by Robert Boren
“Don’t you think I know that?” Mateo asked.
“You should’ve killed Tracy McCain when you had the chance,” Maggie said. “Why did Lotte let her get away with going public on so much so quickly?”
“She was in the office to stop that,” Mateo said. “She had instructions to kill Tracy McCain if there was no other way.”
Lance laughed. “If you would’ve been successful in doing that, things would be even worse than they are now.”
“How could they be worse?” Jean asked. “We have a person in power who can take direct action against our operation.”
“Yep, and she’ll help Mayor Fine consolidate his power in the city,” Maggie said. “This is a giant mess.”
“You shouldn’t have agreed to take the UN Peacekeepers out of the city,” Charles said. “We need more here right away. Either turn the group heading for the west coast around, or send more from the EU.”
Mateo was silent for a moment.
“You there?” Charles asked.
“The forces moving to California are more important to that region than they are to the East Coast. If I pull the rug out from under Saladin, we’ll lose California, and that will end the entire US operation.”
Lance chuckled. “You know, I actually agree with that. Bring more over from the EU.”
Mateo sighed. “How many do you think we need?”
“Half a million,” Lance said.
Maggie chuckled. “They’ll never send that many.”
“Yes they will, because they’ll see this as a crisis, and they don’t want their movement to end,” Mateo said. “I’ll make the request right away. I think we should bring them all to New York, at least for the beginning.”
“You might want to send some to New England as well,” Jean said. “Did you see what happened outside of Boston?”
“No, what?”
“The news media is suppressing that per our request,” Charles said. “A checkpoint was attacked on the outskirts of Boston, using some very interesting vehicles. I suggest we do some intel gathering before we send a lot of manpower there. Lock down New York first. Then we’ll fan out from there.”
“We are in agreement,” Mateo said. “I’ll let you know details after I get agreement from the EU High Command.”
“Thank you,” Charles said.
The call ended. Mateo got up and paced. I only have so many chips to play. This is too early.
***
Craig woke to clanging of his cell door, a guard standing there fumbling with keys. He sat up on his cot, eyeing the guard as he came in with a small package.
“Time for my 7:00 AM beating?” Craig quipped. “I want my lawyer.”
The man grinned at him. “This is from a friend. I’ll be back tomorrow. Have as many articles written as you can get done. Tell nobody.”
Craig looked at the man silently for a moment. He had a guard’s uniform on, but his haircut didn’t look right, and he was a little too old. “Who are you?”
“Resistance. We are legion.” He handed the package to Craig, who looked inside. There was a yellow pad of paper and half a dozen pens.
“Don’t worry about editing. Get the words down. We’ll do the rest.”
The guard left his cell, locking it back up.
To be continued, in Bug Out! Atlantic Book 3, coming soon.
Cast of Characters
Taylor Yates – young woman, working as an accountant at a big firm. Natural fighter, cunning and fast.
Laleh Mahdavi – best friend of Taylor, works at the same firm, from a rich Iranian family. Good fighter, lots of heart.
Eve Grant – patent attorney, former girlfriend of Jared Carlson. Wicked smart, good with weapons systems. Brave under fire.
Jace – limo driver and commando for the Samson Corporation. Strong, smart, great fighter, has good tactical leadership skills.
John Clancy – indy writer of political fiction, peaceful man thrown into a crazy world. Doesn’t understand the importance of his work, but is driven to give his all to it.
Salvatore – New York mobster who is committed to the resistance after the nuclear attacks. Protector of John Clancy.
Linda Clancy – John’s wife. Doesn’t buy all of his political ideas, but understands his talent and supports him. A survivor and protector.
Craig Smetana – John and Linda’s brother-in-law. English teacher, who yearns to be a political columnist.
Pat Smetana – Craig’s wife, older sister of Linda. Pushy and aggressive, but knows how to get along with others when she has to. Doesn’t like Craig’s politics.
Jacob – Academic, drawn to the anti-globalist movement. Good strategist, mother hen to his group.
Ashley – barmaid at Jaak’s Bow Street Pub. Kind and giving, shrewd, understands relationships between people, has good insights.
Ava – small woman with gobs of spunk, always joking, quick-witted and smart.
Dave – gun hobbyist drawn to the resistance movement before he really understood it’s impact. Good fighter, great with technology, jokes a lot, likes Ava.
Gavin – young intellectual and gun hobbyist, understands the situation the country is heading for, wants to help. Good solid member of the resistance.
Adrian – wicked smart member of the resistance, always thinking several steps ahead, understands the dynamics of the globalist leftists and their associated groups. Good fighter, fearless to a fault.
