Full Metal Jack

by Diane Capri

  FULL METAL JACK

  BY

  DIANE CAPRI

  Presented By:

  AugustBooks

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  Praise for

  New York Times and USA Today

  Bestselling Author

  Diane Capri

  “Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too. Kim Otto is a great, great character. I love her.”

  Lee Child, #1 World Wide Bestselling Author of Jack Reacher Thrillers

  “[A] welcome surprise… [W]orks from the first page to ‘The End’.”

  Larry King

  “Swift pacing and ongoing suspense are always present… [L]ikable protagonist who uses her political connections for a good cause…Readers should eagerly anticipate the next [book].”

  Top Pick, Romantic Times

  “…offers tense legal drama with courtroom overtones, twisty plot, and loads of Florida atmosphere. Recommended.”

  Library Journal

  “[A] fast-paced legal thriller…energetic prose…an appealing heroine…clever and capable supporting cast…[that will] keep readers waiting for the next [book].”

  Publishers Weekly

  “Expertise shines on every page.”

  Margaret Maron, Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Award-Winning MWA Grand Master

  Copyright © 2020 Diane Capri, LLC

  All Rights Reserved

  Excerpt from The Affair © 2011 Lee Child

  Published by: AugustBooks

  http://www.AugustBooks.com

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  DianeCapri.com

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  Full Metal Jack is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  License Notes:

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Publisher’s Note:

  The publisher and author do not have any control over and do not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without express written permission from the publisher. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  eISBN: 978-1-942633-43-3

  Original cover design by: Cory Clubb

  Digital formatting by: Author E.M.S.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Reviews

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Dear Friends

  THE AFFAIR by Lee Child

  Cast of Characters

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  More from Diane Capri

  About the Author

  Lee Child: The Reacher Report

  DEDICATION

  Perpetually, for Lee Child, with unrelenting gratitude.

  Dear Friends,

  Full Metal Jack is the tenth novel in my Hunt for Jack Reacher Series, and I couldn’t be more excited for you to read it! More than two million readers already love the Hunt for Jack Reacher Series books—including Jack Reacher’s creator, Lee Child, thank heavens! Whew!

  The first question new readers usually ask me is how I’m allowed to write about Jack Reacher. The short answer is that Lee Child and I are friends and he’s a big fan of my work. I write these books with his full support, for which I’m eternally and unrelentingly grateful. I’ve included his Reacher Report at the end of this novel in case you’re not signed up to receive email from Lee directly (and you can sign up to hear from him on his website if you’d like to).

  I hope you’ll see right away why amazing #1 worldwide publishing phenomenon Lee Child calls my books, “Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too.” And why Lee gave the series an enthusiastic two thumbs up when he said, “Kim Otto is a great, great character. I love her!”

  The second question I often hear is about the source books for my stories. As many of you already know, every Hunt for Jack Reacher Series novel uses one of Lee Child’s Reacher novels as its source book. I’m not writing sequels here, though. FBI Special Agent Kim Otto has a totally new story every time and that story spins off to a life of its own.

  Full Metal Jack’s source book is The Affair.

  The source books are fun to read either before or after my Hunt for Jack Reacher Series books, and readers tell me they love both. Each of my books is a complete story and, like Lee Child’s original novels, my books do not need to be read in any particular order. (Although many readers enjoy reading the books in publication order.)

  A list of source books and publication order can be found in the back of this book HERE and on my website here: https://dianecapri.com/books/free-book-list-pdf/

  The third most frequent question I get is when the next Hunt for Jack Reacher book will be published. Full Metal Jack is the thirteenth book in my series, which consists of three exciting short reads and ten novels. I’m working on book number fourteen, novel number eleven, now. There’s a link to preorder the next novel at the end of this book so you won’t miss out! You can find a complete list of all of my books here: http://dianecapri.com/books/

  Please sign up for my mailing list to receive advance notice of new releases and lots of other exclusive stuff for reading group members only. You can do that here: http://dianecapri.co
m/get-involved/get-my-newsletter/.

  While you’re waiting for a new Hunt for Jack Reacher Series book, please give my other books a try. I believe you’ll enjoy them just as much. And either way, let me know what you think. You can write to me anytime, and I hope you will. I’d love to get to know you better. You can always reach me here: http://dianecapri.com/get-involved/message/

  Lee Child also suggests that you “Make some coffee. You’ll read all night.” If you enjoy my books, I hope you’ll recommend them to your friends who love to read mystery/thriller/suspense, too.

  Meanwhile, thanks so much for reading. It’s an honor and a pleasure to write for readers like you!

  Caffeinate & Carry On!

  THE AFFAIR

  By Lee Child

  I was on the involuntary separation list…[He] said under the circumstances it would be the work of a moment to get me taken off again. No doubt about that…

  “But your life wouldn’t be worth living. You never get promoted again. You’d be terminal at major if you live to be a hundred. You’d be deployed to a storage depot in New Jersey. You can get off the separation list, but you’ll never get off the shit list. That’s how the army works. You know that.”

  I was thirty-six years old, a citizen of a country I had barely seen, and there were places to go, and there were things to do…There was company if I wanted it, and there was solitude if I didn’t.

  I picked the road at random, and I put one foot on the curb and one in the traffic lane, and I stuck out my thumb.

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  Kim Otto

  Charles Cooper

  Lincoln Perry

  Eugene Hammer

  Elizabeth Deveraux

  Scott Greyson

  Alec Murphy

  Nina Cloud

  Carlos Gaspar

  and

  Jack Reacher

  CHAPTER ONE

  Friday, May 6

  New York City, New York

  1:15 a.m.

