Three to the Heart
By Rick Mofina
()
About this ebook
With his anthology, THREE TO THE HEART, Rick Mofina provides three of his finest short pieces of crime fiction. Three acclaimed, heart-wrenching short stories of people facing enormous odds.
In the story, "Backup," an 11-year-old boy finds his father's gun and rushes to a deadly stand off at the mall. In "A Lifetime Burning in a Moment," we meet John Devlin, a mild-mannered actuary and lifelong weakling, who searches for courage when his family is threatened. In "The Last Pursuit," a cop, desperate to redeem himself for the mistake that destroyed his life, works alone to track the murderer he was escorting to trial after their plane crashes in the Rocky Mountains.
About the author:
Rick Mofina is a former crime reporter and the award-winning author of several notable thrillers.
Penthouse magazine calls him, "one of the leading thriller writers of the day." New York Times Bestselling author, Tess Gerritsen, says, "Rick Mofina's tense taut writing makes every thriller he writes an adrenaline-packed ride." His short stories have been selected for anthologies by Michael Connelly, Peter Robinson, Ed Gorman, the Mystery Writers of America and the United Kingdom's, Crime Writers Association.
The International Thriller Writers, The Private Eye Writers of America and The Crime Writers of Canada have listed Rick Mofina's titles as being among the best in the world.
His books have been published in 21 countries and have been praised by James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Jeffery Deaver, Sandra Brown, James Rollins, Brad Thor, Nick Stone, David Morrell, Allison Brennan, Heather Graham, Linwood Barclay, Peter Robinson, Håkan Nesser and Kay Hooper. For more information please visit www.rickmofina.com .
Rick Mofina
Rick Mofina is a former journalist and an award-winning author of several acclaimed thrillers. His reporting has put him face-to-face with murderers on death row in Montana and Texas. He has covered a horrific serial-killing case in California and an armored car-heist in Las Vegas, flown over Los Angeles with the LAPD Air Support Division and gone on patrol with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police near the Arctic. He has reported from the Caribbean, Africa and Kuwait’s border with Iraq.Rick’s true-crime articles have appeared in the New York Times, Marie Claire, Reader’s Digest and Penthouse while his thrillers have been published in 19 countries and praised by James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly, Sandra Brown, Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Heather Graham, Peter Robinson, Allison Brennan, David Morrell, Linwood Barclay and Kay Hooper.Rick is a two-time winner of The Arthur Ellis Award and the International Thriller Writers, Private Eye Writers of America and The Crime Writers of Canada have listed his crime fiction as being among the very best in the genre.
Read more from Rick Mofina
Whirlwind Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Their Last Secret Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Every Second Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Free Fall Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFull Tilt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Disappeared Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Into the Dark Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Last Seen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Missing Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lying House Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Into the Fire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Six Seconds Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Hollow Place Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Pursuit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRay Wyatt Thriller Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRequiem Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Six Seconds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Human Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Three to the Heart
Related ebooks
Someone Is Watching Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Pursuit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlue Moon: A Katerina Carter Mystery Short Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuspicion of Deceit Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Dead to the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrazed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTopaz' Trap Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMystral Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Peril: Warfield's Landing, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGus Mackie Calls in Dead: Gus Mackie Novella series, #6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Desperation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Parting Glass Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEvery Second Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hoskins & Fletcher Crime Series, Books 1-3: Hoskins & Fletcher Crime Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMissing You by Harlan Coben (Trivia-On-Books) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Abduction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRay Wyatt Thriller Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlowout: A Katerina Carter Fraud Legal Thriller Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Down Side, Book 4 in the John Keegan Mystery Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pandora Key Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShallow Grave Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Swan Song Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blonde Ice: A Gil Malloy Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strong Alibi: Elizabeth Strong, #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Liar Liar: A Nicole Graves Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEvery Fear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Double Secrets: Warfield's Landing, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll in a Row (Book 2 in the John Keegan Mystery Series) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Faint Cold Fear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cause for Alarm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Mystery For You
