by J. B. Turner
Drenge said nothing.
The committee grilled Major Frank Drenge for more than six hours in a series of tense exchanges. When it came to revealing the group of individuals who had compiled the list, he refused to comment, citing the Fifth Amendment.
Afterward, in his suite at the Ritz-Carlton in DC, as he nursed his third single malt of the evening his cell phone rang. He picked up. He didn’t recognize the number.
“Drenge, very well played,” the voice said. It was Clayton Wilson.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Frank, we go back a long way.”
“Sir?”
Wilson sighed long and hard. “We have a problem.”
“What kind of problem, sir?”
“Your daughter. She’s at Columbia, I hear.”
Drenge felt a cold chill. “What the hell has she got to do with this?”
“I’m being told she’s been under surveillance for the last week. At this moment, she’s under surveillance by two operatives. That’s what I’m hearing.”
“What the fuck?”
“I know how to get rid of these guys.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know the only way they’ll leave her alone.”
Drenge felt paralyzed.
“There has to be a fall guy, Frank. There always has to be a fall guy. At least for the record. And that’s why you have to do the honorable thing, Frank. If you love your daughter, you have to sacrifice yourself.”
Drenge knew Wilson was serious. He thought of his daughter. He weighed his options. And he realized that if he didn’t die, she would. “And if I don’t?”
“You know how this works, Frank.”
Within the hour, Major Frank Drenge finished two bottles of single-malt whisky. Slit his neck. Tears in his eyes, he slipped away into the darkness, TV on loud in the background. Left a suicide note for his wife and family. Telling them he loved them but couldn’t go on.
They found his body late the next morning.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my editors, Jack Butler, Jane Snelgrove, and everyone at Amazon Publishing for their enthusiasm, hard work, and belief in the new American Ghost thriller series. I’d also like to thank my loyal readers. Also Faith Black Ross for her terrific work on this book. Special thanks to my agent, Mark Gottlieb, of Trident Media Group, in New York.
Last but by no means least, my family and friends for their encouragement and support. None more so than my wife, Susan.
About the Author
Photo © 2013 John Need
J. B. Turner is the author of the Jon Reznick series of conspiracy action thrillers (Hard Road, Hard Kill, Hard Wired, Hard Way, and Hard Fall), as well as the Deborah Jones political thrillers (Miami Requiem and Dark Waters). He loves music, from Beethoven to the Beatles, and watching good films, from Manhattan to The Deer Hunter. He has a keen interest in geopolitics. He lives in Scotland with his wife and two children.