For three days, Usher had to tolerate a snappy, snarly, ill-mannered adolescent runaway. However, when Usher is told that the kid is wanted for two hideous murders, committed a couple of days before their encounte, Usher says, "No way." But, he still turns the kid in becaise such matters must be put right. No one will listen to the kid, so he excapes detention and hitchhikes halfway aross the country to get Usher to listen to his side of the story. Once the story is heard, Usher must become involved. Matters are complcated by the Sheriff and the DA who are planning on riding the kid's...

The Yellow Ochre Stain: Sage Grayling is a trompe l'oeil painter, who periodically finds himself in new locations for extended periods of time as he executes large commissions. While working on a painting in Los Angeles his boss is murdered. Sage finds himself a suspect since is one of three who knew the security code for the house. Establishing his innocence is jeopardized when his dislike for authoritarian arrogance causes him to cross the investigating sheriff.

There are a lot of bad men walking around out there because it is against the law to kill them. The Pessimists' Roundtable at the American Legion Post realized that there was a situation where the law was no longer a deterrent. They organized "A Few Good Old Men" and distributed Final Missions to handle unresolved injustices. Wrong -doing suddenly had consequences. The concept moved into the political world giving "We, the People" added hope of recovering their country.

A principal client asks Usher if he will deliver the new sculpture to Portland, Oregon, instead of the normal shipping. Upon arrival the client reveals that he has a distant lineal interest in a strange case in California where a young woman is beaten until brain-dead. However, her near term fetus survives. The medical community is keeping the mother's body alive hoping to save the baby. Usher is asked to look into the well-being of the baby, but high politics and Mexican drug-cartel crime intervene.

Sage's new contract for a large Trompe-L'oeil painting in Cocoa Beach, Florida seemed to be in jeopardy when a serial killer's graveyard was discovered on his client's ranch. The situation gets even more complicated when the client is the only one with sufficient tenure on the location to fit the time line. An added problem is that the State Attorney is satisfied that he has the right man and he plans on riding that mount on to a reelection.

Based on two scientific discoveries, Galaxy Enterprises secretly constructs a new concept space ship on Earth. Concurrently, they financed a pair of college students to form the nucleus of a six month, locked-in, shakedown crew, who put the ship through simulated tests, while the real crew trained for space. Before the end of the mock flight, a competing corporation's army invades the site to steal the ship. To avoid capture and the loss of the ship, the pilot launches. While trying to avoid being shot down, the crew end up thirteen light-years in space, where they become the alien intruders....

Taran, the only spaceship on Earth, is sent by its owners to investigate an anomaly that has turned up in the Sun's system. Astronomers believe that it is not a naturally occurring body. The five member shake-down crew, who took Taran aloft the first time during a competitor's raid, are at the controls again. The anomaly turns out to be a garbage scow, the crew dubs "Ironmonger." It came from another system where space wars are being fought. Ironmonger collects derelict warships. Taran is pulled in too. The crew has four problems: Find water for fuel to get home, fight off the various aliens...