Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    I Went Down to the Valley
    I Went Down to the Valley
    I Went Down to the Valley
    Ebook181 pages3 hours

    I Went Down to the Valley

    By Tony Masero

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    It looked simple on the face of it – TV actor commits suicide, what more is there to say? You hear it every day.
    Trouble is there’s no good reason. He’s the company’s well-liked leading star, a nice fellow with a successful career, a sweet sponsorship profile and a whole shiny Hollywood future ahead of him.
    That’s when they call in troubleshooting PI Jack Stern to put a gloss on things but what Jack uncovers leads him down a complex avenue of sex and intrigue.
    It seems there will be a long trail of death and deceit before Jack can leave this particular valley of shadows.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTony Masero
    Release dateApr 26, 2015
    ISBN9781310380709
    I Went Down to the Valley
    Author

    Tony Masero

    It’s not such a big step from pictures to writing.And that’s how it started out for me. I’ve illustrated more Western book covers than I care to mention and been doing it for a long time. No hardship, I hasten to add, I love the genre and have since a kid, although originally I made my name painting the cover art for other people, now at least, I manage to create covers for my own books.A long-term closet writer, only comparatively recently, with a family grown and the availability of self-publishing have I managed to be able to write and get my stories out there.As I did when illustrating, research counts a lot and has inspired many of my Westerns and Thrillers to have a basis in historical fact or at least weave their tale around the seeds of factual content.Having such a visual background, mostly it’s a matter of describing the pictures I see in my head and translating them to the written page. I guess that’s why one of my early four-star reviewers described the book like a ‘Western movie, fast paced and full of action.’I enjoy writing them; I hope folks enjoy reading the results.

    Read more from Tony Masero

    Related to I Went Down to the Valley

    Related ebooks

    Thrillers For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      California Screaming

      Mar 24, 2021

      California Screaming
      5 min read

    • Article

      Excerpt

      May 21, 2019

      In the yellow corridor they marched the women single file. Jodi, feeling the worry of the eight at her back, wondered what significance to attach to her position as first behind the sergeant. Not much at Jaxton was left to chance. Oldest, she thought

      7 min read

    • Article

      Too BAD

      Aug 30, 2022

      Too BAD
      6 min read

    • Article

      Apocrypha

      Feb 6, 2020

      Apocrypha
      2 min read

    • Article

      Excerpts From The Works Of The 2024 Whiting Award Winners

      Apr 10, 2024

      The 2024 Whiting Award winners were announced Wednesday night. Below are excerpts from their work.

      19 min read

    • Article

      Smrtss

      Apr 10, 2024

      In the dim, wet oven of the Huey’s troop compartment, the corporal sat on a flak jacket behind the sweat-stained backs of First Squad. Simms, the big machine gunner for Fire Team 2, leaned back against him, jamming the corporal’s knees right up to hi

      13 min read

    • Article

      Righteous

      Jan 22, 2019

      Righteous
      8 min read

    • Article

      Whose Life Is It

      Dec 10, 2023

      “What the hell?” Danny jumped up and tore out of the kitchen where he’d been reading his mail and enjoying a quiet lunch with his sister, Elaine. Startled, she looked up from the newspaper. “Danny?” He ran through the foyer, out the front door, and t

      7 min read

    • Article

      79 The Terrible Grinning Men

      Sep 10, 2020

      79 The Terrible Grinning Men
      8 min read

    • Article

      Chop-chop

      Feb 6, 2020

      Chop-chop
      6 min read

    • Article

      Come with Me

      Dec 1, 2022

      Come with Me
      12 min read

    • Article

      A Temporary Arrangement

      Oct 2, 2023

      A Temporary Arrangement
      19 min read

    • Article

      The Emperors of Existence

      Dec 28, 2018

      The Emperors of Existence
      9 min read

    • Article

      “Really?”

