Stories of Tie Up Games

Dear @Caesar73, thank you so much for this wonderful compliment. The next episode will land tomorrow morning. Hang in there, my friend.

Dear @LunaDog, I promise, we will find out soon.

Rolling his shoulders back, Dance steps up to the steel-framed door and raps twice - firm, deliberate, the kind of knock that suggests a man used to being answered.
“Hello!” His voice carries enough gravel to sound like authority, not a question.

There’s the scrape of something metal against ...

Dear @Caesar73, hang on and find out. They are getting closer now.

Dear @Caesar73, this is - once more - epic.
What can I say? Your girls always deliver.

Dear LunaDog , thank you so much for the compliment. You're right. This is Merjem's story of breaking away from the archaic structures her family is still caught in.
And she managed to find help from someone who doesn't take no for an answer - and, if need be, can call on the right people to ...

Dear @LunaDog, I love this. Can we get more F/F, please? Pretty please with sugar on top.

The drive down to the Bronx is all sodium-lit streets and the occasional flash of headlights off the Volvo’s hood.
The further south they go, the more the storefronts turn into iron-gated repair shops, muffler specialists, and hand-painted signs promising “Best Tires in Town” in both English and ...

Dear @Caesar73, it's only today and a wakeup, but I'm sure you'll enjoy the ride.

Dear @LunaDog, I'm afraid, that's the case. But in tomorrow's episode, we will see what unfolds in the Bronx.

The drive to Yonkers is quiet but charged, the Volvo’s hum barely covering the sound of Erica’s grinding thoughts.
Beside her, John Dance rides with the easy stillness of a man who’s learned to let silence do its work.

The address leads them to a squat brick apartment block wedged between a halal ...

Dear @LunaDog, absolutely. John Dance not only brings muscles, but also brains.

The phone rings once.
Twice.
Then a voice, low and gravel-edged, answers:
“You’re not calling to catch up, are you?”

“No,” Erica says. “I’m not.”

He’s silent, but she can almost hear him shifting in his chair - already alert, calculating.
“What’s happening?”

She doesn’t waste a syllable.
“I’ve ...

Dear @LunaDog, dear @Caesar73 there will be a bit of suspense after tomorrow's episode since I'll be away for the weekend and I'm not sure if there's going to be WiFi and cell reception.
Please stay tuned.

Dear @LunaDog, you have the eyes of a hawk. I try to please. Sometimes the AI does what I tell her to do.

The Becks’ house sits at the end of a quiet street in Queens - red brick, white trim, low hedges lining the path to the porch.
King of Queens architecture: modest, neat, lived-in.
The porch light glows like a beacon, the curtains are drawn.

A storm without rain presses down on the whole block ...

Dear Caesar73 , in my line of work I have seen a lot of "traditional" customs that seems impossible for us. Theystill marry minors as young as 14 and forced marriage is definitely a thing in certain cultures.
I'm staying away from using minors as active characters in my stories, though, so Merjem ...

Erica picks it up without hesitation, her thumb sliding to accept the call.
“Holly,” she says, voice level - calm, composed, but already bracing.
Their receptionist calling her after hours?
That cannot mean good news.

There’s a breathless pause, then:
“Ms. Sinclair…” Holly’s voice trembles around ...

Dear @LunaDog, then let's see what Holly has to say...

Dear @LunaDog, exactly.
Erica is going home. She knows that despite the glamour of the city, in her heart, she never stopped being a small town girl.

And as for the brown mass hitting the fan... why would Carrie's older sister call after hours?
We're picking up speed.

With Merjem safely installed at Ironwood Pastures and Ahmad Nowzad firmly made aware that the law is not on his side, Erica turns her attention back to the business that bears her name in polished letters on the glass doors - Sinclair & Associates.

The morning passes in a blur of case notes, a ...

Dear @LunaDog, dear @Caesar73, we will see what the Nowzads do. For the time being, nobody is missing Carrie - yet.

Dear @LunaDog, dear @Caesar73, although the Nowzads are not professional kidnappers, they seem both desperate and determined enough to find out where Merjem is hiding.
Trouble is: Carrie doesn't know either.
What are they going to do - feed her tea and baklava - or something else?

Carrie Beck pulls her phone from her jacket pocket for what feels like the hundredth time.
Her thumb taps the screen, her eyes already scanning for what she knows won’t be there.

No message.

No missed calls.

Just silence.

She can hear the panic in her own voice now - rising with every message ...

"With malice towards none..." that's a part of Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration speech. Incidently enough, the man who shot him a month later, was in the crowd when Lincoln gave this speech.