Pretty Ballerina — John Wessel

It's a Sunday in late July and Harding, the private investigator John Wessel introduced in This Far, No Further, is riding down a rainslick road with Cassie Rayn, a one-time porn star, headed for the house where she grew up. Harding's a man of many talents, or at least many jobs -- cabbie, tour guide, private detective. He calls this patchwork-quilt approach to work "flextime." His girlfriend, Alison, calls it unemployment. The truth is that Harding has to take whatever job comes along. Since a manslaughter conviction cost him his license and his legitimate clients, the detective work that's been coming his way has ranged from the barely legal to the slightly impossible. This trip sounded like the chance for an easy payday.

He should have known better.