The right handle snapped toward the ceiling. The warped frame followed its familiar bias, rolling the wheelbarrow hard to the left. The tray pivoted over the single wheel, and one steel support leg tore across the concrete with a shriek that filled the workshop. Wet mortar heaved over the lip and struck the floor in a heavy gray sheet.

The kick had not moved two hundred pounds. It had lifted one handle past the wheelbarrow’s bad balance point. The mortar and gravity had done the rest.

Despite his training, the leader dropped his eyes toward the motion.

Kate threw her weight sideways.

She tipped with the chair. Its rear leg struck the leader across his shin, forcing him to Continue Reading “DEAD LOAD (A Nick Stello Action Thriller) Chapter Three: The Rough Ashlar”

CRACK!

The hammer struck the diagonal brace exactly where Nick intended. Dry pine splintered outward from the impact point. The unstable frame lurched to the left, pressing against the scaffolding, buckling a weak strut.

Nick never saw most of it. The moment the hammer left his hand, he was already moving.

A wall doesn’t fail because one stone falls. It fails when several stones fall simultaneously. In the same way, a good plan requires several independent pieces moving at the same time.

Tough to do when you’re acting alone.

Only Nick wasn’t alone. He had gravity as his partner. If it chose to play its part.

Would it?Continue Reading “DEAD LOAD (A Nick Stello Action Thriller) Chapter Two: The Load Path”

The granite didn’t care about the cold.

Neither did Nick Stello.

The hardened stone mason adjusted his grip on the three-pound steel club hammer, his thumb resting just beneath the head for maximum control, and delivered a short, rhythmic strike to the tungsten carbide chisel.

Clink!

The sound rolled across the valley and disappeared into the trees.

No sirens.

No radios.

No shouted orders.

Just wind.

Most people would have called the valley isolated.

Nick preferred the word…Continue Reading “DEAD LOAD (A Nick Stello Action Thriller) Chapter One: The Plumb Line”