  He’d slipped inside unnoticed. Spoke to no one. Acknowledged nothing. He blended almost imperceptibly into the shadows inside the abandoned warehouse. Anticipation fed his smoldering rage like oxygen feeds embers before a wildfire.

  He waited.

  Black turtleneck shirt, black jeans and boots covered his white skin. Turned up collar on the black leather jacket hid his unshaven face. Black gloves enveloped his hands and wrists. A black wool beret covered his closely cropped brown hair.

  The stale warehouse air had been warmed by the activities. He was too hot. Anger fueled his body heat, the hat retained it, and the wool itched like crazy.

  Couldn’t be helped.

  The man in black knew too many of these people. Although he had seen none of them in years, someone might notice him. The second-to-last thing he wanted was to be recognized.

  The last thing he wanted was to fail.

  His anticipation had built to a fever pitch over the years. Only with iron control had he managed the rage, always there under the surface. He’d have his revenge. He could feel it. Pak would pay. It would finally happen. Tonight.

  He leaned against the steel support pole and peered into the dimly lit interior of the warehouse, ignoring the sweat trickling down inside his shirt.

  The stale air was thick with the stench of sweaty humans, rancid smoke, and foul dogs. He drew a deep breath, inhaling it all. He’d missed the unmistakable smell. A unique blend signaling only one thing, buried deep in his reptilian brain, triggering his entire system to feel the thrill of the fight.

  Snarling, howling, barking, cheers, and curses assaulted his ears, sending an electrical hum along every nerve in his body.

  Fortunes were made and lost, all in a single night.

  The potential for victory thrummed like a live wire in the cavernous space. The kind of victory few men throughout the world experienced even once in a lifetime.

  The tension was palpable. Everyone could feel it. They craved it. Lived for it.

  The man in black craved victory, too. Like a junkie craved heroin. Even after such a long period of abstinence, the embers of his desire smoldered.

  He sometimes imagined that he’d lived a previous life. A time when dogfighting was the realm of fearless warriors. Perhaps he’d attended dog fights in the Roman Colosseum or fought wars alongside the Romans and the Britons. The same blood ran in his veins. He could feel it.

  Something about the primitive nature of the sport appealed to him. As it did to populations everywhere he’d been in the world. The magnetic pull of the sport drew bloodthirsty souls like nothing else. It was a sinkhole into which, once experienced, a man could fall deep and never emerge.

  The power to suck people in was one reason why dogfighting was illegal in all fifty US states and most countries.

  Another reason the sport was illegal was its popularity. If no one had wanted to participate, there’d be no need for laws against it. After all, there were no laws against dishwashing or lawn mowing or dozens of other activities no one on the planet clamored for, right? He grinned.

  Dogfighting crimes were serious felonies. If caught, prison time was unavoidable. Which was why dogfighting circuits existed as far off the grid as they could get and still be found by savages like him who disrespected such misguided laws.

  In cities like this one, abandoned warehouses in decrepit areas hosted the fights for one night before the circuit moved on to the next location. Authorities were bribed to look the other way if they noticed at all.

  The man in black had been heavily involved in the dogfighting world during his last stint in Asia. He loved the fierce, beautiful beasts. Gallant fighters. He’d owned dogs back then. Sold them. Presented them at fights where hundreds of thousands of dollars changed hands in a single night.

  When he returned to the states, his dogfighting days had ended abruptly. It was too risky for him to attend fights now.

  Tonight was the first time he’d been near the arena. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed it.

  He had reluctantly put his passion behind him. And moved on to other activities in the interim. More lucrative. Less risk. He had no desire to live the remainder of his life in prison. The confinement alone would kill him.

  But he’d monitored the organizers when he’d returned from Asia. He’d been waiting. For just this moment.

  After two long years, the opportunity to kill his enemy had finally presented itself.

  Tonight’s crowd was the usual mix of dog owners and handlers, drug dealers and gang-bangers, and wannabes attracted by the illegal gambling.

  From experience, he knew it was safer to assume everyone in the place was armed.

  He’d brought a knife and two untraceable handguns along. One was holstered on his ankle. The second rested heavily against his torso, stuffed into his belt in the small of his back. Just in case. He didn’t expect to use the guns. He wouldn’t need to.

  He scanned the cavernous room. If he’d been spotted, the watcher was too skilled to reveal himself.

  But Pak could have been followed here. He was under constant surveillance by his own country inside its borders and every time he left it. He would have tried to sneak away from his bodyguards, and he might have managed it. He was also watched by security services in every country he visited.

  Safest to assume Pak was being watched by enemies and allies at all times.

  Which made the man in black’s mission to kill him more difficult, but not impossible.

  An hour after the qualifying fights began, he spied Pak across the smoky divide, close to the main fighting ring. Pak was easy to identify, even in the dim lighting amid the noisy crowd gathered around him.

  The man in black’s stomach clenched and his lip curled. He flexed his fists inside the gloves. The obese North Korean was flat out disgusting. Always had been. Only his position and his power made him in any way palatable.

  Ridding the world of Pak was a service to humanity, pure and simple.

  Pak’s p
udgy face had reddened with heat and exertion and the stress of his wagers. He pinched a smoldering cigar between the fat fingers of one hand and grasped a glass of whiskey in the other.

  The last of the amber liquid splashed out as Pak waved his arms, rooting for the dog he’d wagered would win. He’d taken heavy losses tonight and his desire to win had ramped up the tension close to his breaking point.

  A slender, attractive woman dressed in a sexy silk business suit, no shirt, jacket open to her navel, was glued to Pak’s side. Her name was Nina.