Showing results by author "Bill Bernico" in All Categories

There was nothing Fred Pickering liked better than standing on his back porch on a warm summer's evening watching the sun dip down below the horizon. Well, almost nothing. Fred loved birds. He loved everything about birds. His personal library of bird books numbered in the dozens. He had bird feeders hanging from most of the trees in his yard and he'd even given names to several of the more recognizable birds.

It's 1980 and Clay Cooper is now running Cooper Investigations with his father, Matt, helping out as needed. Matt decides to join a lonely hearts club to try to find a companion his own age. He finds one and they have a wonderful night of coffee and talking. The next morning when he goes to call her, Sergeant Dean Hollister (Dan's son) answers the phone. The woman has been murdered and Matt was the last one to see her alive. He's been framed but he and Clay won't sit still for it. What they find during their investigation is a case of major proportions and a lot of people will die before this story is over...some you'll know and some will be strangers.

You have a chance to audition for the lead guitar position in Ricky Nelson's band. You have the experience, you just bought a new Fender Telecaster and you are ready to make the big time. But be careful what you wish for, you just may get it.

I sat on the passenger's side in the front, next to Lou. Frankie sat directly behind me, keeping his gun at my neck. My reasons for being in this spot in the first place are unimportant. Let's just say that these two thugs had their orders and their orders included taking me for a ride. I always thought there'd be big money in being a mobster. It never dawned on me that what I knew would lead me to the predicament I now found myself in.

Kenney Masterson would rather intentionally hurt himself in public and then sue whomever he can, than work at a regular job. So far he's been pretty successful at avoiding work and he's always on the lookout for another big score from someone's insurance company. He's thinks he's found the perfect score, but will it be his Final Score?

You wake up one morning with the weight of the world on your shoulders. You just lost your job, your girlfriend dumped you and you're about to be evicted from your apartment. Is it worth even going on anymore? Maybe not, but before you pull that trigger why not give a call to the folks at the suicide hotline. Maybe they can help. How good are these people at their job? Someone's gonna die no matter what. And there ain't a thing you can do about it.

Life in the nursing home is boring, so you decide to just wander away one day in search of adventure and excitement. You find a golf cart that someone has left nearby, while they search for their lost ball. It's your ticket to freedon and you drive away with the cops not far behind on your trail. Not exactly a high-speed chase scenario, but you still leave chaos in your wake. It's a day the rest of the town will remember. You've left your mark, and now it's nap time.

Twenty years earlier, Clay and his father, Matt Cooper, purchased a fully restored 1940 Oldsmobile sedan, just like the one Matt drove when he ran Cooper Investigations all those years ago. With Matt gone all these years, Clay decides to sell the vintage automobile on one of those online auction sites. Something goes terribly wrong and Clay can't stop it, not that he hasn't tried. Someone's going to get killed, and all over an old car.

Bert runs a hot dog stand on the street of New York and is just scraping by. His friend Alf washes windows eighty stories up in the air and makes five times what Bert makes. He's asked Bert to join him up in the clouds but Bert is afraid of heights. On the other hand, if Bert doesn't joins him, he may lose his apartment. What to do, what to do.

We've all been there. Some punk with a beater car creates a road rage situation, but being that your car is a new Mercedes-Benz, you don't want to take any chances so you let it slide. But the kid's not done playing with you. He raises the stakes but pointing a revolver at you. To hell with the car, that's what insurance is for. Go get him.

Ralph has it bad. He's in love with Helen, who doesn't know he exists. His plan is to send her letters on a regular basis and sooner or later she's bound to give in. Ralph's friend Tom is not so sure that's such a great idea, you know, with the stalking laws and all. But Ralph persists and personally hands Jerry, the mailman, another of his convincing letters to personally deliver to Helen. Will Helen file a restraining order? Will Tom keep teasing Ralph? Will Jerry get sick of Ralph's letters to Helen?

Tim Murphy is a television newscaster who specializes in stories from the streets. After a long day on location, his cameraman drops him off at the studio, but it's closed for the day. He heads for his car but finds that someone has stolen it. Now, he has to walk home late at night on the same streets he's been reporting on. Can he make it home safely even though the only weapon in his pocket is a microphone? Let's find out.

It's been decades since the beatings and harassment and the humiliation of this high school bully, yet here he was big as life standing right in front of you at the car rental counter. You may never get this chance again. Go for it. Tell him what a jerk he was and how you'd like to punch his lights out. You jump over the counter, ready to exact your vengeance but you stop. Your bully is supporting himself on two crutches and he has braces on both legs. Now what? You can't very well beat up a cripple. Or can you?

Nothing exciting ever happened to Melissa Berkley. It was time to try to change that, she thought. She stood on the stern of the ship looking out at the horizon. Most of the other passengers stayed inside, or sat on the deck chairs with something to read. Melissa had something to read herself, even if it was just a short note on a post card that read: "To whomever finds this bottle: I dropped it overboard in the middle of Lake Michigan on this, the third day of September 1997. If you find it, please mail this post card back to me and let me know where you found it."

Here is A Ten-Pack of Shorts which includes: "Alice Visits a Psychiatrist:" Just back from Wonderland, Alice can’t believe what she saw and needs to tell someone. "Are We There Yet:" If that kid doesn’t stop asking if we’re there yet, I’ll…I’ll…You’ll what? "Automated 911:" Another annoyance of everyday life taken to extremes. "Blood Bath:" There’s blood everywhere in this room, yet no one was killed. How’s that possible?

Every community, including Delbert, Alabama, has its share of bullies. Jasper McKeever was the local bully and everyone knew they'd better give a wide berth to Jasper wherever he went. Jasper comes upon a roadside fireworks stand and requisitions, shall we say, his share of explosives. Now, what will he do with them? Will he terrorize the citizens of Delbert? Or will he keep this entertainment all to himself? Find out as Jasper meets his match.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. You've lost your job and your family needs money. You've exhausted all other options. Your last chance to bring home the bacon is to holdup a tavern and its patrons. As you wait in their restroom, trying to muster up the courage, two other robbers come in and proceed to rob your tavern. This is the last straw. Time for action.

Elliott and Gloria have left a mess back at the office and Clay Cooper uses that as an excuse to go and see his old friend, Lieutenant Dean Hollister at the L.A.P.D. He's caught Dean busy in the middle of several bank robbery investigations. Perhaps he could help, Clay suggests. Dean, always short-handed accepts and together, along with Detective Sergeant Eric Anderson, they answer the call for yet another bank robbery, the third that day.

You agree to meet with a hit man, but the person you want him to kill is... YOU. You're dying of bone cancer and this is the only way to make the insurance company pay so you can take care of your family when you're gone. This cat-and-mouse story is not all it seems, but the hit goes down exactly as planned.

Penelope was a plain, unassuming woman that nobody noticed. Her job was going nowhere. Enter Debbie, her new co-worker at the insurance company where Penelope had gone unnoticed for nearly three years. Debbie's going places in the company, and fast. Why? Because she saved her money and got breast implants. Once Penelope saw what those implants did for Debbie, she decided to have the operation herself. One way or another, she would get noticed. Be careful what you wish for, Penelope. Attention may not be all that it's cracked up to be.