Last Stand of the Valley Street Terrors — Createspace

This is our second novel writing as a team. Last Stand is a continuation of the characters Elizabeth Carol and Nicholas Hunter. We alternate characters and writers. It is written in first person, and is 108,000 words. Prologue While walking to class at Vassar College, Jody Baker is struck by a car. The driver of the car was talking on her cell phone. Jody was also talking on a cell phone to her father, Congressman Thaddeus Baker. Thaddeus listens helplessly as his daughter dies thirty feet from where the car struck her. Several years later, Batty Jo Counts is preparing to meet a source that claims to have information on the death of her boyfriend Robert Long. Betty Jo, an editor at a small town paper, is willing to meet the source despite her apprehension. Robert worked for the Washington Post, and was writing a story about Congressman Baker, and his crusade to stop driving while on cell phones. The story begins with a disagreement between Elizabeth and Nickolas over which state has the best fall foliage. The disagreement leads them back to Elizabeth's hometown of Laurel, Virginia. There, Elizabeth discovers that her childhood friend Betty Jo Counts was murdered the year before. After talking with the local sheriff Lester Odum (her high school sweetheart), Elizabeth discovers that Betty Jo's murder produced no suspects, and few clues. Taking it upon herself to discover what happened to her friend, Elizabeth attempts to put the pieces together. With Nickolas' help the two start asking questions in Laurel. Elizabeth reconnects with, Patsy Shankel and Elsie Adams. As teenagers, the four girls, Elizabeth, Betty Jo, Patsy, and Elsie formed The Valley Street Terrors. A name they inherited after standing up to an equal number of trouble making boys. Through persistence, Elizabeth and Nick discover several murders had similarities to Betty Jo's. They ask for help from Elizabeth's CIA partner, Skinny, who provides them with FBI files and backgrounds on the victims. Elizabeth and Nick discover one common denominator in all the victims, an acquaintance with the local Congressman, Thaddeus Baker. Concluding that the congressman might be last on the murderers' list, Elizabeth and Nick stay close to the politician as he visits Laurel for a town hall meeting. When the attempt comes on the congressman's life, it comes from an unexpected direction. With help from a precocious and feisty sixteen year old girl named Clair O'Keefe, the group comes together one last time to save the Congressman and apprehend the killer. Thomas Cobey Thelma Musick