None of This Is True: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Short Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hallowe'en Party: Inspiration for the 20th Century Studios Major Motion Picture A Haunting in Venice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life We Bury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunting Party: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5False Witness: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Sleep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Under a Red Moon: A 1920s Bangalore Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pieces of Her: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Daughter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pharmacist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Staircase: Nancy Drew #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Woman in the Library: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil in a Blue Dress (30th Anniversary Edition): An Easy Rawlins Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dean Koontz: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Kept Woman: A Will Trent Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sydney Rye Mysteries Box Set Books 10-12: Sydney Rye Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for Three to the Heart
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Three to the Heart - Rick Mofina
THREE TO THE HEART
Three short stories
of people without fear
RICK MOFINA
Title
Introduction
A Lifetime Burning in a Moment
Backup
The Last Pursuit
Contact Rick Mofina
Other Short Stories
About the Author
Also by Rick Mofina
Praise for Rick Mofina’s Books
Copyright © 2012 by Rick Mofina
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the creation of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Three to the Heart
Rick Mofina
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012 Rick Mofina
ISBN 978-1-927114-27-8
e-Formatting provided by Carrick Publishing
Backup
Cover photo Copyright © 2009 © 2012 Rémi Thériault
This e-book is intended for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be sold or given away to other people. If you’re reading this e-book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
INTRODUCTION
Three to the Heart, is my second small collection of short stories, the follow up to my first anthology, Dangerous Women & Desperate Men. I regard the stories collected in Three to the Heart, to be among the best of my short crime fiction. The story Backup
first appeared in Ottawa Magazine. It was later selected as finalist for Best Short Story Awards by The International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers of Canada. A Lifetime Burning in a Moment,
was first featured in the anthology Dead in the Water, by Rendezvous Press and later appeared in The Penguin Book of Crime Stories, Volume II, edited and introduced by Peter Robinson. The Last Pursuit,
was selected by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom, to appear in its anthology, Original Sins. I hope you will enjoy them.
Rick Mofina
Rmofina @ gmail dot com
A LIFETIME BURNING IN A MOMENT
by Rick Mofina
knew the boys who lived in the clapboard houses by the railroad tracks not only liked beating him up, but needed to beat him up.
He was the only part of their lives they could defeat because he didn’t dare hit them. Not like their fathers, who were always reeking of beer and cigarettes, or bruised mothers drowning in guilt.
We can do whatever we want to you.
The biggest boy with the broken tooth would punch Devlin’s face and stomach, always failing to make him cry. Nobody’s ever going to stop us.
It was understandable then that years later colleagues at his firm would tell you that Dev, the quiet son of a widowed math teacher, listened more than he talked, as if conversation were a form of confrontation, something he had averted since the dark days of his boyhood by the railroad tracks.
As an actuary, Devlin took comfort in the parameters, calculations and sums of an orderly world where everything added up. But whenever life required him to deal with mundane matters, he felt out of place. Like today, with Blake, his little boy, waiting with him in the checkout line at the auto parts store.
The air smelled of rubber, echoed with compressors and the clank of steel tools dropped in the repair bays. This was a domain of greased-stained knuckles, rolled shirt sleeves and tattooed arms; of two-day growths, ballcaps and T-shirts emblazoned with skulls, flames and creeds on living, dying.
Devlin had come to buy a pea-sized bulb for his Ford’s dome light.
In line ahead of them a boy, a stranger slightly taller than Blake, turned and eyeballed Blake from head to toe. The boy’s face oozed contempt before he drove his fist into Blake’s shoulder. Blake tensed then retaliated with a punch just as the bigger boy’s father turned to see it. The man fired glances at Blake and Devlin then drew himself to his full height. He had a scar on his chin and a toothpick in the corner of his mouth.
What the hell’re you doin’?
Alarm rang in Devlin’s ears.
Nothing,
he said. I mean, it was a mistake. Blake, apologize.
But Dad?