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| Cover art by Jeff Butler |
“TARGET: DOMINO LADY”
By Bobby Nash
CHAPTER ONE
Jimmy Dugan had big dreams.
Ever since a chance meeting with the notorious Mafioso, Miles Prince, young Jimmy fancied himself a made man. No job was too small or menial in Jimmy’s mind as long as it kept him in Mr. Prince’ good graces. Despite his growing popularity as a mover and shaker in Hollywood, Miles Edward Prince, the self styled Prince of Hollywood was not the honest businessman he wanted everyone to believe him to be.
Prince was a man accustomed to getting what he wanted.
All The Prince had to do was ask and like an eager beaver young Jimmy Dugan was on it.
Despite a lofty self-image, Jimmy Dugan was a very small fish in a rather impressively large pond. A pond which grew larger every day, threatening to wash over the greater United States of America with a crashing roar not unlike that of a monstrous tidal wave.
Jimmy might have been a small fish, but he was making strides to elevate his position.
He had big plans.
For the last couple years, as he reached his mid twenties, he had tried to rid himself of the Young Jimmy Dugan description, but with little success. None of the Big Bosses, or Cappo’s as they had been called recently, could bring themselves to refer to him as James.
No, he was going to be Young Jimmy Dugan for the rest of his natural life. Even if he lived to be a hundred and twenty.
Unfortunately, the one thing he never suspected, was that Young Jimmy Dugan would not even make it to twenty-six.
On the occasion of the day of his birth, the Bosses pulled together and threw a party, a real splash of an event at the Hollywood Ritz, the most expensive hotel in all of Tinsel Town. Not that it was a birthday party for the youngster. The fact that it was held on his birthday was merely a coincidence.
Not that it mattered to him.
The all star bash brought out many faces Jimmy knew well. Not only was The Family well represented by some of its most notable members, even a few of Hollywood’s growing A-list made the invite list thanks to his bosses’ standing in the moving picture business.
Jimmy could scarcely contain his excitement when Rob Wyatt, star of some of his favorite manly movies sauntered in with a gorgeous woman clinging to each arm, their eyes glittering with excitement. Meeting some of his favorite actors had been exciting, but there were even better diversions than rubbing elbows with the rich and famous.
The women.
Though most of the starlets arrived “fashionably late,” Jimmy did not seem to mind. He was having the time of his life. Displaying a suave demeanor he usually could not muster around women, Jimmy sauntered over to a pair of lovelies in his best Rob Wyatt impersonation.
It worked like a charm.
Dizzy with excitement, the rest of the night was a blur. He danced, laughed, and kissed as many luscious lips as possible.
Then she walked in.
Every man turned as she graced the room.
Turning heads was obviously nothing new to this blonde bombshell. Her stride was purposeful, elegant. Each step revealed just the right amount of enticingly silk covered legs as the willowy dress flowed around them as if made of air. Her every movement, every feature was nothing short of dazzling.
She was so intoxicating that Jimmy Dugan thought his heart might explode simply at the sight of her.
Even more amazing was that she was walking straight toward him.
She smiled as she stopped before him, her plump lips forming a perfect O shape as she started to say his name. She kissed him, a light brush of her lips against his that sent electric shocks throughout his body. So full of fire was she that Jimmy half expected he might burst into flame.
“Would you care to go for a walk?” she asked, making each syllable as sugary as the sweetest pastry. Although he could not remember forming the words to answer, she nonetheless took his arm and led him outside as the catcalls and applause of Jimmy’s friends and Bosses receded into the background.
Jimmy felt as though he was walking on air as they reached the garden walk just outside the fancy midtown hotel where the bash was being held. The Bosses had even pitched in for him a room for the evening when they had learned it was his birthday.
Finally alone, he turned to face the beauty, his fingers tracing the contour of her slender neckline, feeling the even rhythm of her pulse and the rise of goose pimples on her skin under the gentle touch of his youthful, not yet callused fingers.
She leaned in close and he inhaled her sweet perfume. It reminded him of frolicking in a field of wild flowers, much as he had only dreamt of doing with a woman like this. A woman the likes of which he had only glimpsed in his deepest dreams.
She whispered in his ear, the heat from her voice tickling his earlobe as she asked him to take her upstairs.