      Jun 2, 2022

      “Really?”
      6 min read

    • Article

      The July War

      Sep 8, 2020

      In summer, our neighborhood quiets in phases. The quieting begins in May. Schools give their older kids, the seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds, a month off to prepare for the baccalaureate exams. Following a ritual as old as our parents, the students

      21 min read

    • Article

      All Of Us Here

      Jun 4, 2020

      All Of Us Here
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Penalty

      Nov 5, 2020

      The Penalty
      8 min read

    • Article

      All My Tomorrows

      May 10, 2022

      It was Misha’s first day minding the shop, and already she’d broken the fifth rule. Always lock the door immediately. When you had the most valuable merchandise in the universe, you had to take the utmost precautions. She hadn’t meant to disobey. It

      13 min read

    • Article

      Summer Beach Reads

      Jan 10, 2021

      Summer Beach Reads
      7 min read

    • Article

      Quantum Radio

      Feb 22, 2023

      Quantum Radio
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Freshening

      Sep 15, 2018

      My cashier’s black hair was beautiful. Though not unlike mine, it was shinier and thicker, and hung glamorously down to her waist. It looked strong, too, like Christopher Reeve’s in the Superman movies. A strand of Superman’s silvery hair could hold

      21 min read

    • Article

      Tc Boyle Profile

      May 15, 2019

      BECAUSE WE’RE ANIMALS: Seven conversations from an afternoon with T. C. Boyle By Peter Nowogrodzki T.C. Boyle is standing at the front gate entrance to his Montecito home—an imposing Frank Lloyd Wright structure clad in long horizontal slats of redwo

      26 min read

    • Article

      The Lives of Bryan

      Jun 1, 2023

      The Lives of Bryan
      19 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for I Went Down to the Valley

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      I Went Down to the Valley - Tony Masero

      I WENT DOWN TO THE VALLEY

      Tony Masero

      It looked simple on the face of it – TV actor commits suicide, what more is there to say? You hear it every day.

      Trouble is there’s no good reason. He’s the company’s well-liked leading star, a nice fellow with a successful career, a sweet sponsorship profile and a whole shiny Hollywood future ahead of him.

      That’s when they call in troubleshooting PI Jack Stern to put a gloss on things but what Jack uncovers leads him down a complex avenue of sex and intrigue.

      It seems there will be a long trail of death and deceit before Jack can leave this particular valley of shadows.

      A Hand Painted Thriller Publication

      Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations,

      or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or

      mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information or storage and retrieval system, without the

      written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright © Tony Masero 2015

      Chapter One

      They were eager, the both of them.

      It wasn’t protocol but to hell with that, this one needed doing and it needed doing right now.

      The old apartment high-rise tower reflecting in the windscreen of the patrol car loomed up above them and they both ducked forward under the screen surround to look up at the sheer sides of the ruined building.

      The two uniforms had parked their Crown Vic Interceptor under cover of the freeway pillars that arched high above and framed a stark view below looking across open waste ground to the condemned building. An acre of muddy pools and forgotten junk stretched before them in a weed covered and desolate wasteland, only ending at the empty doorway and cement shell of what had once been optimistically called The Rainbow Building. But that was back in the sixties and now it owned no more than a fond memory of those headier days. Not a window held glass just plumed marks of soot where the fire had burned and the only decoration remaining on the bleak walls was an array of crude graffiti that ran like a chain of insult all around at head height.

      The black cop turned from the steering wheel to his white partner, ‘You ready for this?’

      ‘Damned right,’ agreed his companion.

      ‘You know we’ll get some harsh words for going in alone.’

      ‘Listen, if that CI of yours is right and that little girl is in there and we get her out okay, I don’t give a damn what the commander or anyone else says or does. We’ve wanted this too long, Buddy.’

      Buddy Keys’s face set itself grimly and he stared vacantly ahead through the screen glass, unfocused and seeing nothing out there but the stained gray cement and empty windows of the rundown tower. He was a good-looking black man, tall and strong with noble features that exuded both command and physical capability.

      ‘Okay but it still doesn’t settle things between us, you know that, don’t you?’

      His partner sighed in exasperation, ‘Look, I’ve told you a million times, I care for Laura; I’ve said that often enough, haven’t I? I swear it to you, Buddy. We love each other, I want to marry her.’

      ‘She’s my sister, man,’ Buddy complained finally.

      ‘I can’t help that.’

      ‘And she’s in a wheelchair, how you going to handle that?’

      ‘I’ll care for her the same way you have ever since she was a kid. I know how hard it’s been for you and neither of us wants to cut you out, she still has only love for you, partner. Listen to me, I’ll make her happy, I swear I will.’

      ‘You don’t and you know I’ll bring you your head on a plate?’

      Able Cane sighed, his clean-cut and handsome face looking strained and pale, ‘I read you.’

