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SAILOR SPRINGS SERIES A Series Published by White Squirrel Press, a division of MIBS Publishing Dear Sweetheart For years he searched for the young girl he'd secretly loved in high school. Then he found her - on the Internet. Tossing aside wife & children he would have her no matter the cost. What he had to pay was more than any man is ever prepared to face. ****************** Deadly Choices Terrified of Charlie's passionate madness Norma fled across the country. ****************** Dark Secrets The recovery of Charlie's victims causes waves through the small community as long hidden secrets are uncovered. Visit www.sailorspringsnews.com for town history. BOOK FOUR OF THE SAILOR SPRINGS SERIES IS IN PROGRESS. WATCH FOR UPDATES! 
Dear Sweetheart Promptly at ten o'clock Sheila's lips brushed Charlie's forehead. He said he'd be working late. Without a word, she disappeared down the hallway. He waited until hearing the bedroom door close, then hurried to the computer. Thirty years of regret ended when the waiting was over. He'd found his Norma Sue. Eager fingertips typed the E-mail message created through the evening of mindless television. "My dear sweet Norma Sue, "Seeing you was all holidays in one. Christmas, New Year's Eve, the Fourth of July. I will never forget that moment. I could hardly breathe, you are so lovely. Your eyes are still full of mischief, dimples so delightful, your laugh infectious. Just thinking of you makes me smile, something I don't do very often. "You can not know the joy I feel with you back in my life. No more regrets. The boy loved you and the man does, too. As soon as I saw you, I knew. All my love, Charlie" Days later: "Dear Charlie, "Forgive me for not answering sooner. My thoughts have been filled with you. I, too felt a strange attraction that shocked me when our eyes met. "I must admit I never forgot you. You were the boy I was mad about in school but those days were gone forever. And now here you are. And I am still attracted. I don't know what to say. I certainly do not want to hurt Sheila or damage your marriage. Let's keep things simple, Charlie. Okay? Love, Norma" It couldn't be simple, not any more, not for Charlie. He'd waited too long, dreamt too many dreams of having her, being with her. She would be his. No matter what, no matter who got hurt. He'd do anything, anything at all to have his way. 
DEADLY CHOICES
At the end of Arlington Drive sat a pink stucco house, its upstairs window draped with yards of white sheers, entrapping terror behind a delicate veil. "You stupid bitch!" Like a rabid dog Charlie snarled, teeth bared as he bent over the naked woman huddling helplessly against the wall, his voice tearing through her as she struggled to escape hard-toed shoes striking her bare backside. "You want me to stop? Do you? Answer me, bitch!" Saliva dribbled from her mouth. The hard blows continued. "Why? He screamed. "You destroyed me! I lost everything! I loved you! Why?" He squatted down, grabbing a hunk of hair, forcing her face to his. "You dirty, stinking whore. One word about me and you are dead, sweetheart, DEAD!" Eyes wild with insanity, he threw her head to the floor. "Bitch!" Footsteps left the room, moved down the staircase. The front door slammed. No one heard her swollen lips mumble. "Norma. My name is Norma."
DARK SECRETS by Mabel Maglone Leo CHAPTER ONE "You mean Charlie's body wasn't in the pond?" Sheriff John Brawley frowned, eyes scanning the mortuary office. "Practically the whole town saw him go under." Police Chief MacLoone who most folks simply called 'Mac' stood beside the Sheriff. "No way he could have escaped that mud." "Just what I said." Coroner Bill Hawkins explained. "Both divers did a thorough search of Soft Pond. Charlie wasn't there. Instead - - ." The Chief cut in. "Instead what?" "Human remains. I'm no forensic specialist but as near as I can tell whoever it is has been down there for - - " Bill scratched his ear, wanting to give the best guess he could, "maybe fifty years." "Who?" Both lawmen demanded. "Don't know yet. These things take time, guys." Bill took up a computer printout from his cluttered desk. "The first three bodies were Charlie's victims, the waitress from the Blue Bird Café in Anticipating their next question, he explained, "DNA might be possible using a bit of the marrow taken from the victim's femur. That would take a couple of weeks. Or, assuming the victim was local, and if there is enough teeth or pieces of teeth that can be matched to dental records, we might make a identification." He let that sink in before adding, "Apparently the body was placed in a plastic bag before being thrown into the water. The bag had torn open, some body parts are missing, but - I've saved the best part for last - the skull is intact, at least enough for reconstruction." "Bingo." John grinned, taking a newspaper Bill handed over, pointing to a front page article. "This gal lives in His friends scanned the photo of a pleasant-looking woman in her early sixties, short white hair, friendly eyes. "She's worked with the Chicago Police. You're the one to talk to her, John. See if she'll take this on, get us a face, we're half way home. And get whatever else you've got off to the lab in Carbondale ASAP. See what they come up with." The Sheriff added, "Mark it urgent, sign my name. They owe me some favors down there." "But", Mac asked. "What about Charlie?" "Finding his body is now your job." "Better let the State boys know, in case they run across a victim in dry dock." John grinned. "They?ll give us a bad time over losing a body but can't be helped." Mac clamped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Unless he's stuffed in a freezer, got to be damn smelly when we do find him. Maybe it'd be best to let them find it." "We got a good relationship going. Don?t want to screw it up over a dead body." "If we find it first, nothing wrong with keeping it to ourselves, dropping a few hints their way." "They'll love making us look bad. Better than dealing with that mess." "Mac, you are downright nasty sometimes." John winked at Mac and Bill. "Let?s keep this under wraps as long as we can." Sheriff John Brawley, Police Chief Sean MacLoone, and Clay County Coroner Bill Hawkins had been friends since babyhood. They'd seen bodies pulled from lakes, ponds, rivers, bloated bodies partially eaten by turtles and fish, body parts missing, faces twisted in frozen suffering, frothing from the mouth, bodies parched white. This time it was not strangers but their friends, neighbors waiting in steel mortuary coolers, all homicides. There would be forensic specialists coming from
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