Some tales don’t want to be told. They’re shrouded in the dark and cloaked in danger. Sensible people leave those mysteries well enough alone. But not Debbie Bradley. After all, that’s how she makes her living.
The Poison Dart
Debbie Bradley Crime Mysteries Book 2
by Geri Dreiling
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
An overdose. A drug bust. A captive of the cartel. When fates collide, who will survive?
The
ripple effects of an overdose send shock waves through a community.
A
sweeping drug bust upends lives, exposing the cartel's deep reach
into the Midwest.
A quest for a better life threatens to destroy
a family.
As Debbie Bradley digs deeper into each story,
startling connections emerge. When fates collide, who will survive?
What readers are saying:
“The narrative contains the right blend of mystery, crime scenes and action. It is one of those books that keeps one glued until the very end.“
“Dreiling relies more on intelligent conversations, on the proper and strategic use of lies, and on wordplay“
“Grab or download a copy, curl up with a blanket on the couch, and enjoy this good read and solid, accurate, crime story with interesting twists and turns.“
“With a talent for plot creation, patiently unwinding the threads of all angles, and never lacking for excitement, Dreiling is an author you will want to read time and time again.“
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Chapter 1 – Reunion Excerpt
Just seeing the lighter made Caleb’s body tingle. He’d been dreaming of this moment for sixty days. Even when he was sitting in group, claiming he was done, he knew it wasn’t true. He’d say whatever he had to just to get out. There were times that, yes, when his parents came, he felt bad. His mom would cry. His dad would remain the aloof motherfucker he always was. But his mom. That was different. Sometimes he thought he should change for her. But his mom was just no match for heroin.
Caleb put the brown powder in the spoon from his kit. He opened the vial of distilled water. If you were going to get high, you might as well do it with style. Caleb gently moved the flame under the heroin. Slowly, evenly, he applied the heat’s gentle kisses to the drug, melting it with his slow caress.
Caleb pulled out a syringe. He put the needle in, pulled the plunger up, then flicked the side of the syringe to force the air bubbles up. Caleb removed the rubber tube tied around his upper arm and pushed the needle into his arm. Since he hadn’t shot up for two months, the purple vein in his arm had ample time to heal.
Liquid peace, Caleb thought as his body welcomed its old friend.
Caleb slumped back on the couch, briefly taking in Macie as she stood on his balcony. Her back was to them, but he could tell she was jittery by how she rubbed her hands against her thighs.
“Good ol’ Mace,” Caleb mumbled. His head, too heavy for his neck, lolled back onto the couch.
Alex picked up the spoon, ready to repeat the process with his stash. His attention focused on prepping his dose. It wasn’t until he’d shot up that he looked over at his motionless friend.
“Hey, Macie,” Alex called out, “Caleb’s noddin’.”
Macie turned around and walked back into the living room. Just in case.
She noticed Caleb’s lips turning blue. His head was back, gurgling noises coming from his throat.
Macie pushed Caleb’s shoulder. “Caleb,” she said firmly. “Cut it out. This isn’t funny.”
Caleb didn’t move.
Macie pushed harder. “Caleb!”
She opened his eyelids. His pupils were no bigger than the needle mark left in his arm.
“Shit!” Macie said. “Alex, I think Caleb OD’d.”
Alex, his voice slurring, said, “Well, that’s why we got the Narcan.”
Macie grabbed her purse and rummaged through it. She took out the package of nasal spray and tore it open. She took the cap off and shoved the nozzle up his nose until her fingers touched the bottom of Caleb’s right nostril.
“You gotta really push that plunger,” Alex mumbled.
Macie pushed hard. The foil seal broke with the pressure. The full dose emptied into his nose. Macie held her breath. It should just be a couple of moments, and Caleb would pop out of his coma.
Caleb didn’t move.
Macie shook Caleb’s shoulders. “Caleb!”
She grabbed the empty Narcan spray and put it up his left nostril, trying to get more out of the already-spent antidote.
“You got another one?” Alex mumbled. “Sometimes it takes more than one.”
“I’ve only got the one,” Macie said. “Call an ambulance!”
“Man, we can’t be here,” Alex slurred.
“I’m not leaving!” Macie said.