      Buddy rolled his large shoulders and sucked air, pumping himself up and shifting to the back of his mind their personal problems as he confronted the task ahead.

      ‘We going to do this or not?’

      Able nodded ‘What about….’ He jerked his head at the instrument cluster under the dash. ‘We’d better call something in.’

      They looked at each other and Able Cane’s blue eyes met Buddy Lee’s brown ones in understanding and they both smiled with artful humor. Able depressed the mike button, ‘Control, Mobile TAC Team Adam Two-One, we have a suspicious sighting at The Rainbow Building. Possible 417, unknown making entry, appears to be armed. We’re going in to investigate. Two-One over.’

      ‘Roger, Two-One, repeat your location?’

      ‘Downtown, the old derelict Rainbow Building.’

      ‘You need backup, Two-One?’

      The question hung in the air. Buddy pulled a face and quirked a questioning eyebrow at his partner, who’s thumb hung over the dispatch button, ‘Last chance,’ whispered Buddy with a smile.

      ‘We’re good to go, Control. Two-One out.’

      They stepped out of the Crown Vic and moved around to the trunk, Able opened it and both men lifted out and put on their body armor, the snug and molded protective plate fastened by Velcro straps that covered the thorax. Able took for himself the Ithaca 12-gauge shotgun from the clip near the driving seat and Buddy checked the load on his service Glock and holding the pistol down alongside his leg he eased off the safety.

      At twelve feet apart both men started the long walk across the waste ground and began moving resolutely towards the decayed building.

      The ground floor litter they found inside the entrance hall was gross, rotting heaps of rubbish and rubble lay everywhere like a carpet, used needles and condoms shared the foyer with human waste, empty take-out cartons and rusting market trolleys. Moving in concert, weapons held at the ready they mounted the stairwell, an open cement pathway that climbed in stages upwards alongside the defunct and debris filled elevator shaft.

      Everywhere were signs of gang use, spray graffiti marked out local warrior emblems next to more basic and crude descriptions of the sex act in every vulgar form. Halfway up the first flight, Buddy stumbled, his boot nudged an empty soda can that rolled over the edge of the steps and fell with a hollow rattle into the foyer below. Both cops froze and Able looked hard at his partner.

      ‘You, okay?’ he asked.

      ‘Yeah, sorry,’ whispered Buddy.

      Silence greeted them at every landing, the dark corridors stretching away into black emptiness on either side. Able led the way, the Glock clasped in both hands and held at arm’s length. Buddy, behind him guarded their rear, swiveling the shotgun down each corridor in readiness as they passed.

      It was on the fifth floor that they heard sound.

      Music. Playing in a soft and regular beat. Not overloud only a background drum sound echoing eerily along the corridor.

      Shuffling forward, the two cops approached the one blocked doorway filled by a sheet of plywood. A painted face in red was drawn on the flat surface, a screaming demon, the mouth wide open with sharp fangs displayed and the gaping lips spewing an array of naked female bodies.

      Able placed his head close to the door, listening.

      The steady tum-tum-tum sound came from inside and Able nodded his head at Buddy.

      This was the place.

      Buddy lunged forward and slammed his boot up against the cheap plywood; splintering the frail frame and bursting the door wide open as if it were matchwood.

      Holding their weapons at the ready they quickly shouldered their way into the apartment.

      ‘Police!’ Buddy called out in the required warning as he forged ahead into the long narrow corridor. ‘LAPD! Coming in.’

      Except for the continuous drum sound everything was quiet inside and they paused listening carefully.

      Together they worked as an efficient team, each checking cautiously each room they passed as they moved down the seedy passageway.

      Dressed all in black, the shooter was hidden in the old apartment lounge at the end of the corridor, holding cover behind the ragged drapes with an AK47 down by his side. He wore the requisite black ski mask and crouched ready, waiting for the two policemen to enter.

      They were five stories up in the apartment block and there was no easy escape, the man was trapped and would have to fight his way out.

      Able heard the whimpering sounds coming from the kitchen area and swung around the doorway, Glock pistol at the ready. His eyes ran swiftly over the room. Tired kitchen equipment met his gaze; a dirty camping stove black with burnt fat and engrained soot. The sink piled high with dirty pots and crockery and flies buzzing lazily in spirals above. He could still hear the sound of a little girl crying and desperately looked around the room until his eye fell on the tallboy-sized rusting refrigerator standing in one corner.

