C.R.I.M.E.S. Pays #1
“The Spy who Stabbed Me (in the Back!)”
C.R.I.M.E.S. Pays #2
“Not Cut Out for This”
Coming Soon: C.R.I.M.E.S. Pays #3 “Slight of Underhanded” in Thrill Ride #13: Thief in the Night
C.R.I.M.E. Pays is a series of spy thriller shorts set in the 80s. Conceived and written by David Boop and Matthew Hellman, the stories revolve around Rylan Doyle, Ex-Pat living in Tangier, Morocco. Rylan (not his real name) loves showing off the historical places and hot spots of his forced-exile home. Despite the locals hating him for cutting into their tour business, they’ve gotten used to the young man from Nova Scotia hanging around.
After all, Rylan has his uses.
Such as being able to drive and pilot every vehicle ever made and do a quick fix, if need be. Rylan also is not above taking “special” tourists into dangerous places; acting as an escort for either element of the Cold War. He’ll get you in and out, as long as you don’t tell him why you’re there, what you received, or even whose side you’re on. He makes a special effort to avoid getting involved in his customers’ lives or missions.
But bad luck seems to follow Rylan wherever he goes. He’s in Tangier fleeing a death mark put on him by the boss of the the Patriarcas family, who he accidentally betrayed. He often finds himself in situations where he has to choose a side just so he can escape, get paid, and keep his head low.
His boisterous personality is a hit with tourists, and he’s not above charming the ladies to get what he needs to survive. But when an FBI agent—the one who created his locational problem—blackmails him into working for her, Rylan will need more than charm, skills, and quick wits to avoid ending up dead. He’s going to need to show her how C.R.I.M.E. pays.
C.R.I.M.E. Pays: A new short fiction thriller series from fellow high school alumni David Boop and Matthew Hellman. C.R.I.M.E. stands for Coercion, Revenge, Ideology, Money, Ego; the main motives for getting involved in espionage, according to the FBI.
Characters:
Rylan Doyle: 29-year-old Rylan is from Nova Scotia, Canada, son of a smuggler in service to Big Sonny Patriarcas, a Boston crime boss. When his father is murdered by a rival family, Big Sonny takes Rylan under his protection. The young man shows a propensity for driving, having piloted everything up north from seaplanes to construction equipment. Big Sonny gives him the honor of being his driver, which Rylan takes on with great skill. Only, when Rylan falls in love with a beautiful redhead named Arica Riggs, it spells the beginning of the end of his comfortable life.
Arica Riggs: FBI Agent Arica Riggs has made it a long way in a short time within the Bureau, but for her, it’s not far enough. Taking down Big Sonny Patriarcas would be the crowning jewel that would give her the respect and position she feels she’s earned. Going undercover, Arica hooks up with Big Sonny’s brash, naïve driver, Rylan Doyle, using him to get deep intel on the Patriarcas’ organization. Only, she wasn’t expecting to fall for him. Making a last minute decision, she traps Rylan on the day the Feds plan to take Big Sonny down. Without his favorite driver, they’re able to bring the crime boss down, but Arica fails to bring Rylan in to act as as a witness. This tarnishes her reputation, and she finds herself in no better place than she’d been in. On top of the that, Big Sonny puts a death mark on Rylan, forcing the young man to flee the country for parts unknown.
Wasif Loukili: Wasif was looking for a helper around his auto shop, someone with an instinctual sense of cars, who can test drive the vehicles he works on and tell him if they’re up to spec. When he stumbles upon an American drifter names Rylan, who seems to have no idea what he’s doing in Tangiers, he makes the man an offer. He’ll set him up with a room if he’ll help him in the shop. Only, before long he realizes Rylan has much more going on than just being a driver. Rylan has set himself up as some sort of information broker…no, not exactly that, more like information courier in a beat-up old VW bus that’s half rock star-half Frankenstein. Rylan needs someone do do special modifications to the bus he calls Cyndi, after the pop singer. Wasif starts to wonder if he actual “found” Rylan or had been played right from the start? Regardless, their fates seem tied together, and Rylan does pay well and some days even on time.
Tangier: In the 80’s, there was no city more tied to the underworld than El Kelba: The Bitch. The Mediterranean sea port hosts every faction of the Cold War within its littoral setting. Known as a tourist destination, many visitors have no idea what hides in the shadows between the plazas and churches. Rylan takes advantage of the naivete as he takes vacationers on guided tours around the city, explaining its history, all the while arranging for operatives to receive encrypted information. No one would suspect that the young man, driving the charming open top VW bus he lovingly calls Cyndi, is actually brokering the exchange of classified documents, stolen intelligence, and ferrying assassins in an out of Tangier right under their noses.
Cyndi: The 1966 Splitscreen Volkswagen Roadster was practically a steal when Rylan came across her looking for a vehicle to do tours with. She was so unique and colorful, it reminded him of Cyndi Lauper, thus her name. But much like the pop idol, there’s more to her that what’s on the surface. Thanks to Wasif, she has many hidden abilities, like encrypted communication equipment, hidden compartments, and speed boost abilities.
Authors:
David Boop is a Denver-based speculative fiction author & editor. He’s also an award-winning essayist, and screenwriter. Before turning to fiction, David worked as a DJ, film critic, journalist, and actor.
David’s novels run the gamut, such as the sci-fi/noir She Murdered Me with Science, the Weird Western series, The Drowned Horse Chronicle, and The Soul Changers, a historical, dark fantasy media tie-in to the Rippers Resurrected TTRPG.
David edited the bestselling and award-nominated Weird Western anthology series, Straight Outta Tombstone, Straight Outta Deadwood and Straight Outta Dodge City. He’s currently working on a trio of Space Western anthologies starting with Gunfight on Europa Station, High Noon on Proxima B, and Last Train Outta Keplar-283c. He’s edited several pulp anthologies, including Green Hornet & Kato: Detroit Noir.
David is prolific in short fiction with many short stories including media tie-ins for Predator (nominated for the 2018 Scribe Award), Kolchak the Night Stalker, The Green Hornet, and Veronica Mars. Additionally, he does a flash fiction mystery series on Gumshoereview.com called The Trace Walker Temporary Mysteries.
He’s a Summa Cum Laude Graduate from UC-Denver in the Creative Writing program. He tutors and teachers Creative Writing, collects Funko Pops, and is a believer. His hobbies include film noir, anime, and the Blues. You can find out more at Davidboop.com, Facebook.com/dboop.updates, X: @david_boop, and Instagram: davidboopdenverauthor
Matt Hellman embarked on his adult life as an electrical engineer. After several years of working, he made a radical career change and went into the Federal Bureau of Investigation where he spent over 28 years working for the Bureau, principally as a counterintelligence agent. However, during that lengthy career, he has also arrested cop-killers, child-molesters, domestic terrorists, white collar criminals, and was assigned to NORAD (Cheyenne Mountain Air Station) immediately following 9/11. He retired in December 2024.
Always a fan of good writing, he decided to study the craft and put together compelling stories of his own. He has written two novels, Solomon’s Seal (horror with demons) and, The Biting Cold (crucible horror story with a monster), which was recently named a U.P. (Upper Peninsula) Notable Book. He also authored a novella, The Hawthorne Blow, which is a ghost-ship story. These three manuscripts were published by Beacon Publishing Group. Hellman also had a short-story, “My Nameless Beast,” published in the anthology titled, Six Guns Straight from Hell – 3 (SFT Publishing).
Aside from writing and reading, he enjoys home-brewing with wild brewing yeast he captures himself, hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, weight-training, running (not really), video-games and spending time with his delightful family.