Chapter 2 – History Lessons (Excerpt 1)
A retired police officer still called captain by everyone who knew him, Cap’n Jack looked more like an aging rock star than a cop. Wavy, shoulder-length silver hair, a grizzled beard, and a relaxed way of speaking marked him as a storyteller, not a police officer. He’d been a rookie during the St. Louis mob wars of the 1980s. His nephew, Detective Daniel Flannery, had suggested Debbie talk to the man who’d become something of an amateur crime historian and local raconteur in his retirement.
The recommendation had been hard won. Detective Flannery hadn’t been Debbie’s biggest fan when they first met. It had taken time, one brush with death, and what Debbie suspected was the detective’s crush on her clueless mother to turn him into an ally, albeit a reluctant one.
The twenty-eight-year-old host leaned toward the microphone. “Welcome to Crime Beat, a River City podcast. This week, we’re looking back at St. Louis and the mafia war in the nineteen eighties. My guest is retired St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Captain Jack Flannery. Welcome, Cap’n Jack.”
“Mornin’, Debbie. Thanks for having me,” he replied.
“So let’s start with the mayhem that broke out after Anthony Giordano—Tony G.—died of cancer,” Debbie said.
“Sure,” Jack replied, his husky voice carrying the mark of the Camels he once, but no longer, smoked. “What you’ve gotta remember, back in the seventies and early eighties, St. Louis was controlled by three organized crime families. One was headed by the mafia, another by a Syrian-Lebanese syndicate with roots in St. Louis, and the third crime family was out of Illinois with ties to Chicago. All three groups were embedded into several of the unions here in town. To keep the peace, the three cooperated, but Tony G. was at the top of ’em all. In late August of nineteen eighty, everything falls apart after Tony G. up and dies. I mean, it wasn’t too long before all hell broke loose.”
“Why was that?” Debbie probed.
“You see, everyone thought that Horseshoe Jimmy…”
“You’re referring to James A. Michaels Senior, right?” Debbie interjected.
“Yep, by nineteen eighty, he was a dapper granddad, thick white hair and a cleft chin, who had spent his life as part of the Syrian-Lebanese syndicate. He’d gotten his start in organized crime as part of the Cuckoos, a south side gang from the times of Prohibition. By twenty-five, he was already in prison after holding up a railroad office in East Saint Louis. And there’s a great photo of him from nineteen fifty-nine just before he tried to slug a photographer.”
“I know the one you’re talking about,” Debbie said. “It appears in the story I wrote for this month’s issue about the mob war. That picture was taken at police headquarters after he was nabbed in a liquor raid.”
Crime Beat Girl
Debbie Bradley Crime Mysteries Book 1
A girl is dead. A boy is locked up.
Can Debbie Bradley discover the truth before more lives are
lost…maybe even her own?
A series of deadly shootings.
An outbreak of stolen cars. When journalist Debbie Bradley returns
home to St. Louis, the summer crime wave has started. And she’s in
the center: A witness, a reporter, a target.
Debbie’s
reasons for leaving behind her promising career in Washington D.C.
were complicated. Her mother, a prominent lawyer, was diagnosed with
cancer. Her engagement was cooling. When she got offered a job in St.
Louis that she hadn’t been looking for, Debbie recognized an
opportunity. Or an escape.
But she didn’t expect to come
home and see a girl die. Debbie never planned to investigate a boy
behind bars. And she didn’t anticipate colliding with hostile cops
and wary politicians.
As her work gains attention, Debbie
gathers enemies. Will her assignment to cover the St. Louis crime
beat be her last?
What readers are saying:
“Intense crime story full of unexpected twists and turns” — Readers’ Favorite, 5-Star Review
“Gripping
crime story…with deep themes and highlighting very real problems” —
Readers’ Favorite, 5-Star Review
“A
page-turner, engaging the reader from the first page to the last” —
Readers’ Favorite, 5-Star Review
Geri L. Dreiling is the author of Crime Beat Girl, the debut novel in the Debbie Bradley Mystery series, which received seven book awards. She is also the author of Erasing the Past. Dreiling is an award-winning journalist as well as professor and lawyer. She lives in St. Louis.
Check out the St. Louis on the Air interview for Crime Beat Girl!
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