by Joseph Badal
Susan grinned. “There’s something else. You remember the three coins found in Reese McCall’s three abdominal wounds?”
“Of course.”
“Three coins for three victims. Thornton’s wife and two daughters.”
“It must be him,” Barbara said. “You’re a genius.”
“Aw, shucks, Babs.” Susan chuckled. “There’s one more little piece of information you might be interested in.”
“What’s that?”
“Robert Thornton and his wife Mary were part of a theater group in Amarillo. Thornton played supporting roles as an actor in the group. His wife did all the makeup for the actors.”
“I’ll be damned,” Barbara said. “Thornton was at the very least exposed to makeup and disguises. He’s a ghost because he keeps changing his appearance.”
A sour expression came over Barbara’s face. “We have a name and a face. But there wasn’t one piece of forensic evidence found at any of his kill sites that tie’s him to a single crime. Even if we brought the guy in, short of a confession, we’d never hang a thing on him.”
“And, I suspect, bringing him in is a highly unlikely event. Ghost, dark angel, or spirit warrior, Robert Thornton, I’m afraid, is out in the wind. And I’ll bet that’s where he stays.”
“We’d better talk to Salas before we close our investigation,” Barbara said.
“Yeah. Good idea. But I don’t think he’ll be against it.”
That evening after work, Barbara ran the three blocks from her house to the Albuquerque Academy and put in an hour’s jog around the school property.
She downed a bottle of water back at her place and kicked off her running shoes. Just the thought of a hot shower felt exhilarating. She crossed the den and moved toward her bedroom when her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID: Sophia. Wonderful. Just about the last person she wanted to talk to. But she admitted she was acting petulant and childish and answered the call.
“Hey,” Barbara said.
“Hi, Barbara. How are things?”
“Good. How ‘bout with you?”
“Things are good, although this Vitaly Orlov investigation is driving me mad. I can’t tell you when I last exercised or had a good meal. Most of the people we’re investigating are Teflon-coated. Every time I go after one of them, I get a call from the State Department, or the CIA, or the Commerce Department, or one of a dozen other agencies suggesting I back off.”
Barbara sighed, suddenly happy that she and Susan didn’t have to deal with Washington politics and corruption.
“Anyway, that’s not why I called. I thought you might be interested in something that just came to my attention. You remember that one of the pages in Orlov’s notebook had the name Jean-Louis Rambert on it?”
“Sure. The owner of the company that manufactures chair lifts for ski resorts.”
“That’s the guy. Except, he’s also a major arms dealer who has some very bad Middle Eastern groups on his client list. I just received a call from an agent I sent to Nice to talk with Rambert. He found the man dead in his home.”
“Dead, like heart attack dead?”
“Nope. Dead, like swallowed liquid heroin dead.”
Barbara took a sharp intake of breath. “You’re making that up.”
“No way. Did you happen to notice in the information your anonymous benefactor sent you when Rambert bought coins from Orlov?”
“Yeah. About three plus years ago. Five days after the home invasion in Amarillo, Texas. Five days after Robert Thornton was almost beaten to death. Five days after Thornton’s wife and two daughters were brutally assaulted and murdered.”
“Sounds as though you already suspect Thornton is your vigilante.”
“Susan and I talked about just that today. We also learned that Thornton served in the Army with Eric Matus, the guy killed a few weeks ago in Las Vegas.”
“We ought to be able to put Thornton away for the rest of his life. My God, he murdered more than a dozen people.”
“Did he leave any evidence behind in Nice?” Barbara asked.
“No, but—”
“Do you have a clue about his whereabouts?”
“Not yet, but—”
“Neither do we.” After a beat, she added, “Think about what the man has done, then tell me if there’s a jury in the land that would convict him. He eliminated scumbags, including those bank robbers in Albuquerque; he brought closure to families who suffered horrendous losses; and, if it is Robert Thornton, he suffered unimaginable personal loss himself.”
“Yeah, but none of that is reason to let him off the hook.”
