Containment

The economic stimulus plan is beginning to pump out money like a Vegas slot machine. Deep in the bowels of the Sunshine State, two men hatch a plan to divert a large slice of the president's pie. Recruiting a high-up in the state budget office, they begin repairing seawalls, widening roads, and fixing sewers - all with illegal aliens and rigged bids. It doesn't take long for the mafia and others to take interest. Retired agent, Frank Talbot and his young friend Kevin McDonald, look into the death of a school janitor in a single car accident at the request of Kevin's wife, who teaches at the school. The police say there is no evidence of foul play. But as the men dig deeper into the accident, they find the stimulus scam has gone far beyond sewer pipes, and they start to ask who will kill them first-the Sicilian mafia, the Cuban mafia, or a federal agent whose resources make the mafia look like boy scouts. Hank Davis is the author of Paradigm Lost, A Flag Too Far, and Eagle Falls. He and his wife live in Florida and in Maine.