by Michael Todd
The general nodded and they turned to the others, listening to them talk about Derek and all the funny jokes he used to tell.
Katie smiled and chuckled as she listened to Eric talk about him, especially since Eric had become so close to Derek.
Her heart went out to him; to him and everyone else on the team. When the food arrived they dug in, their spirits and voices lifted. A fight broke out suddenly to their left, and everyone on the team grabbed their food and beers and held them in the air. The general and the colonel, however, were too busy watching the fight, and sat wide-eyed as the two fighters tussled and slammed into their table.
Katie tried to hold back her laughter as cheese and French fries flew everywhere. The general and the colonel looked at the others and realized they were holding their food in the air. The two guys slowly picked themselves up off the floor, and the larger one peeled the general’s basket of cheese fries off his thigh.
“I think this is yours,” he said, handing it to the general.
“Thanks.” He just shook his head.
The bartender rushed over and set down another table, and Katie signaled to the waitress to bring more food. Everyone burst into laughter, and even the general and the colonel couldn’t keep straight faces.
Somehow it always ended with a laugh.
Author Notes - Michael Anderle (Pandora)
Written April 13, 2018
Ok, “la la la” thanks for reading and all of that shit he normally puts in the first paragraph. I’m sure you all like reading it every time he writes it, but I’m a bit cross at the moment.
Korbin bought potato flour-based donuts and they fucking suck in the morning when you try to reheat them. Just sayin’.
There, that’s why I’m bitchy, you nosy individual.
Well, that, and I’m apparently ‘The Author’s’ little play-toy for these Author Notes. I wrote Author Notes for the last book, and so now we have another chronicle of our ongoing lives coming out tomorrow. He asked me nicely, so I said I would be happy to do them.
I didn’t promise The Author I’d be nice in these author notes, but I’ll try.
First, THANK YOU for reviewing our books! We are up to a hundred and forty-nine reviews on Book One (500+ people in the group, but I digress) which is about seven hundred fucking reviews too few, so get off your human asses and go put up a review. If you do anything less than a 5*, I will absolutely visit you in your dreams. If you DO put up a five star, then I will visit you in your dreams but with a totally different outcome.
(Well, damn. I’m told I can’t use threats to get reviews, because blah blah blah… So, “Would you kindly consider placing a review on these books? The authors earn better positioning within the Amazon algorithms due to how often, how recent, and how good the reviews are.”)
So, Katie finally got some
Then the little twerp she had the hots for had to go and get offed by (I suspect) an asshole who isn’t my brother. My brother (from a different mother) is an idiot. I’ve not exactly clued Katie into it, but if he was running the show my time on Earth would be a vacation. If
OH! Have you seen the latest on the soap opera? I can’t believe that hussy really spread the welcome wagon like she did. For what? It wasn’t like he was enhanced enough in the right department to
You know…Lays for a $1.00?
Don’t groan, Katie cuts me off with these jokes. You are a captive audience who can’t talk back (except in reviews…hehehehehe) or on the Facebook group, I suppose. But since I’m not placing the link to the Protected by the Damned Facebook Group in these Author Notes, you can suck it.
So, we have two more books about us coming out in the next four weeks. Tell your family and friends about these stories.
I’m told I can’t require or even suggest you buy them for young adults, because that will cause their heads to spin about on the axes of their necks until they pop off.
I still don’t understand why that’s a problem. Seems like good entertainment to me.
I’ve got my eyes on two more crotches for Katie…Uh, two more “heart throbs,” but she can be pretty fucking annoying in the “no” department. She needs to say yes more often and just let the future ride.
And ride…and ride…and
Speaking of Sir Jackass, it says here that he will be meeting with Lady Hair-by-Electrical-Socket next week to work on the Melneck stuff. He’s a pain in the ass (Melneck, not Sir Jackass… Although Jackass is too.) However, Melneck IS a lot more powerful than his ranking suggests; he just doesn’t play politics worth a damn.
And is smart enough to know how not to piss off those who do.
Ok, I’ve passed the seven hundred and fifty words now. WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY DONUTS, JACKASS?
Lovingly,
Pandora
Author Notes - Laurie Starkey
Written April 26, 2018
Well, hello! Hope you enjoyed that action packed, funny, donut-loving, chicken nugget enjoying story. Can’t get much better than Pandora and Katie. Not for a good chuckle, eye roll, or heart-racing good time.
It’s been crazy around here, but I’m thinking you knew that.
I’ve been working hard on this project with Mike, our 7sons projects, and my cozy mystery. And of course, ROMANCE. I know you guys might not all read romance, but my Ali and Weston Parker lines are the majority of our focus.
Why romance?