Trinity – close friend of Adrian, but not romantically attached, also very intelligent, thinks outside of the box.
Jaak Klavan – inventor, owner of the Bow Street Pub, former partner and college roommate of Jared Carlson.
Art – Samson Corporation Tech in the Boston area. Inventive and delighted with technology.
Jared Carlson – genius founder of the Samson Corporation and funder of the resistance.
Quint – bartender at the Bow Street Pub in Boston. Strong, feisty, good in a fight, level-headed.
Sunshine Jones – young woman, writer, in love with Jacob. Highly intelligent, created a stir with her writings about politics and philosophy.
Henry – leader of Sunshine’s resistance team – older man, owns bookstore near Cambridge. Cautious and shrewd.
Tyra – Sunshine’s resistance team – black woman with a huge heart and a knack for battle. Emotional, but not in a bad way.
Justin Ho- Sunshine’s resistance team – tall Asian man, loves technology, figures out how to use tools in ways others haven’t.
Todd Czerny - Sunshine’s resistance team – blonde man, brave and valiant, never runs from a fight, inspires courage in others.
Cary – Samson Corporation Security – surveillance technology expert.
Hector – Samson Corporation Security – assistant to Cary, very sharp, wicked sense of humor.
Don – Cary’s boss, commando for the Samson Corporation.
Stefan – Albena’s husband, former longshoreman, later co-owner in a coffee shop. Brave, principled, unwavering, suspicious of others.
Albena – genius hacker, thinks outside the box, easily juggles multiple tasks, always working things out.
Penko – Albena’s cousin and childhood companion. Hacker, good with systems, very good at infiltration of organizations.
Vasil – Albena’s other cousin. Project Manager at Samson Corporation picked by Jared Carlson to help with the resistance in the mid-Atlantic. Natural leader, understands dynamics between team members, keeps people focused.
Tad – commando and technical support, good with systems, thinks well on his feet, can fix things under extreme pressure.
Zev – commando from Israel. Brave, mercurial, funny, good at saving his comrades.
Slash – commando with very good skills and a love of risk-taking. Bigger than life character, sick sense of humor. Can be counted on in battle.
Kinsey – Samson Corporation technical support. Good, solid team member, trying to fit in.
Julie – Longshoreman friend of
Stefan.
Mayor Fine – New York City mayor, political moderate, being driven by the globalist left to transform his city. He has doubts about that.
Jean – Mayor Fine’s secretary and right hand. Great under pressure.
Kate Sims – Comptroller and political chameleon who can work with people of any political orientation. Has survived many administrations and flourished. Valuable member of the team.
Cliff Bates – Manhattan Borough President. Nasty individual, self-centered and evil.
Yvette – police commissioner with a political axe to grind. Treats everybody badly, reviled by most of her peers. Barely competent in her job.
Julio – Public Advocate. Light, happy, has calming effect on his team mates, good with social media.
Chief Harvey – Police Chief heading the NYPD. Large black man, came up the ranks, brave to a fault, smart and loyal. Loved by his department, close to Mayor Fine.
Tim – Chief Harvey’s second-in-command.
Governor Romano – Governor of New York. Political animal who’s opinion changes with the direction of the wind.
Clara – Romano’s secretary. Attractive, petty, a social climber, not particularly smart.
Lotte – honey pot who controls Governor Romano. Evil operative of the globalists, trained in Syria, former lover of Saladin.
Mateo – Secretary General of the UN. A petty and stupid man who got his job because of who he knows, not what he knows. Can’t keep his sexual urges under control.
Tracy McCain – Lieutenant Governor of New York state. Smarter than she appears. Political orientation is not her focus. A better leader than even she thinks.
Dan Dannon – New York State Assembly member. Conservative but with populist leanings. Has a bad past, was under FBI surveillance even while in office. Lets nobody in. He’s a true wild card, and a dangerous one at that.
Charles Livingston – Wealthy banker and globalist operative. He has more control and power than most people realize.
Maggie Hines – ultra wealthy operative for the globalist movement. British Subject, but spends most of her time in the USA. Lover to Charles Livingston.
Jean – wealthy French national, member of the Globalist team. Treats everything as a joke.
Valdez – Operative for Mateo
Lance Evans – Wealthy stock trader, globalist operative. Genius hacker. Hair-trigger temper.
Saladin – leader of the Islamist forces. A dark figure, ruthless and evil.
Other Books
by Robert Boren
The Clarke Chronicles
Dark times are coming to the Central Authority Zone.
