the phone. This amazing woman made him smile every single time he thought of her or was with her. “I’m supposed to be there for dinner anyway, but for you, sooner is better than later.” He had fallen hard for Rona Windsor and enjoyed every second he was with her. “Thanks Ed. I appreciate it.” He heard the nervousness in her voice. “That’s okay. I just finished here at the dojo. Let me grab a quick shower and I’ll be there.” Training for his second-degree black belt in Shitoryu karate was hard, sweaty work, and he was determined he was going to get it on the first attempt. “Okay.” She replied. “See you.” To Tommie she said, “Ed’s on his way over. Why don’t you go do your homework? You really don’t need to be seeing this.” Rona saw how pale Tommie was. “Yeah, Mom. I’ll go back downstairs. Yeah…I’ll do that.” She stood on shaky legs and left the office. Rona continued to look at the screen. There was some new imaging software the company had just bought for an upcoming project that might help enhance the image. Ed O’Malley took his shower, dressed in a light blue short-sleeve t-shirt, faded jeans and dark brown loafers. Driving to Rona’s picturesque house on Queen Anne Hill, he thought too bad her ex was such an idiot. He lost one of Seattle’s most beautiful and intelligent women and I’m the lucky one picking up the pieces. He had known both Rona and Dave Windsor since college. He was at the hospital when Tomasina was born. Occasionally, when he could find a date, he and the Windsor’s went clubbing together. Then a year ago Rona and Dave divorced. Dave was gone much too often for his business and then Rona found out about the women. Dave had women all over the country he was sleeping with. After waiting for ten months and trying to build up his courage, he finally called Rona for a date. Much to his surprise she said yes, and they hit it off right away with this new arrangement. Things were going along very smoothly for the both of them and he found he couldn’t wait to see her. He was also hoping that he could finally spend the night with her. But he absolutely wasn’t going to push the issue. “Come on in,” Rona said, opening the front door. “I have the picture up on the screen.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him quickly on the lips. Ed was at least a foot taller than her and it was quite a stretch for her to kiss him. Rona smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.” She took his hand, squeezed, and led the way up to the office. Tommie called from the living room, “Hi Ed. Wait until you see what she has up there.” He nodded and made a double entendre out of it. He couldn’t wait to see what she had ‘up there,’ either. Standing in Rona’s office, Ed looked at the picture and was speechless for a moment. “God, what the hell is that?” “That’s why I called you, Ed. It certainly looks like someone being stabbed.”

The scene was framed by a dark brick wall with the camera centered on a an eight-pane window. Immediately below the window was a bed. The woman’s nude body lay sprawled there, covered in blood and terrible slashes. Ed said, “I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that whoever set this up was watching that room for some reason. Maybe a voyeur who happened into something like this?” He leaned forward a bit. The weapon looked to be a heavy-bladed Bowie-style knife. The gore covered blade must have been at least eight inches long. There was a door on the far wall that may have led to a hall. Another door, left of the bed, was open several inches allowing some light to illuminate the scene. The partially open door backlit the killer, hiding his upper body and face. The rest of him and the woman were well lit by the light coming through the open door. The woman was lying across a bed. Her head and upper body were hanging off the edge, facing the window. Ed guessed the open door led to the bathroom. A low dresser with a mirror stood beside the open door. A nightstand with a darkened lamp sat beside the bed. Faded flower-patterned wallpaper covered the walls. He leaned back and said, “That looks like a motel or hotel room. Too bad we can’t see the street. It might give us a clue to where this is.” He pointed at the dresser and nightstand. “The furnishings look cheap and the lack of decoration anywhere else in the room tells me it’s a hot sheet hotel. I wish we could see a sign or something.” Rona said, “There’s stuff on the dresser. I’ll work on enhancing that part of the picture and see if I can get something out of it. It could take a while, I’m afraid, but it might help identify who he or she is and possibly where this is.” Ed pointed at something on the nightstand. “What do you suppose that is?” Rona looked at the fuzzy image and said, “Don’t know. I’ll work on that, too.” Pointing at another part of the picture, Ed said, “Rona, that looks like a word there. See it?” She leaned down beside him and looked where he was pointing. There was something, a reflection, in the bottom left pane of the window. Her perfume, Chanel, he realized, teased his nose and she was very close to him. Soft parts of her rubbed against his arm and he felt blood rushing to his face. Rona said, “Yes and I agree. I’ll add this to the list of enhancements. It could tell us where this is.” As she stood back up, she lightly touched the back of his hand. He was a big man with hard muscles and large hands. Rona knew he could be incredibly gentle with those hands when necessary. She said, “I have some new software I wanted to check out and this will be a good test. Do you want a print of this while we’re at it? I could email it to your office, too.” Ed shook his head. “Not really. We don’t have squat here but a photo of what could possibly be a murder anywhere on this planet. We can’t really see him, but we know she’s Caucasian. Or, now here’s a thought,” he looked up at Rona. “It could be simply a couple of kids hamming it up for that camera.” He turned back to the picture. “Or, for that matter, a scene from some upcoming movie. This could have been a tease.” Rona considered the picture again. “That’s a possibility, I guess. Just the same, I’ll work on the enhancements. Then we can have dinner. We’re having spaghetti.” Ed smiled at that. Rona was a fabulous cook and several of her friends had tried to get her to open a restaurant. He considered himself lucky every time she prepared a meal for him. Secretly, he was praying for the day when she would prepare something for him every night. If only he could find the nerve to move forward with her. From playing what he called ‘kissy-face,’ to actually making love. Ed looked at the overall picture again. If this was really a movie scene or kids play-acting, they were doing an awfully good job of it. In his twenty years as a Seattle cop, he’d seen more than his share of murder and blood and if that were faked, it was something they had done very well. But he doubted it. This was the real deal. With any luck Rona would be able to enhance those things they talked about.

