Lee Hacklyn 1970s Private Investigator in The Legend of The Quick-Draw Phantom: Lee Hacklyn, #1

By John Leister

New York City.  1977.

Actor Colton Maine, star of "The Quick-Draw Phantom," hires Lee

for bodyguard duty, as he tours the country promoting his autobiography.

Shortly after Lee takes the job, two of Colton's cast-mates,

Joe Hawk and Cindy Campbell, are murdered.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Leister
• Release date: Apr 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215209578

Book preview

Table of Contents

Lee Hacklyn 1970s Private Investigator in The Legend of The Quick-Draw Phantom

Lee Hacklyn

1970s Private Investigator

in

The Legend of The Quick-Draw Phantom

by

John Leister

CHAPTER ONE

FROM Grab The Reins of Your Life and Ride—The Autobiography of Colton Maine.

In just about every interview I’ve ever participated in, the subject of luck comes up.

How much of your success do you attribute to luck?

For me, luck is a subjective word that’s not very useful to me, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel like the luckiest man in the world; every day of my life.

I was lucky to be born in America, the land of the free.

I was lucky to be born after the Industrial Revolution, a time when men innovated, created and manifested like never before.

I was lucky that I was born with the ability to see, hear and speak, unlike so many others.

I was born with two arms, two legs and I was lucky to be raised by parents who were hard-working, God-fearing, and Christian.

They set sky-high examples for me, my older brother, Justin and my younger sister, Gertrude.

As for my quote-unquote success?

Well, I prefer to think that all of the good things that I have in my life, all the wonderful people who love me as much as I love them, my health—smoking notwithstanding—-there’s never been a picture of me smoking, I’m proud to say—are the results of the choices I’ve made with my God-given free will.

I’ll never understand a loser who walks around all day, looking at his feet, when he could hold his head high and smile, because today might be his last day.

I’ll never understand a man who chooses the road to ruin over the Yellow Brick Road.

Life can be cruel sometimes, but it’s a lot crueler when we don’t believe in ourselves.

CHAPTER TWO

From Grab The Reins of Your Life and Ride—the Autobiography of Colton Maine.

I was born on December 25th, 1909, Merry Christmas!

My father, William, and his brother, Ewan, emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland, with their wives, Sheila and Abigail.  The Maine clan.

Dad and Uncle Ewan were iron workers.

They literally built bridges.

On October 1st, 1910, Uncle Ewan was killed while walking past the Los Angeles Times Building, which was intentionally dynamited, in one of, no pun intended, life’s little ironies, by a member of the Union Dad and Uncle Ewan belonged to, The International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron-Workers Union.

While working one day in 1911, Dad lost both of his middle fingers.

He frequently like to tell us, me, Justin and Gertrude, this what can happen when we don’t pay attention in life.

If anyone ever gave him a hard time, for any reason, he liked to say, I wanted to flip that guy the bird, then, I remembered that I couldn’t, so I gave him a thumb’s up instead.  It’s a good life lesson, kids.  Never allow a Grumpy Gus to darken your day.  The Bible says love your enemies.  That’s sound advice.  Living your life with hate in your heart is no life at all.

We grew up in the San Fernando Valley.

After Uncle Ewan died, Aunt Abigail moved in with us.  She cried every night at dinner.  She never remarried and we never saw her leave the house.  I think she had what shrinks call agoraphobia.  I always felt bad for her. 

We attended Valley High.

Justin was brainy, athletic and all the girls chased after him the same way the Coyote chased after the Road Runner.

Gertrude was shy, studious, and like me, an avid and voracious reader, although her tastes leaned towards the classics and thought my tastes belonged in the gutter.

Suffice to say, I was the oddball of the Maine clan.

I grew up with my face buried in the pulp