by Jason Kasper
“Boss didn’t see what I saw today. It’s just you and me now, and the Handler has gone into hiding. That limits our options to one path, and I’m not sure either of us wants to take it.”
“I’m seeing Karma every night, Ian. Don’t tell me I don’t want to take it. If there’s only one way, tell me what it is.”
“That’s a conversation we need to have in person.”
“Then let’s meet.”
He hesitated. “Let me set up the transport and call you back with the details.”
I hung up the phone and stood in the darkness, alone with the thoughts in my head and the ringing in my ears.
My eyes drifted to the .454, my only constant companion amidst the solitude. I opened the cylinder to see what the next trigger squeeze would have yielded, then closed it and looked toward the balcony. The longer I spent in that house, the more certain I became that my last moment, wherever and whenever it occurred, would be with that weapon in my hand.
Finis Coronat Opus.
The ending crowns the work.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jason Kasper served in the United States Army for fifteen years, beginning as a Ranger private in 2001 and ending as a Special Forces captain and team commander in 2016. He is a West Point graduate and a veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and was an avid marathon and ultramarathon runner, skydiver, and BASE jumper, all of which inspired Jais, his debut novel. Jason currently lives with his wife and daughter in North Carolina, where he is working on the sequel.
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Author’s note
If you are willing, please leave a review for this book on Amazon or Goodreads. Honest feedback has been and will continue to be crucial in elevating my writing and the future of the David Rivers Series. Your sincere reader reviews are deeply appreciated.
Finally, thank you for reading. Following a novelist through his or her initial work takes a significant investment of time and trust. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support and for joining me on the ground floor of this endeavor. This book is just the beginning.
Jason Kasper
November 2016
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A team of six people deserves credit for the completion of this work.
My first thanks belongs to my sister, Julie. In title, she filled the role of content editor. In reality, she was the first person to read each revision and has, by now, far exceeded the word count of the finished novel in the amount of written feedback she has provided. Her keen observations and ruthless input have pushed the story further than I thought it could go, and she singlehandedly and mercilessly prevented countless abysmal drafts from seeing the light of day as I bungled my way through the process of writing my first novel.
There are few people I can count as a mentor, and fewer still who also qualify as a friend. Derek is both. He served as my first beta reader when this work was in its infancy, and he was the first person to tell me I should pursue writing beyond a part-time hobby. His challenge and inspiration has guided me toward the dark road I now find myself on, for better or worse. I couldn’t be more grateful.
The great Ernie Young next deserves my thanks. A lifelong friend, college roommate, astute beta reader, and an Aston Martin owner, he has been one of my most faithful and steadfast confidantes. His opinions on every facet of my work have been beyond influential, and I have every confidence and hope that they will continue to guide me throughout the series.
Master Sergeant John “JB” Presley has been a larger-than-life figure whose feedback as a beta reader—particularly one whose time in combat alone encompasses nearly a third of his life—was instrumental in crafting this story. Novel aside, it was an honor to serve alongside him on his fifteenth and sixteenth deployments.
No budding manuscript is complete until a professional editor turns it into a bloodbath, and Cara Quinlan executed that vital task for this book. Her skillful application of expertise guided me in elevating this story to its full potential, and her patient guidance and never-ending answers along the way have ensured that the sequel will enjoy a much better starting point than its predecessor.
Most importantly, thank you to my beautiful and long-suffering wife, Amy. Her eternal loyalty and support withstood countless late nights and early mornings as I toiled over this work between deployments, after which she tirelessly served as a remarkably keen beta reader. In spite of all this, her demand that I spend the first six months after leaving the military unreservedly following my passion has ensured that I will enjoy at least half a year as a full-time author. There is no greater gift she could bestow.