As Rona clicked a mouse button to select the top of the dresser she said, “You know those movies where they use computers and the picture zooms in and you can see an object perfectly?” Ed nodded. “That’s a load of pure heifer dust! It’s pretty amazing what can be done with these things but making something out of nothing simply doesn’t exist…at this time. I can, though, enhance what is actually there.” She smiled. “I’d better be able to, considering what Little charges for this program.” She selected the top of the dresser. The program used its AI to intuit what was hidden in the fuzzy pixels and did a good job resolving the image. They saw a dark brown wallet, some cash, several beer cans and what appeared to be some kind of notebook or mini-pad with a pale blue cover. A small pocketknife with yellow inserts was lying beside the wallet. Rona murmured, “Hmm?” She had given Dave a knife just like that on their seventeenth anniversary. Ed asked, “What? Did you see something?” Rona shook her head. “No.” He looked at her quizzically then used his pen to point at the beer. “Well, that’s no help. That beer is sold everywhere so it’s not regional like it used to be. This could still be any part of America. Or Canada, I suppose. The light in the room could be coming from a marquee on the building where the camera is. It needs to be either dusk or dark there for that light to shine into the room. We know that it’s not the West Coast. Could be the Midwest where it’s getting dark. Or the East Coast somewhere.” She saved the selection and moved the cursor down to the nightstand. It was going to be more difficult to produce a readable image from this area. In a few moments though, a handkerchief resolved itself into rough clarity. There were darker markings on one corner. Beside that was an opened condom wrapper. Slightly embarrassed, he pointed at the dark marks on the handkerchief. “Y’know? That could almost be a monogram. Think the program can pull that out?” Rona drew the select box around the corner of the object. “Let’s see.” She clicked the right buttons and waited while the program processed the faint image. In a few seconds the dark areas became a hazy, but readable. It was indeed a monogrammed handkerchief. The initials read “DW.” He looked over at her. “What? Rona did you say something?” She shook her head. “No. No I didn’t.” She was wondering about the chances it could be his? The knife, the monogrammed handkerchief? That brown wallet? There must be millions of them just in America alone. But…wasn’t that small mini-pad cover blue? Rona looked back at it at the top of the screen. Oh, my God! That would be simply too strange, too fantastic! Ed said, “So okay. What’s this here?” He pointed at a reflection in the lower pane. Rona took a deep breath and sighed. She thought this was simply coincidence. I’ll wait and see what else happens before I say anything. She selected the area. It was the reflection of part of the building where the camera was located. “If I can get this to sharpen, maybe we’ll have something.” Rona again clicked an icon and part of the word resolved. The word was ‘Fairview’ something. Ed nodded. “Now all I have to do is email a copy of your original file to my IT guys. They should be able follow the Internet address to where the uplink is.” Ed looked at her curiously as she set up the file for emailing. He felt a change in her mood, and he thought that she was holding something back. Thus far in their two months together, she’d held absolutely nothing back from him, sometimes embarrassingly so. “I’ll call them with a head’s up and we can go from there.” He took her hands and said, “Rona? Are you okay? You look a little down or something.” Rona answered, “No. I’m okay. Just hungry.” She glanced at her watch. “God, where did the afternoon go? No wonder I’m hungry. I’m going down and get dinner going.” Ed caught a hint of something darker in her voice as he pulled his cellphone out of his backpocket. Rona went down into the kitchen and began heating the spaghetti sauce she’d taken out of the freezer the previous evening. As a young child her mother taught her the secret of excellent sauce; use the best ingredients, cook it several days early, let it sit a day and then freeze

