by Seeley James
Pia turned and shrugged at Marco Berardi and whispered, “Good enough? Or should I keep going?”
Beradi looked at Capitaine Serge Bavaud for approval. Bavaud nodded. Marco barked French into a public address system. He said, “This is the Geneva Police. You are under arrest. Drop your weapons. Put your hands in the air.”
From both sides of the river, police in body armor swarmed onto the footbridge, machine guns aimed at Philippe and Mustafa.
Mustafa put his hands into the air, facing the searchlight of the approaching helicopter.
Philippe Marot ran toward the building seeking refuge, unaware Pia was inside. Marco and Capitaine Bavaud stepped out, guns leveled at him.
Pia stepped in front of them and, betting Philippe did whatever a woman told him, shouted, “Sauter!”
She thought that was French for jump.
As he ran, he glanced at the landing just beyond the railing and made the same mistake Pia had a few days earlier. If you were desperate, it looked closer. In his panic, her instruction made sense. He swerved and vaulted over the railing.
He made his decision. The cold water sucked him into the penstock.
His body would surface in the morning.
The world was a safer place.
Tania’s crutches plonked on the walkway behind Pia. She said, “That was mean.”
“Depends on whether or not you believe in free will.” She turned and patted Tania’s shoulder. “Besides, I spend every waking hour of my life wishing I had five more minutes with my mother and father. He killed his.”
The Major joined them.
“When he figured out what his son was doing, Clément called Sabel Security,” Pia said. “He didn’t call the Swiss police because he wanted us to save Philippe from the pirates.”
“He also had an appointment to meet with Elgin Thomas,” the Major said. “Maybe to pay off the pirates? He was doing everything he could to help his son—and this is how the son repaid him.”
Pia walked over to Mustafa. “Did you guys really think the police were too stupid to check the trigger for fingerprints? Or the shell casings? Or the gunstocks?”
Mustafa hung his head but the hatred remained in his eyes.
The Major tugged her arm and pointed to the waiting limo. They walked away.
Pia’s phone rang. Dad.
“Jonelle texted me,” he said. “It’s all over and you won. Congratulations. I was scared.”
“You were scared? Holy crap, Dad.”
She gushed the details of her last three days, kept talking as she stepped into the limo and the driver closed the door. She recounted every shot fired and punch thrown. The Major, Tania, and Miguel smiled when she gave them credit for their parts. She choked up when she told him about Ezra and Alphonse. She loved how he listened to her even though he’d already read the reports. He listened without interrupting, without judgment, offering only kind consolations and heartfelt admiration. By the time she wrapped up, they were at the airport.
“I’m glad it worked out,” he said when she’d settled in the jet’s seat. “But I have to speak as a father, not just as your largest equity partner. I care about you very much. I don’t want you running missions. I want you behind a desk or taking clients to dinner. Not dodging bullets.”
“Most of what Sabel Security does stays secret, Dad. Our clients don’t want anyone to know how long their engineers were held by revolutionaries in Venezuela. But I can do something different here. I can do something good. I can help small countries throw off oppressive generals. I can root out child pornography rings. I can stop drug dealers. I can help people, Dad. Really help people. I’ve made my decision, I’m going to use Sabel Security to make the world a better place.”
“No. Stick to what works. Stick to the government contracts and the kidnapped executives. Don’t open any—”
“What’s the matter, Dad? Afraid I’ll find out who ordered my parents’ assassination?”
THE END
A note from the author:
Thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed conjuring it from the ether. If you have any comments, suggestions, or ideas, please don’t hesitate to email me (see About the Author at the end of the book for contact information). The reader is king in my mind and I listen to all manner of feedback. I am an independent author, which means I survive on the recommendations of others. If you would like to see more Pia Sabel stories, you can help by writing a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Goodreads, or any other fine site. You can also put it on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter or the Social Media of your choice. Your recommendation to others means a lot to me and Pia Sabel. Thank you.
© Copyright 2012 Seeley James
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
Published by the author with the help of a few good friends.
Pia Sabel Adventure #1, The Geneva Decision v1.0-6.33, 7-January, 2013
For more information about this book, visit www.seeleyjames.com
Digital ISBN:
978-0-9886996-0-1
This edition was prepared by The Editorial Department
7650 E. Broadway, #308, Tucson, Arizona 85710
www.editorialdepartment.com
Cover design: Pete Garceau
Cover photograph: Andrew Montooth
The Geneva Decision is a work of fiction. All persons, places, things, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, or events or places, is purely coincidental—the author is simply not that smart.
Acknowledgements
My heartfelt thanks to all the backers of the Kickstarter project (listed on the following page) for their support. I am especially indebted to the many pioneers of 21st Century Indie Publishing. The most influential pioneer is Joanna Penn, who documented every success and failure in her journey but also brings the most relevant guests to her blog. RE McDermott, who never hesitated to detail everything that worked for him. And Giacomo Giammatteo, whose constructive criticism was instrumental in adding some crucial dimensions to the characters.
The unflagging support of many friends and family helped tremendously as well: My wife who actually knows the English language and managed not to roll her eyes while helping me construct complete sentences, as well as her support for the crazy idea of a career change. The many friends who suffered through my early attempts and still remained positive. The many writers who’ve helped me in various writers circles and groups.
My children, ranging from age thirteen to forty, helped keep my imagination fresh and full of ideas.
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About the Author
Seeley James is the author of the Pia Sabel series of thriller short stories and novels. He was first published in The Battered Suitcase and Short Thrills, was a Finalist for DeMarini Award in fiction, and was short listed for the Fish Publishing Award and the Debut Dagger Award.
He discovered his love of creativity at an early age, growing up at Frank Lloyd Wright’s School of Architecture in Arizona and Wisconsin. He carried his imagination first into a successful career in advertising and marketing, and then to his real love: fiction.
He created Pia Sabel to be the kind of character that his friends and children would want to read. James has three children; he adopted his first, a precocious and beautiful three-year-old girl, when he was a single nineteen year old. Twenty years later he married, and he and his wife have two more children. They live in Scottsdale, Arizona, and enjoy youth soccer games and sunshine.
Contact Seeley James:
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www.seeleyjames.com (Sign up for the Pia Sabel newsletter and get a free short story!)
Facebook: SeeleyJamesAuth
Twitter: @SeeleyJamesAuth