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Back The Ursulina Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
  1. I know you'll never forgive me...
  2. Part One - Your Father
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Part Two - Your Mother
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. About the Author

Darrell headed for the cruiser. Ben Malloy put his hands on his hips and sucked in a loud breath of cold air through his clenched teeth. He was a tough man to dislike, but also an easy man to be annoyed by. He was very tall and heavyset, but he had the cherubic face of a little boy. His short hair was brown and wavy, and he had a nervous habit of constantly pushing it back from his forehead. For a big man, he had quick, graceful movements.

“So, Rebecca Colder,” Ben proclaimed. “Are you going to help me find the Ursulina?”

“My job is to help Darrell figure out who killed Gordon Brink,” I replied.

“One and the same! One and the same!”

“This is a criminal investigation, Mr. Malloy. Not a television show.”

“Ah, I can see Darrell trained you in his image. No nonsense. Always serious. I like that. Well, it may surprise you to know that I’m a serious man, too.”

“Oh, yes?”

“Extremely serious,” Ben assured me.

“Serious about what? Money?”

Ben took his pipe out of his mouth and reappraised me with a whimsical smirk. “Well, well, well, you’re a smart one, aren’t you?”

“Darrell’s smart. I just work hard.”

“Oh, you can pretend all you want, but I can see you’ve got a lot ticking behind those dark eyes. People shouldn’t mess with you, should they? Well, here’s the thing, Rebecca Colder. Yes, I’ve made a lot of money selling tall tales. I won’t deny it. Did ancient astronauts visit Earth and leave their technology behind with the Mayans and Egyptians? Between you and me, probably not. Is there really a curse on King Tut’s tomb? Doubtful. But the Ursulina story isn’t just about ratings or money to me.”

“No?”

“No indeed. You see, I grew up in Black Wolf County just like you, and I know a secret.”

“What’s that?”

Ben winked and lowered his voice. He leaned in close enough that I could smell pipe smoke on his breath. “The Ursulina isn’t a myth. It’s real. I’ve seen it.”

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

The return of Ben Malloy reheated the cold investigation into Gordon Brink’s murder. That was mostly because Sheriff Jackson began to get dozens of media calls from around the country asking if the Ursulina was back and whether we were any closer to trapping the killer beast.

“We look like idiots!” Jerry shouted at us in his office behind the closed door. “Did you see 60 Minutes last night? Andy Rooney did his whole piece on the Ursulina. He rattled off all the unsolved crimes we could put to bed now. He had a photo of the Ursulina on the grassy knoll in Dallas. The Ursulina burying Jimmy Hoffa. The Ursulina parachuting out of a 727 with D. B. Cooper’s ransom money.”

“Ben knows how to get publicity,” Darrell replied.