what you don’t use for a later time. As she started to slice crusty French bread for garlic toast, she thought about what she had just seen. The evidence, while circumstantial at best, pointed directly at her ex-husband, Dave. “Oh, Christ, this is terrible,” she said to the empty kitchen. “It has to be Dave. There’s no doubt. I know that’s his stuff in the picture. But why? How? I can’t tell Ed any of this because I don’t know for sure.” Seizing on an idea, she reached for the phone on the counter. “I’ll call his secretary and see where he is.” Taking a deep breath, she dialed Dave’s office. In a moment, his secretary answered in her ingratiatingly sweet tone, “Good evening, David Windsor’s office.” “Hi, Susan, Rona Windsor here. I was hoping you’d still be at the office this late. I have a couple of things I need to discuss with Dave. Is he there?”

Susan was in the mood to chit-chat. “Hi, back, Rona. Long time no hear. You’re lucky you caught me. I’m just leaving. How are you doing?” Rona replied, “I’m fine Susan. Can I talk to Dave?” “Um, no. He’s in St. Louis until later tonight. He’s doing a presentation there of our new product. Something about video. I hear it’s pretty nifty. Anyway, hang on a sec. I have his info right here.” There was a pause, and then she said, “He’s at the Hyatt in downtown and will be on Continental flight 134 arriving at 9:45 tonight.” Rona shivered and said quietly, “Oh. That’s okay. I’ll call him in the morning. Thanks Susan. Have a good evening.” Slowly she returned the phone to its receiver and thoughtfully finished preparing dinner. A half hour later Ed came down. The pasta was ready, and the aroma of homemade spaghetti sauce tinged with garlic filled the warm kitchen. Rona stood at the stove, wooden spoon in hand, stirring the sauce. Her short-cropped black hair was tousled where she habitually ran her fingers through it. Rona had inherited the best of her mother’s Italian genes: her beauty, her outstanding figure, and her intensely dark brown eyes. Ed considered himself lucky to have become so deeply involved with her. Tommie had set the table and was in her usual place, texting no doubt with Elaine. As Ed walked across the kitchen to her, Tommie smiled up at him. She liked him, and she sometimes wondered if the tall, ruggedly handsome man would make a good stepfather. Ed told Rona, “It only took my IT guy a minute to trace the Internet address. It was in Saint Louis. I called their police department and explained what was going on. I had a hell of a time convincing them. But as it turns out, St. Louis does have a building called the “Fairview Apartments” and it’s right across the street from a run -down three story, hot-sheet hotel. They kept me on the line while they sent a squad. That’s what took me so long.” He stopped talking and stared at the woman he was half in love with. “Rona, they found the dead woman. Across the street in an apartment facing the room, they found the camera. The place had been cleaned out, including the computer. It was the same in the hotel room. There was no wallet, no knife or hanky, no beer cans. Nothing. Just the body.” Dinner was a quiet affair. Ed could see that Rona was definitely not with him. Although the spaghetti was excellent, she ate sparingly. Because she didn’t want to leave the house while this was going on, she said to Tommie, “You can take the car to Lainey’s now if you wish.”

Tommie was majorly surprised. All she had was her learner’s permit although she drove everywhere with Rona in the car.