“Okay, tell you what I’ll do. I’ll bring the guy in and charge him with multiple counts of murder if you can find him for me. You guys have the budget to mount a national investigation; we don’t. But I want to remind you of something you told me a few weeks ago. Remember when you said the Three Ghouls investigation at the FBI had gone on for years and that the careers of several agents had been ruined because of their inability to track down the gang?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“How much time do you think the Bureau would allow you to work on finding Robert Thornton before it decided you had wasted time and resources for nothing? And let’s say you did find Thornton, charged him, and brought him to trial, what would the Bureau’s reaction be if you couldn’t prove that Thornton had broken a single law, or, if you could prove he was the vigilante killer, but a jury found him innocent?” Barbara waited for Otero-Hansen to respond, but after a few seconds of silence, she added, “And if you pursue this, Lucas’s stupidity and Darzi’s crimes might be revealed. That happens, you’d become persona non grata throughout your organization.”
Otero-Hansen still didn’t respond for several seconds. Then she finally said, “Say hello to Susan. I’ll call you if I’m ever in Albuquerque.”
EPILOGUE
Septuagenarians Harry and Ruthie Galante walked between 7 and 8 p.m. every night, rain or shine. Not that it rained very often in Henderson, Nevada. But as Harry frequently said, “It sure shines a lot here in Nevada.”
Their routine was to go right down their street, turn left after two blocks, and then meander on a walking trail for two miles. At the end of the trail, they’d reconnect with their street and stroll back to their ranch-style house. This was just like any other day. The same course. The same conversation about this or that neighbor. Old lady Folger and her fifty hummingbird feeders. Jock Teettle and his goddamn bulldog that crapped all over the neighborhood. The ten-year-old O’Hara twins who were already hell on wheels.
“Wait ‘til they’re teenagers,” Harry would say every time he and Ruthie passed the O’Hara house.
Christy Ledbetter’s house was four doors down from the Galante’s home. Harry always sucked in his gut and stood a little straighter when they passed Christy’s house. Even at seventy-six, Harry had an eye for good-looking young women. Ruthie knew this and never let it bother her. Harry could look all he wanted as long as he didn’t touch. As they approached the Ledbetter house, Harry pointed at the pickup truck out front.
“I thought Christy sold that truck a few weeks back.”
“She did,” Ruthie said. “Angeline told me the man she sold the truck to is back here for a visit.” Ruthie poked Harry with her elbow. “I guess you’re shit out of luck, Harry. She’s got a boyfriend.”
Harry smiled at Ruthie. “She don’t know what she’s missing. But you could tell her all about that.”
Ruthie giggled. “You’re like a teenager, Harry.”
“Hope the guy’s nicer to her than her bum-of-a-husband was.”
Ruthie took Harry’s hand. “Angeline says he’s real nice. Nice looking man, in a rugged sort of way. Has a beard and mustache. Must have been in an accident, though. Got a bunch of scars. Maybe a bit older than Christy. I think she said his name is Hugh Crandell.”
“What’s the guy do for a living?”
“I don’t know. But he must have a good job. Angeline sai
d she heard from Christy that he just got back from France on some big business deal.”
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prior to a long finance career, including a 16-year stint as a senior executive and board member of a NYSE-listed company, Joseph Badal served for six years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army in critical, highly classified positions in the U.S. and overseas, including tours of duty in Greece and Vietnam, and earned numerous military decorations.
He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in business and graduated from the Defense Language Institute, West Coast and from Stanford University Law School’s Director College.
Joe now serves on the boards of several companies.
He is the author of eleven published suspense novels and a two-time winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize for Best Fiction Book of the Year (“Ultimate Betrayal” in 2014 and “The Motive” in 2016). The Military Writers Society of America awarded Joe its Gold Medal in 2016 for “Death Ship,” its Silver Medal in 2016 for “Terror Cell,” and its Silver Medal in 2015 for “Evil Deeds.” His “The Lone Wolf Agenda” was named the top Mystery/Thriller novel in the 2013 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards competition.
