Stage of Fools: The Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts

By Matty Dalrymple

NOTE: This story was written for an anthology that encouraged profanity. You have been forewarned. : )

Ann Kinnear can't pretend to be a fan of her latest gig: accompanying a rock cover band to their first session without their deceased drummer ... or is it the first session of a new, six-feet-undercover group? A rock classic accompanied by an unseen presence on the throne seems like the break the band has been waiting for ... until the wheels come off and Ann must try to keep things in the middle of the road for this stage of fools.

When we are born, we cry that we are come
To this great stage of fools.
—William Shakespeare, "King Lear"

An Ann Kinnear Suspense Short from Matty Dalrymple, author of the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, including Book 1: THE SENSE OF DEATH.

• Language: English
• Publisher: William Kingsfield Publishers
• Release date: Sep 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201707415

Book preview

Stage of Fools

STAGE OF FOOLS

AN ANN KINNEAR SUSPENSE SHORT

MATTY DALRYMPLE

WILLIAM KINGSFIELD PUBLISHERS

CONTENTS

Stage of Fools

Also by Matty Dalrymple

About the Author

When we are born, we cry that we are come

To this great stage of fools.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, KING LEAR

STAGE OF FOOLS

Ann Kinnear bounced in the back seat of the van as it trundled down the pothole-pocked alley. It slowed as it approached a building with a cracked stucco facade and a stepped roofline reminiscent of an old-fashioned gas station. A hand-painted sign over the battered, sticker-covered door read LOU’S OUT BACK .

The driver maneuvered around a telephone pole placed injudiciously between the alley proper and the single parking space just outside the building’s entrance. Scuff marks and denting around the pole’s base indicated that not every driver had been as careful. A spiderweb of wires and cables ran from a snarl at the top of the pole to the surrounding buildings.

Ann climbed out of the van’s back seat. The van’s other occupants got out as well. From the driver’s seat, a tall, thin man with close-cropped hair tinged with gray at the temples, wearing a purple leather jacket decorated with studs around the cuffs. From the passenger seat, a younger