Author Description

Mary looks at the various men throughout the speed-dating room and begins tapping one of her bright red, perfectly gel-coated nails on the table. Leaning toward me, she whispers, "I sleep in the nude." She glances at the nearby tables to see if they've overheard. "Your turn, tell me something private."In an equally conspiring manner, I confess, "I can't say no to a woman with cigarettes and whiskey on her breath."She smiles, nervous like. "I have a thing for bad boys.""Just this morning I ran with scissors in my hand."She smiles again, an amused smile this time, her glance wandering around the room once more, coming back to me. Biting her lower lip as she looks me over, she pauses, and says, "I'm married." She studies my face."I was dishonorably discharged from the Rangers due to an affair with my lieutenant's wife."She snags my bourbon, swirls its ice, watches me a few moments more, and downs it as though she's come to a decision. Locking eyes on mine, she reaches across the table and steals one of my cigarettes. My name is Manfred Stoney and I'm an unlicensed private investigator working out of a cheap office in San Francisco's Tenderloin District. Tailing my client's cheating wife into the St. Francis Hotel that night sets me on a path of several new love affairs. What should have been a simple surveillance job turns complicated. I'm basically a good guy, trying to do the right thing. However, my problem seems that I can't keep my gun in its holster and my Mister Happy in my pants.