Joe also writes a monthly blog titled Everyday Heroes, and has written short stories published in the “Uncommon Assassins,” “Someone Wicked,” and “Insidious Assassins” anthologies.
“Dark Angel,” Joe’s 11th novel and the second in his Lassiter/Martinez Case Files series, will be released on January 24, 2017.
In addition to authoring novels and short stories, Joe has written dozens of articles that have been published in various business and trade journals and is a frequent speaker at business, civic, and writers’ events.
“EVIL DEEDS”
DANFORTH SAGA (#1)
“Evil Deeds” is the first book in the Bob Danforth series, which includes “Terror Cell” and “The Nostradamus Secret.” In this three book series, the reader can follow the lives of Bob & Liz Danforth, and of their son, Michael, from 1971 through 2011. “Evil Deeds” begins on a sunny spring day in 1971 in a quiet Athenian suburb. Bob & Liz Danforth’s morning begins just like every other morning: Breakfast together, Bob roughhousing with Michael. Then Bob leaves for his U.S. Army unit and the nightmare begins, two-year-old Michael is kidnapped.
So begins a decades-long journey that takes the Danforth family from Michael’s kidnapping and Bob and Liz’s efforts to rescue him, to Bob’s forced separation from the Army because of his unauthorized entry into Bulgaria, to his recruitment by the CIA, to Michael’s commissioning in the Army, to Michael’s capture by a Serb SPETSNAZ team in Macedonia, and to Michael’s eventual marriage to the daughter of the man who kidnapped him as a child. It is the stops along the journey that weave an intricate series of heart-stopping events built around complex, often diabolical characters. The reader experiences CIA espionage during the Balkans War, attempted assassinations in the United States, and the grisly exploits of a psychopathic killer.
“Evil Deeds” is an adrenaline-boosting story about revenge, love, and the triumph of good over evil.
https://amzn.com/B00LXG9QIC
“TERROR CELL”
DANFORTH SAGA (#2)
“Terror Cell” pits Bob Danforth, a CIA Special Ops Officer, against Greek Spring, a vicious terrorist group that has operated in Athens, Greece for three decades. Danforth’s mission in the summer of 2004 is to identify one or more of the members of the terrorists in order to bring them to justice for the assassination of the CIA’s Station Chief in Athens. What Danforth does not know is that Greek Spring plans a catastrophic attack against the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.
Danforth and his CIA team are hampered by years of Congressionally mandated rules that have weakened U.S. Intelligence gathering capabilities, and by indifference and obstructionism on the part of Greek authorities. His mission becomes even more difficult when he is targeted for assassination after an informant in the Greek government tells the terrorists of Danforth’s presence in Greece.
In “Terror Cell,” Badal weaves a tale of international intrigue, involving players from the CIA, the Greek government, and terrorists in Greece, Libya, and Iran—all within a historical context. Anyone who keeps up with current events about terrorist activities and security issues at the Athens Olympic Games will find the premise of this book gripping, terrifying, and, most of all, plausible.
“Joe Badal takes us into a tangled puzzle of intrigue and terrorism, giving readers a tense well-told tale and a page-turning mystery.”
—Tony Hillerman, New York Times bestselling author
https://amzn.com/B00LXG9QNC
“THE NOSTRADAMUS SECRET”
DANFORTH SAGA (#3)
This latest historical thriller in the Bob Danforth series builds on Nostradamus’s “lost” 58 quatrains and segues to present day. These lost quatrains have surfaced in the hands of a wealthy Iranian megalomaniac who believes his rise to world power was prophesied by Nostradamus. But he sees the United States as the principal obstacle to the achievement of his goals. So, the first step he takes is to attempt to destabilize the United States through a vicious series of terrorist attacks and assassinations.