“Are you sure, Mom?” Elaine lived about seven blocks away and none of it was on a major street. Rona wasn’t worried about her daughter at all. It was that image and what she was thinking was getting to her. Rona snapped, “Yes, goddamnit! Just…just go. Okay? Let her mother take you riding tomorrow!”

Tommie’s eyes welled with tears. They’d had fights and spats, as mother and daughters do, but this was different. It was as if her mother had slapped her! Rona gathered Tommie in her arms. “I’m so sorry, baby girl. I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just that I am worried about all this, especially if what I think is true. I can’t tell you what it is, now. Okay?” Barely mollified, Tommie pushed away and replied, “Yeah, whatev’.” “The keys are in my bag. Drive carefully.” “You know I will.” “Tommie, I love you so much!” This was much better. They hugged again and Tommie went up to her room to get her bag and equipment. After she left, Ed leaned against the sink while Rona put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. “Rona, what’s wrong? I can see that you’re upset about something. I don’t think it’s Tommie. Was it the murder?” Rona turned to him and went into his arms. She gazed sadly up into his grey-green eyes. Now he was frightened. “Rona? What is it?” She replied, “Ed, I know this is going to sound outrageous and too strange, but all that stuff we saw points to…well, to Dave being there.” She quickly explained about the items they had seen in the enhancements.

Ed held her at arm’s length and stared into the dark well of her eyes. “You’re right. That would be strange and it’s highly unlikely it would be Dave. Of all the millions of men in America? Him? I doubt it.” “Ed, there’s more. He is in St. Louis right now! I called his office and that’s what his secretary told me.” Ed just stared into her eyes. “No.” She nodded yes. “Rona, I have to call St. Louis right now.” She let go of him and he pulled out his cellphone and made the call.

Later, they sat in silence on the front porch of her house while Ed waited for a return call. She had wrapped a blue and green merino wool shawl around her shoulders against the chill of the evening air. Ed wore his well-worn, black leather jacket. Time seemed to drag. It was over an hour before the phone rang again. Ed answered, said very little, and hung up. “Rona, they missed Dave. He had already checked out of his hotel and he didn’t check in for his flight. He used an alias, Darwin Walker, to rent the room. It’s not uncommon for people to use their initials for that kind of thing. The St. Louis cops wished they had been a little quicker, believe me.”

She pulled the shawl tighter around her shoulders. “I’m sorry the afternoon went like it did.” She paused for a moment and then said, softly, “I would like it if you would stay with me tonight.” He smiled down at her. “Rona, there is nothing more in the world that I’d like to do, but right now I need to head down to the office and get this report filed. I’ll come back later, if that’s okay.” Rona nodded then stood and kissed him. For the first time, there was the promise of more than just sleep later. Ed smiled as he pulled his keys out of his pocket and turned to walk down

from the porch. All the times he’d not pushed her into something more physical than light make out sessions were finally going to pay off for him, and them. Rona touched his arm before he left. She said, “Okay. I’ll see you when you get back.” He nodded and continued on down the walk to his car.

An hour later, when he returned, she proved to be everything he’d imagined over the years he’d known her. She gave and took with enthusiastic abandon. Later, he lay with her pulled tight against him and thought again about what an idiot Dave Windsor was to lose this incredible woman.

Late one warm evening toward the middle of July, Ed O’Malley and Rona Windsor were sitting on the porch of her house. They were drinking chilled Washington Riesling and watching boat lights twinkle on the Sound below. Like young lovers, they sat holding hands. Occasionally Rona would lean over and lightly kiss him. Tommy was upstairs surfing the net, leaving the two adults to themselves. She had a feeling that he was going to pop the question soon and the way he mooned all over her mother at dinner, she guessed tonight was the night. Ed finished his wine and said, “Rona, I’ve got to go to the office for an hour or so then I’ll be back.” He smiled and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I just heard this afternoon that the Feds think Dave is a serial killer and has been videotaping his kills. For several years he’s been working the East Coast and sending various police department’s videos of what he did.” Rona nodded. “That fits. He worked the East Coast for a number of years.” Ed continued, “St. Louis thinks he’s escalated and wants to prove something to someone, God only knows who. The poor sucker who rented the apartment to him was found two weeks ago downstairs in the boiler room with his throat cut. Forensics showed both murders were committed with the same knife. Anyway, Dave seems to have disappeared off the earth.” Standing, he hugged her tightly, with an intensity that seemed to say, “You’re safe with me.” They kissed for a long time. Rona broke the kiss and pulled him to her tightly. “Okay Ed, I’ll see you in a while.” Then, holding both his hands in hers, she smiled. “I love you.” Surprised, Ed replied, “I, uh, that street runs both ways.” He kissed her again then ran down the stairs and got in his car and drove away. Something…odd…caught his eye on his way down the street. He looked in his mirrors and didn’t see anything of interest. Shrugging, he continued on his way. Rona picked up their glasses and went back into the house, the screen door slamming behind her. Smiling and humming, she put the glasses in the sink. She was in love and when he got back, she was sure he was going to ask her to marry him.