I’m a sucker for a good redemption story, and while I know that can happen in any story, it’s usually the central theme in my romance novels. Take the most broken, “fuck love and its fruity colors and hearts” guy and pair him up with a strong, independent woman, and I just have fun. Trying to get the two of them to grow and compromise is the name of the game.
Now, if I’m being honest, I’m a SUCKER for a paranormal romance, though that’s not what I write. There have been a few stories (contemporary romances) when I got to the point of wanting a vamp to jump out and slay the whole cast and crew, but I refrained.
I also just released my fifth book in my Zodiac series under WL Knightly. That’s with a good friend of mine, and we just wanted to write some scary-ass mystery slasher novels–so we did! It’s been a fun ride. I’m shocked as hell that we’re almost halfway through the thirteen-book series. It’s a book a month on that one too.
Outside of that, we’ve been to Illinois and Missouri to help a friend through surgery and to eat at the buffet the college of the Ozarks kids put on a few times in the last few weeks. I’ve gained three pounds thanks to the all-you-can-eat function of the buffet, but such is life. Padding is a good thing–I think. If not, don’t tell me.
I formed my first JIT team to read over my cozy mystery chapters that are finished, and we’ve had a damn good time with those readers. Everyone has peed themselves, spit coke from their noses, or laughed to tears. I’m thinking my old ladies in that cozy mystery are going to lift some spirits and give a few people a break from the routine that is life at times.
That’s what good books do. They take us away. At least, we hope they do. Best way (in my opinion) to have an adventure. As such, I sure as hell hope you had a GREAT
adventure with this last book. Mike is in charge of the antics and titles–they just couldn’t be any better. He’s a brilliant guy with a fun, light-hearted demeanor. If you get the chance to meet him, don’t pass it up. It’s worth the trip–I promise.
And with that, I want to say thank you again for picking up the novel and reading these author notes. I feel like it’s giving you a quick look into our diary. I’m an introvert, so I’m thinking I might have to start making shit up soon to stay fresh, relevant and fun, but that time has yet to arrive. Appreciate you guys. We do what we do for readers like you.
Slave to many stories,
Laurie Starkey
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Chapter One
“Thank you everyone for joining the call.” General Brushwood sat at a large oval table with his men. The mercenary team leads from around the country were on a screen in front of him. “After recent events, we found it important to get everyone together and on the same page. It’s obvious there’s been a change— an escalation of sorts— going on with the demons. We have all lost good men and women in this battle. I would like to start the meeting off by hearing from Amy.”
From every angle the general considered, the government and the mercenaries were on track to work together a lot more often than either really wanted to.
Given the events so far, from the large incursions to the attacks on both Korbin’s and Amy’s teams, they had to pull together, because if something didn’t change they were going to be burying a lot more comrades.
General Brushwood and other heads of state had wanted a face-to-face meeting, but with the mercenary teams not only bogged down by calls but short a lot of men there was no way any of them could get away long enough for a meeting like that.
Especially one that for some was clear across the country.
Due to the past relations between the government and the mercenary teams, the mercs pushed to do this thing their way.
However, setting up a secure conference call for teams across the United States was something even Derek couldn’t have done safely yet. The general’d had his team set it up so they were sure the video feed would be completely secure from prying eyes.
No one wanted government representatives talking about demons on the six o’clock news.
Obviously this wasn’t ideal for the government, but they had to meet the mercs in the middle or nothing would get done.
General Brushwood and the others knew it was an essential alliance, but they had to prove they were in it one hundred percent or the mercs would continue to work as they had for decades.
Hurting everyone in the process
The general continued, “For those from the military, Amy is the leader of Amy’s Assassins. The team was just in an ambush that left one team member dead and several others injured. Amy?”
“Thank you, General,” she said, shuffling her papers. “So, everyone now knows that we lost one of our best teammates and are tending to those injured. What you don’t know is what happened that night.”
Her voice changed. It was still strong, but with a hint of the pain the ambush caused. “It began as a normal call, and we headed out thinking it would be the usual human demon situation. However, about two thirds of the way through the fight the warehouse was ambushed by a group of humans with demon advantages. It was no longer just Damned fighting Damned. This was a tactical team, combat-trained and determined to take our team down. They had weapons and what looked to be a command structure.
“Immediately everything on the comms went to shit. We were shocked and there was a lot of chatter. We had seen fighting demons before—even those still in full human bodies—but never militarized ones. It was both concerning and confusing.”
“Did they talk to one another?” someone yelled.
“Did they have uniforms? Were they using any unusual weapons?” another person asked.
“Who was their leader?”
This was a new dawn in the age of fighting demons; something that no one had expected. The ones they fought before had been rogues, and if they had banded together it was for their own purposes. They definitely hadn’t been trained like those Amy said had attacked the mercenaries.