Minutes later they were alone in his suite with a spectacular view of the Hollywood Hills, the full moon burning brightly in the cloudless sky. Jimmy pulled her close, feeling the warmth of her pressed against him. She excited him like no other woman had and he told her as much.
She cooed as he nuzzled her neck. His hands caressed her shoulders as they traveled lower, sliding the tiny straps of the silky sheen dress from her shoulders. She did not protest as the straps fell off her slender shoulders.
She nibbled on his ear, something no woman had ever done for young Jimmy Dugan. He liked it and, between gasps for breath, begged her not to stop.
Then he felt a new sensation, a small sting just behind the ear.
Then everything went dark.
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| Target: Domino Lady illustration by Ver Curtiss |
CHAPTER TWO
Jimmy Dugan woke to sunlight.
Filtering through the open blinds on his windows, a shaft of brilliant early morning sunlight hit his face. He winced as the brightness only added to the buzzing of his brain by setting off photographer’s flashbulbs behind his eyes. His head ached, but he knew last night had been worth it.
Not that his brain was working well enough to remember any of it.
He rolled over, anxious for another look at the woman he escorted back to his hotel suite the evening before. She was so beautiful, especially those thick, perfectly plump lips.
She was gone.
“Hey?” he called, looking around the room. “Where’d you go?”
Had she left? He had not even heard her get out of bed. In fact, he could not actually remember getting into bed. Maybe she’d stepped out for breakfast and could not get back in. That’s it, he decided. She has locked herself out.
Jimmy sat up.
Something cold grabbed his arms.
Had he been thinking straight, warning bells would have been going off inside his brain. Instead, he stared at the handcuffs holding his right arm to the headboard with a child’s curiosity.
Then he heard footsteps approaching down the hall.
“Oh, very funny,” he said, smiling as the door to his suite opened quietly, with not so much as a squeak. A sure sign of a high-class establishment.
Instantly, his smile faded.
Fear replaced joy as he stared down the barrel of a very large gun.
“Hey!” he shouted. “Hey! Hey! Hey! That’s not funny!”
“That all depends, Jimmy Boy,” a familiar voice said. “On which side of the gun you’re looking at.”
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| Cover art by Uwe Jarling |
Want to know what happens next?
Pick up the Domino Lady: Sex As A Weapon anthology from Moonstone Books. Still on sale.
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ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE:
NOW AVAILABLE: THE DOMINO LADY!
A mystery hero like no other. With the most dangerous weapon of all...
Los Angeles, the 1930's. The city of angels. Attracting beautiful people from all over the world with its glitz and glamour. But just beneath the surface is a city stinking of corruption with criminal bosses and politicians squeezing the life out of the city.
Stunned and enraged by the murder of her crusading politician father, beautiful socialite Ellen Patrick becomes determined to bring her father¹s killers to justice...at any cost. A talented Berkley graduate, she knows that to truly fight the men who killed her father she must break all the rules. Donning a distinctive white dress and a black domino mask, she becomes The Domino Lady, one of the sexiest -- and most elusive -- crime fighters of all time.
The greatest adventurers and detectives of all time join her: The Phantom, Sherlock Holmes, The Black Bat and Airboy. Nine all-new tales of one of the world's first female masked crime fighter, by Nancy Holder, Chuck Dixon, CJ Henderson, Martin Powell, Ron Fortier, James Chambers, Bobby Nash, Gail McCabe, Lisa Bandemer. Introduction: Mystery Writers of America Raven Award winner Joan Hansen!
Limited edition hardcover available. Exclusive to this edition extras: a sexy romp original Domino Lady story by Lisa Bandemer, a new Domino Lady radio script drama, a hot pin-up section and a photo of the Domino Lady!
256 pages
Trade Paperback - $16.95
Hardcover - $48.95
Moonstone Books
In Bobby Nash’s story, TARGET: DOMINO LADY, the mob has grown tired of the constant thorn in their side, the Domino Lady, and they have devised a plan to eliminate this particular problem. Step one, they frame her for murder. Unfortunately for them, the Domino Lady isn't going down without clearing her name. The mob is in for the fight of their lives.
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| The original 30's blonde bombshell's pulp tales. |
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