Last Stand of the Valley Street Terrors

This is our second novel writing as a team. This story is a continuation of the characters Elizabeth Carol and Nicholas Hunter. Like the first story, we alternate characters and writers. It is written in first person, and is 99,000 words. SynopsisPrologue: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 person who claims to have information on the death of her boyfriend Robert Long. Betty Jo, an editor at a small paper, is willing to meet this 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. Robert's murder was listed as robbery, Betty Jo thought otherwise. Pushing her fear aside, Betty Jo draws a mental image of her childhood friend, Elizabeth Carol, and goes to meet the source.Start of story:A disagreement between Elizabeth and Nickolas over which state has the best fall foliage 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 also 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 connects with, Patsy Shankel and Elsie Adams. As teenagers, the four girls, Elizabeth, Betty Jo, Patsy Shankel, and Elsie Adams 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 that 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. Their search for answers leads them back to Washington D.C. and again back to Laurel. Two attempts on their lives convince Elizabeth and Nick that they are on the right trail.Concluding that the congressman might be last on the murderers' list, Elizabeth and Nick stay close to the elderly 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 the help of a precocious and feisty sixteen year old girl named Clair O'Keefe, who was now an unofficial member of the Valley Street Terrors, the group comes together one last time to save the Congressman and apprehend the killer.This story moves faster than our first, Thelma and I found our rhythm. Again, thank you for your time and patience.Thomas CobeyThelma Musick