Joseph Badal offers up another action-packed story loaded with intrigue, fascinating characters and geopolitical machinations that put the reader on the front line of present-day international conflict. You will be transported from a 16th century French monastery to the CIA, to crime scenes, to the Situation Room at the White House, to Middle Eastern battlefields.
“The Nostradamus Secret” presents non-stop action in a contemporary context that will make you wonder whether the story is fact or fiction, history or prophesy.
“ ‘The Nostradamus Secret’ is a gripping, fast-paced story filled with truly fanatical, frightening villains bent on the destruction of the USA and the modern world. Badal’s characters and the situations they find themselves in are hair-raising and believable. I couldn’t put the book down. Bring on the sequel!”
—Catherine Coulter, New York Times bestselling author of “Double Take”
https://amzn.com/B00R3GTLVI
“THE LONE WOLF AGENDA”
DANFORTH SAGA (#4)
With “The Lone Wolf Agenda,” Joseph Badal returns to the world of international espionage and military action thrillers and crafts a story that is as close to the real world of spies and soldiers as a reader can find. This fourth book in the Danforth Saga brings Bob Danforth out of retirement to hunt down lone wolf terrorists hell bent on destroying America’s oil infrastructure. Badal weaves just enough technology into his story to wow even the most a-technical reader.
“The Lone Wolf Agenda” pairs Danforth with his son Michael, a senior DELTA Force officer, as they combat an OPEC-supported terrorist group allied with a Mexican drug cartel. This story is an epic adventure that will chill readers as they discover that nothing, no matter how diabolical, is impossible.
“A real page-turner in every good sense of the term. ‘The Lone Wolf Agenda’ came alive for me. It is utterly believable, and as tense as any spy thriller I’ve read in a long time.”
—Michael Palmer, New York Times bestselling author of “Political Suicide”
https://amzn.com/B00LXG9QMI
“DEATH SHIP”
DANFORTH SAGA (#5)
“Death Ship” is another suspense-filled thriller in the 45-year-long journey of the Danforth family. This fifth book in the Danforth Saga, which includes “Evil Deeds,” “Terror Cell,” “The Nostradamus Secret,” and “The Lone Wolf Agenda,” introduces Robbie Danforth, the 15-year-old son of Michael and Miriana Danforth, and the grandson of Bob and Liz Danforth.
A leisurely cruise in the Ionian Sea turns into a nightmare event when terrorists hijack a yacht with Bob, Liz, Miriana, and Robbie aboard. Although the boat’s crew, with Bob and Robbie’s help, eliminate the hijackers, there is evidence that something more significant may be in the works.
The CIA and the U.S.
military must identify what that might be and who is behind the threat, and must operate within a politically-corrupt environment in Washington, D.C. At the same time, they must disrupt the terrorist’s financing mechanism, which involves trading in securities that are highly sensitive to terrorist events.
Michael Danforth and a team of DELTA operatives are deployed from Afghanistan to Greece to assist in identifying and thwarting the threat.
“Death Ship” is another roller coaster ride of action and suspense, where good and evil battle for supremacy and everyday heroes combat evil antagonists.
“Terror doesn’t take a vacation in ‘Death Ship’; instead Joseph Badal masterfully takes us on a cruise to an all too frightening, yet all too real destination. Once you step on board, you are hooked.”
—Tom Avitabile, #1 Bestselling Author of “The Eighth Day” and “The Devil’s Quota”
https://amzn.com/B016APTJAU
“BORDERLINE”
LASSITER/MARTINEZ CASE FILES #1
In “Borderline,” Joseph Badal delivers his first mystery novel with the same punch and non-stop action found in his acclaimed thrillers.
Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez, two New Mexico homicide detectives, are assigned to investigate the murder of a wealthy Albuquerque socialite. They soon discover that the victim, a narcissistic borderline personality, played a lifetime game of destroying people’s lives. As a result, the list of suspects in her murder is extensive.
The detectives find themselves enmeshed in a helix of possible perpetrators with opportunity, means, and motive—and soon question giving their best efforts to solve the case the more they learn about the victim’s hideous past.