      He moved on over to the fridge, a look of trepidation on his face. They had come on body parts neatly preserved by this particularly insane perp earlier. Images flashed before Able’s eyes of severed hands and decapitated heads kept in freezer bags and Able was dreading that he might find something similar in the ice box.

      Keeping an eye on the corridor behind him the officer swiftly swung back the fridge door and was greeted by the putrid stink of rotten food. There was no electricity here, it was merely for storage like a kitchen cupboard but the stored food had moved into a zone long past its produce sell-by-date in the warm weather. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Able kicked the door closed with his boot. He could still hear the soft sounds of despair and without hesitation he lunged at the fridge sliding the heavy object away from the wall.

      Behind was exposed the ragged edge of broken sheets of plasterboard and beyond a small hole where a tiny child crouched. It was a filthy half naked little girl with ratty hair hanging down and a tear stained face staring up at the policeman with large pleading eyes.

      ‘Don’t worry, honey,’ said Able softly. ‘We’re here to get you out.’

      He turned to the doorway and called out, ‘In here Buddy, I’ve found her!’

      Buddy meanwhile was peering suspiciously around the lounge. He felt something was wrong in here; there were bizarrely drawn pictures of headless children executed in crayon pinned to the walls and a puff-powder splattering of what looked like cocaine on a large broken piece of mirror balanced on bricks in the center of the room. Empty take-out pizza boxes littered the floor alongside crumpled beer cans, the whole place smelt ripe and with the windows covered by ragged drapes the light inside the room was dim.

      Alert for any sound Buddy shuffled one foot before the other into the room, ever conscious of his body posture and where he placed his feet on the rubbish strewn floor, Buddy searched the darkened room. His partner, Able Cane was calling to him but Buddy stayed focused, attentive to any shift in atmosphere.

      The rip of the AK47 tore through the scanky curtain material, the killer blasting directly through the drapes and the gas muzzle flash set the dry rags alight in an instant. Flame blossomed upwards along the tired material in a flaring sheet and the man in the ski mask burst through the flames to fire a long blast from the Kalashnikov that tore across the room and sent the exposed Buddy spinning. He fell to the stained carpet, wincing with pain at the wound that pumped blood from his side beneath the body armor.

      Two-handed and firing between his legs from his position on the floor, Buddy pumped off a series of shots from the Ithaca. The AK47 bearing protagonist, buckled under the impact of the double-ought shells. Staggering with fragments of flesh and blood sluicing explosively as each load of nine pellets struck. The shooter bucked forward with his trigger finger trapped inside the guard and keeping up a continuous chain of firing, bullets stitched a path across the ceiling and blasted clouds of dust and plaster that fell in a rain over the fallen officer below.

      With an angry snarl and gritted teeth, Buddy kept pumping and firing until his weapon was empty and the man in black fell forward in a slowly arcing decline like felled timber. He dropped directly across the sheet of mirror, smashing through it to lay flat and still amongst the glittering shards as a haze of coke and plaster dust settled around him.

      Able came rushing into the room his Glock at the ready, ‘Buddy! You okay.’

      ‘I don’t think so,’ groaned Buddy.

      Able quickly checked the pulse on the perp to check he was no longer a problem, kicked aside the Kalashnikov and then knelt beside his friend. Speaking in a clear yet urgent voice Able fingered the lapel mike on his Rover and made contact.

      ‘Control, Mobile TAC Adam Two-One, 10-53 we have a man down. Repeat, Two-One needs medical attention. 10-53, man down.’

      ‘Able,’ wheezed Buddy, grasping his partner’s arm tightly. There was the squabble of queries coming down the wire from Control but Able ignored it, leaning close to hear what Buddy was saying.

      ‘What is it?’

      ‘Did you find her?’

      ‘We did, we saved the baby girl.’

      ‘Thank God! Damn but it hurts. I don’t know if I’ll make it this time, Able. This one feels bad, real bad. Do something for me, will you? Marry that sister of mine but I won’t be around to tell her it’s okay… Tell her for me, partner?’

      Only worried concern showed on Able’s face as he leaned forward to hear his partner’s gasping words.

      ‘Sure, but hang in there Buddy, help will be here soon. You’ll be okay, you’ll be able to tell her yourself. It’s guaranteed I

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1