atrick Longmeier was infuriating. Even after drinking an entire glass of water and consuming far more than my share of the appetizer he ordered—jalapeño poppers—I felt off-kilter. I wasn't sure whether to attribute that feeling to the moonshine or...

icky Wright was a two-timing, good-for-nothing scoundrel. A rascal, a scalawag who had cheated on his wife, impregnated his girlfriend, and then refused to leave his wife for his girlfriend.   And now he was dead.   The prime suspect in...

here are as many ways to update a news story as there are reporters. The original story, especially when it's written on deadline, always includes the Who, What, When, Where and How. But after that, the variations are endless as journalists seek...

emories disguised as dreams woke me up halfway through the night after Nicky Wright's death and Patrick Longmeier's return to Juniper. I lay awake in the dark, Patrick's presence so strong he could have been there next to me, his hand reaching out...

n New Year's Day, I received two phone calls—one about a dead body and one about a live body—and I couldn't decide which one would make this year more interesting.   The dead body belonged to Nicky Wright, an otherwise typical mid-thirties guy...