Everyone needs a detective once in a while, but some people won't call the cops. When a gritty PI answers a summons by a new client, he finds a drug lord in need of a favor. PI's who work for criminals often end up dead, but business is thin and...

A distressed woman's daughter disappears. PI Jon Johnston disbelieves her tale of kidnapping, but for a thousand a day--plus expenses--he'll gladly poke around. But when the daughter's boyfriend is kidnapped beneath his nose, he begins to change...

"Another day, another airliner. Just shoot me now." This essay follows the thoughts of an executive commuting to work on an airliner—once a mark of the elite, but now a barely-tolerated imposition. Along the way, he remembers life as a fun-lo...

Exotic travel and exorbitant fees -- hallmarks of the smooth-talking business consultant. New people, new places, new companies. They make their money and move on, running to the next job to perform their next trick. It's a fast life, but alwa...

Halloween is here -- a night of costumes and free candy. After two years of sitting at home watching Lucy and Dad go out, Billy is old enough to join his big sister in the fun. Lucy offers some quick advice, but then dashes for the door. Unfort...

Robbed outside a darkened shopping mall after hours, Sue Macy loses her purse, her car, her license... everything, or so she thinks. Catching a cab home, she greets her husband at the door, but he claims not to know her. Then another woman steps...

Conventional wisdom says Baby Boomers should be retiring soon, but the world has gone slightly insane. Conventional wisdom is out the window. Travel is hard, money is troubling, doctors are annoying, and people are just plain rude. In a world w...

Fred Turner lives the good life -- at your expense. With stolen credit cards and borrowed identities, he rides the highest lifestyle. But never for too long. Tricking others into stealing his stolen cards, he leaves them to face the law while h...

What do an identity thief, a down-on-his-luck PI, and a kid running to keep up with his big sister during his first Halloween Candy Run have in common? More than you might think. Sample this collection of five short stories. It's in the Introdu...

Every kid toys with the thought of running away from home. For eleven-year-old Randy, it's a hard choice: to stay in an unhappy house where he's not wanted, or to run away and live with his friends from the lake... friends that nobody but he can...