He stood on the corner, looking up at the house, and watched as they stood on the porch making out like a couple of damned teenagers. The guy’s hands were all over her. Bitch, he thought, becoming angrier. The man said something to her and got into his car. He left as she turned and went back into the house, grinning like a lunatic. The sound of the screen door slamming reached the watcher’s ears.

A moment later, the guy drove by without so much as a glance. The man smiled and started towards the house. Quietly, as if she could hear him from there, he pulled his knife out of its sheath. Yes, he thought, this is going to be a quite satisfying evening, watching her slowly die. That goddamn kid, too. I know she has to be screwing that girl she practically lives with on weekends and I won’ t have any queers in my house.

He stepped carefully on to the porch and crept up to the screen door. The inside door was still standing open, letting in the cool evening air. The hallway was dark, and he couldn’t see in very far. It was okay. He knew the hallway just fine. He assumed that the door was open for that damn cop. Was he ever going to be in for a surprise when he got back. He thought, maybe I’ ll take my time with her and her lezzy kid and just kill him for the hell of it.

He eased the screen door open and stepped inside. Quietly he took several steps into the darkened hallway when suddenly the lights snapped on. He stopped instantly and stared into the black hole in the barrel of the .44 he’d given her for her thirtieth birthday, seven years ago. In that instant, he realized that it had probably not been a good idea for him and Ed O’Malley to have taken her to the gun range with them quite so often. She had become deadly at fifty feet. Here, she was only five feet away. “It’s over Dave. No more.” As he brought the knife up, the last image his brain received was that of the flash of the gun going off. He never had another thought.

Ross G. Homer was born in Florida some years ago. He grew in locations all across the south and eventually ended up in California. He spent a couple of years going to college before joining the Air Force as a photographer. After spending ten somewhat interesting years in the Air Force, he settled in Alaska where he worked in a variety of occupations before retiring and dedicating his energies to his life-long interest in creating fantasy and fiction.

Other pursuits include photography, music - he's a flat-pickin' blue grass/folk singer and guitar player, bicycling, both road and mountain, hiking and cross-country skiing.

He is the author of a wide range of genres: sexy romantic action-adventure, thrillers, mysteries, science fiction, and fantasy. His books can be found on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Golden Autumn

by Stan Phillips

The flowers have lasted a little longer this golden autumn.

And a final rose has been born in our garden.

The leaves appear reluctant to evacuate the branches as they shimmer russet red and brown in October mellowness.

There is a sense of inevitability in the air though.

As if the season has held its breath for a brief throbbing heartbeat,

And the rains come.

And the days grow ever shorter.

And there is a chill in the morning to greet our awakening.

And an extra blanket on the bed to warm our slumbers.

Winter draws ever closer and, for all the promise of Halloween and Christmas, a soft sadness for the demise of summer is created in our hearts.

Stan Phillips is an 80 year old poet, musical podcast maker, part-time wannabe male model, and occasional stand up comedian. “I used to be a psychotherapist/counsellor when I had

an honest job. I was born into prewar London, and attended 17 schools (my father believed they couldn’t hit a moving target) and I eventually finished up here in Ireland. Still wondering what I will be when I grow up — but enjoying writing my quirky poetry as I do so.”

Discover more about Stan on Mom’s Favorite Reads website: https://moms-favorite-reads.com/moms-authors/stan-phillips