TWO DEAD AND COUNTING...

von Richard Schwartz

Frederick Hernandez thought he had opened his eyes, but it was still pitch black. He tried to lift his arm, but he couldn't raise a single limb. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. Gradually, he realized he was moving. "Here's your dead guy," a man announced as the moving sensation ceased. "Stick him in the vault," another man said. "I've got two autopsies to finish before I can start that one." Terror ricocheted through Frederick's body like a high-voltage electrical shock, causing his heart to jolt and then to flatline.

When Detective Jack Kendall's best friend dies, he makes a graveside vow to get to the bottom of it. Christine, his best friend's widow, hires attorney Cedric Johnson to file a wrongful death suit, but Jack is far too impatient to leave the investigative work up to him, and apparently he's not the only one.

It seems Stacy Young-a legal assistant in Cedric Johnson's office-has been suspicious of Cedric for some time now. When her boss, Joshua Royce, won't take her suspicions seriously, she tells Jack about a mysterious courier who comes in after hours to exchange messages between Cedric and an anesthesiologist in what she suspects is an insurance scam that is earning them a sizable fortune. Jack isn't convinced, but he agrees to look over the evidence she offers to deliver the next day-only she goes missing, and he has clearly become a target.

Prepare yourself for the unexpected. You may think you have figured it out, but I assure you, you don't! As the true nature of this crime is unveiled, you will wonder... could this happen in real life? Search it our for yourself. It is a frightening prospect indeed. Richard Schwartz