Tailspin: The Strange Case of Major Call - Hardcover

Conners, Bernard F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0945167504 ISBN 13: 9780945167501

Publisher: British American Publishing, 2004

Synopsis

Written by former FBI agent and best-selling author Bernard F. Conners, TAILSPIN is a suspenseful true crime narrative which contains stunning revelations regarding Major James Call's role as Marilyn Sheppard's killer. It has received glowing endorsements from some of the top law enforcement and literary figures in America.

About this title

About the Author:

Bernard F. Conners is a former FBI agent and best-selling author of Dancehall and Don't Embarrass the Bureau. Mr. Conners has had a distinguished career in government, business, publishing, and film.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

One was shocked, the other remarkably cool. They stood virtually toe-to-toe, eyes riveted, pistols leveled. It was the briefest of confrontations but in that instant both knew death was near.

It was just past midnight in a small cabin deep in New York's Adirondack Mountains. One of the men, a police officer, had just discovered the other in the cellar hiding in a shower stall. The two were now motionless, eyes locked in a profound exchange during that infinitesimal time when synaptic gaps fuse triggering reactions. A shroud of dampness covered the fetid room. Suspended by a cord from the ceiling, a soft yellow lamp provided a glimmer of light. Then, imperceptibly, a whiff of air caused the lamp to move slightly, sending shimmering forms from the corners. One pair of eyes wavered, the other remained steady, glacial....

The eyes of the two men had viewed vastly different worlds. Dominick Valenze, Nick to his friends, of whom there were many, was an amiable, easy-going police officer; a thirty-nine-year-old family man who lived a respected and sedentary existence in the small hamlet of Lake Placid, New York. Rarely in his police work, until this moment, had Nick been on the wrong end of a firearm. Indeed, seldom had his revolver been unholstered, save for an occasional cleaning. Although minor legal infractions were part of his day, he handled them with equanimity, for Nick was first and foremost a peace officer.

A far different world had been witnessed by the other eyes now gripping Nick from the shower a breath away. They belonged to an Air Force major, recently decorated for flying sorties over Korea. They were eyes that had seen death many times, in many forms.

Now, in that eternal second, Nick Valenze knew he was at the brink. The trim, trenchcoated figure regarding him coolly from the shower stall had his arms folded languidly across his chest. In his right hand, held so that it pointed directly at Nick from the crook of the figure's left elbow, was a 9 mm Luger.

While the confrontation was taking place between the two men inside the cabin, waiting outside in a pouring rain was Officer Dick Pelkey, another family man. A few minutes earlier, he with Nick and two other Lake Placid policemen had come to the cabin in response to reports of suspicious activity. During recent weeks there had been burglaries in the area, including a $100,000 jewel theft at the renowned Lake Placid Club—highly unusual for a community which was virtually crime-free. Residents were uneasy. Particularly worrisome were reports that showed the perpetrator was a "hot burglar"—one who relied on weapons rather than stealth to accomplish robberies.

In view of the recent crimes, Nick and his fellow officers had reason to be apprehensive when they had rendezvoused at the cabin a short time before. Nick and another policeman, pistols drawn, had entered the premises, while Dick and the fourth officer had remained outside to cover the front and back doors. Dick had taken a post at the back near one of the large spruce trees surrounding the dwelling, from where he had watched as beams from the officers' flashlights flitted about inside.

Now, as his fellow officers moved unknowingly toward the confrontation with the stranger in the cellar, Dick was becoming increasingly uneasy. No longer could he see the flashlights. His eyes narrowed, scrutinizing the dark beyond the windows. Why are there no lights, he wondered. He stood near the towering trees, as motionless as their heavy trunks. More than the activity inside the camp, it was the surrounding blackness that made him uneasy. His position rendered him an easy target if there were something back there in the trees watching....

Suddenly, a light flashed in the cellar window. Then voices, sharp, threatening. Dick straightened, his hand loosening his pistol in its holster. All at once, a gust of wind ... a sharp fusillade of rain ricocheting off the camp roof. It startled him. Gimlet-eyed he focused on the base of the house where the cellar window glowed dimly. The rain was severe now, rattling on the visor of his cap, stinging his cheeks, lips. Little could he know that in seconds the interior of the cabin would be ablaze in gunfire. Some fourteen bullets would rip through walls, flesh and bones. Bodies would crumple. Dick, himself, would lie mortally wounded.

Behind him, awaiting the survivor of the impending mayhem, was the vast Adirondack Forest, an arboreal kingdom of quiet natural beauty. The violent noise about to erupt in the cabin would be quickly muted in the forest, where the only sounds were the mysterious nocturnal rhythms of the alpine wilderness. Here a heroic airman turned predator would follow the dark beat of the wild.

About this edition

• Publisher: British American Publishing
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0945167504
• ISBN 13: 9780945167501
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 506