A political party called the Overlords is on the rise, their influence over the Central Authority Zone growing via subterfuge and the ballot box. Simone, the Overlord’s sinister leader, is making her plans known.
Government power spikes, security used as an excuse. Simone brings worlds who fight to heel. Individuals who speak out disappear in the dead of night.
Earth is in the Overlord’s sights, but Simone has a problem. The Samson Corporation stands in the way.
Chairman Vermillion of the Samson Corporation and his protégé Captain Trey Clarke know what’s coming next. They’re getting ready, but it’s a race against time.
Simone has the numbers and the power of the Central Authority behind her. The Samson Corporation has a handful of prototype ships. Can they survive?
If you like heart-pounding space action, you’ll love The Clarke Chronicles – Escape from Earth.
Buy your copy today, available here!
Stolen Youth
George Franklin is having a bad week.
The FBI is after him for what he did.
His MERC friend wants him dead for what he did.
The families of Red Dagger and Earl Wilson are on their way too, for what he did.
His woman is missing.
So is his best friend and partner.
He has few leads, and now somebody has killed his dog.
Somebody will pay. No, scratch that. Many will pay.
We’re talking the ultimate price here. Never poke at the lion unless you’re sure his cage his locked up tight.
Stolen Youth is the second book from the Franklin & Davis Files.
If you love lurid, violent, sex-filled stories in the vein of Harold Robbins, Sam Peckinpah, or Quentin Tarantino, you’ll really get off on Stolen Youth.
Note from the author: The Franklin & Davis Files books are much darker and more graphic than the Bug Out! Series books. They are for readers no younger than 18.
Buy your copy today, available here.
Oh, and watch your back. They’re coming.
Never a Loose End
Loose ends. Malcolm Davis hates loose ends.
In "Never A Loose End", Malcolm Davis and his friend George Franklin are on a manhunt.
Why?
Revenge.
A clan of psycho killers is active again, after hiding for years. What has brought them out?
George and Malcolm are both targets, marked for murder, but why?
Follow George and Malcolm as they dash through the Southwest in their Motorhomes to head off the mayhem planned by the psycho killers
Murder, gun battles, bombings, and general mayhem reign in "Never A Loose End"
Who will survive? Will the hunted be brought down, or will the vigilantes get revenge instead?
Find out in "Never A Loose End - Vigilante Revenge" - A Franklin and Davis Files Thriller.
This is the story that started it all for George Franklin and Malcolm Davis. Some of you know them from the later episodes of the Bug Out! series, set seven years later. This is the story of how they met, and the battle that forged them into a formidable team.
Note from the author: The Franklin & Davis Files books are much darker and more graphic than the Bug Out! Series books. They are for readers no younger than 18.
Never A Loose End is available here.
Bug Out! Boxed Set
Here it is! Bug Out! Boxed Set Volume 1 - Books 1-4.
What would you do if you were no longer safe in your neighborhood?
Frank and Jane have had it. Every night the looting gets closer to their home, while the authorities do nothing but ask for calm. Life has become terrifying.
Frank pulls a gun on looters running up his driveway. The thugs flee.
Frank knows they’ll be back.
The last thing Jane wants to do is live in their motorhome, but Frank talks her into it. The open road is dangerous. Staying in LA is worse.
They barely get out of town alive, as California explodes behind them. Eastbound I-10 is flooded with others trying to escape, as military convoys rush west.
Is there safety to the east, or more mayhem?
This is the first of four boxed sets. The books have been re-edited but not abridged. Follow Frank and Jane as they escape California, build their resistance team, and take the fight to the enemy.
If you love action-packed tales of bravery, self-reliance, and the triumph of the human spirit, you’ll love Bug Out! Boxed Set Volume 1 - Books 1-4.
Available here!
Horror Road
Here’s a dirty little secret. Spirits can kill you.
Sandy couldn’t take it anymore. Her work as a psychic for the LAPD was tearing her apart. Murders. Playing out in her head at night and slipping into her thoughts during the day. She quit.
Her friend Mary Grace was still in the game, working with the police and running psychic investigations on the side. She had a séance planned. One that was right up Sandy’s alley. All she had to do was convince Sandy to join her.
Holding a séance is the psychic’s way of opening doors, and Mary Grace was an expert. Sandy reluctantly said yes, but some doors are better left shut. The spirit they awakened was dangerous enough on its own, but it was tied to a much darker presence. An ancient power that could reach into the world and take them.
The Horror Road series is a dark
tale of pursuit and possession that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
Download your copy now and settle in, because you won’t be able to put it down.
Available Here!