Amy shook her head and tried to answer what questions she could.
“We couldn’t tell if they were communicating verbally, but they did use tactical hand signals,” Amy told the group. “They were dressed in black and used street weapons, but nothing specialized. As far as the leader, he didn’t seem to be the mastermind. He was more like an officer leading his troops into battle. Look, I know everyone has a million questions—and so do we—but with one dead and three still in the hospital, details are still a little scarce. We can’t talk to the injured right now—not securely—to find out what they saw. We’ve been over the operation with the remaining team members repeatedly, though.”
“Thank you, Amy,” the general said, raising his voice above the babble of conversation. Everyone quieted almost instantly. “I know you have a lot of questions, and so do we. The government began an investigation into the ambush of Amy’s team immediately after we got word. On surveillance video we traced the attackers from the outskirts of the town to the warehouse and back, but unfortunately their vehicles had been reported as stolen. We attempted to follow, but they disappeared into the brush. As of this moment we have not figured out where exactly they went.”
“They couldn’t have just disappeared,” someone said.
“No, they couldn’t,” the general replied, flipping a sheet in his notes. “These are real survivalists; there is no doubt about that. They have probably been off the grid for years somewhere right here in the United States. We neither know where they are currently, nor where they have been for the last decade. This meeting has been called because I need you to understand—and I can’t stress this enough—the importance of cooperation between the military and the mercenaries.”
There were a couple of grunts and William Hunt out of Texas spoke up. “What about the last century, during which cooperation has been nothing but a joke?”
“Bill, we are remedying that as well as we can,” General Brushwood stated flatly. “We all need to come together to find these people. They are both the military’s and the mercenaries’ primary target, since they pose a significant risk to the health and safety of us all. If we don’t come together there might not be anyone left to…”
“…left to rally behind. We are constantly searching for additional intel, and as soon as we know more we will share it with you. We would appreciate it if you did the same. Thank you all for joining us, and everyone has my direct number for contact,” the general finished.
The video ended, the chatter cutting off. Korbin, Calvin, and Katie looked over their laptops at each other and Calvin’s eyebrow arched. They shut their computers in unison and sat in silence thinking about what had just been said.
“That is concerning,” Katie said. “But I think this is a good thing—a push toward finding the control center so we can shut it down.”
“I agree,” Korbin replied. “But it’s also dangerous, which is why I’m glad we moved to this location. I feel more secure here, and we have the technology to do so much more.”
“ It’s pretty sweet with the tunnel system. Like covert ops.” Calvin chuckled.
“With Vogue-level décor.” Katie winked.
“That was all Stephanie.” Korbin shrugged. “Not that I’m complaining! I really like the shower heads.”
“And the new mattresses,” Katie pointed out.
“And the new weapons locker,” Calvin added, rubbing his palms together. “It’s a beautiful room of destruction just waiting for the day it will be used.”
Katie leaned toward Calvin. “You have a war complex,” she teased, standing up. “But we love you anyway.”
“We all do.” He chuckled again as he stood.
The phone rang as he and Katie started for the door a
nd they stopped. Korbin groaned and picked up the phone.
His answer was short. “This is Korbin.”
“It’s Brushwood,” the voice stated loudly enough for Katie to hear. “I wanted to find out if you and some of your team could meet us at Nellis in three hours?”
“Of course, General,” Korbin replied, looking at and Katie and Calvin. “Do we need full armor and weapons?”
“Better bring something just in case, but don’t go overboard. We will see you there.”
“Right,” Korbin said. “Three hours.”
Korbin hung up and rubbed his face, then looked at the other two.
Katie shook her head. “He is determined to work us to death, I think.”
“He wants me and a small team to meet him at Nellis,” Korbin told them. “So I suppose we suit up and hit the helicopter. It’s not far, so take the time to make sure you have everything you need. I have no idea what we will be walking into.”
“Just us three?” Calvin asked. “With Derek gone we are shorthanded.”
For a moment Katie’s chest ached from the loss of her teammate as she thought about him taking his last breath on that battlefield.
She hated that he had died, and she hated the feeling of grief. It made her want to kick ass even more.
“I know,” Korbin said. “I’m not really sure what to do about that just yet. All the teams are hurting, that’s for sure. Amy is short four people right now, and has no idea when the three in the hospital will be back. The six of us may have to deal with everything for the time being. I have a feeling anyone brought on will go to Amy’s team until she has the numbers she needs. Needs must when the devil drives.”
“Right.” Calvin nodded. “Katie and I will get suited up…and we’ll grab some extra gear just in case. Is there anything specific I can bring you from the locker?”