Silent Scream
by Michael Collins
An odd gang of crooks hires Fortune to learn about a beautiful young womanMost of Dan Fortune's customers are nervous. It takes fear to make normal people reach out to a private detective, and that is how he knows that his newest client, the icy Mia Morgan, is not normal. She hires him to investigate a lush blonde who frequents a nearby French restaurant, and refuses to tell him why. Some detectives might demand more information, but six months after his lover left him, Fortune is tired of nursing his broken heart and needs distraction.The job turns strange immediately. A wizened old man warns him to run, a vicious Israeli pilot threatens to remove Fortune's one good arm if he doesn't steer clear of Mrs. Morgan, and a patron at the blonde's favorite restaurant seems to know more about her than he lets on. A cabal of murderers is circling around this woman, and only Fortune can unravel their conspiracy.