Green File Crime Thrillers Box Set

by James Kipling

  “Raw barbwire would be too good for those who have murdered the innocent unborn,” Jessica whispered.

  She closed her eyes and sat very silent for a long time, allowing the silence to consume her heart and mind. Would President Green truly be able to bring America back to its moral foundation? Jessica didn’t know. She knew that the entire world was crippled, and President Green was being given enough time to take one last swing at the ball before the game was over.

  “I pray he hits a home run,” Jessica said, as images of burning cities and dead bodies filled her tormented mind. “I pray that this battle...oh, Jack...I pray that this battle will not be fought in vain. I pray that, in the end, you will be able to rest in peace; that we will both be able to rest in peace.”

  Chapter 8

  End Game

  Two-and-half years later…

  “Get down!” Jacob yelled, grabbing Jessica by the arm and yanking her down next to the brick wall of the warehouse. Shattered, bullet-torn windows ran the length of the old building.

  Jessica ducked out of the way of a barrage of machine gun fire, as she checked the M-16 rifle she was holding. Then, she glanced to her left and right. Twenty-two well-trained soldiers were pressed up against the brick wall, returning fire.

  “This is Delta-Romeo,” a twenty-eight-year-old Sergeant spoke into a field radio, “we have enemy fire in sector RED ECHO. Repeat, enemy fire in sector RED ECHO.”

  Alvin nudged Jessica with his arm. “Tanks will roll in and flatten them,” he promised. He pulled a cheap cigar from the front pocket of the camouflage BDUs he was wearing and grinned. “We’re clearing out the cities just fine. Yes, Sir, I’ll be back home with my wife and little Alvin before the first snow melts in Maine.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Jessica told Alvin, keeping her head low and speaking in a well-trained soldier’s voice. The last two years of field battle had turned her into a tough, hard, combat soldier, one who decided it was better to die fighting for her husband’s cause rather than live in fear. “These resistance fighters are being armed by foreign troops who are managing to sneak across the border.”

  “Maybe so,” Alvin nodded his head. He looked around the deserted warehouse, and spotted nothing but broken glass, ammo shells, and a whole bunch of litter. A few old cars that were shot up beyond recognition. “But, between us and the CAF’s, we’re doing some major damage.”

  “The Civilian Armed Forces are helping us hold New York, Atlanta…all the major cities up and down the East Coast,” Jacob agreed, and watched Jessica slap some broken glass off her green BDUs. The woman no longer appeared tender and fragile. No. Two years of hard fighting had turned Jessica Mayes into a woman Wendy Cratterson would have run from. Jacob regretted seeing Jessica’s tenderness die off, but found that the new, battle-hardened woman held a new beauty that captivated his heart. “Taking back Los Angeles isn’t going to be a walk in the park.”

  “We’ll take back the city just the same as we took back St. Louis, Denver and Phoenix,” Alvin assured Jacob, ignoring the machine gun while lighting his cigar. “You heard President Green the other day on television. Russia, China, Canada, Mexico… Shoot! Every country on this planet is down and can barely handle the chaos taking place inside their own borders. These foreign troops bringing illegal weapons into our country are nothing more than Mexican drug cartels; a bunch of rats that were given tons of weapons by all the corrupt politicians in Washington that we’ve either arrested or killed. Sooner or later, we’ll go into Mexico and put an end to them.” Alvin took a puff of his cigar. “You heard the President. Mexico is on their knees, begging for help, and so is Canada. Having no electricity, military, and toilet paper sure changes folks,” he chuckled.

  Jessica knew Alvin was right, of course, but she had learned not to let her defenses down against the enemy. The resistance fighters were composed of the same people who had once tried to destroy America and burn the American Constitution. They were people who supported the murder of unborn babies, immoral marriages, and those who attempted to poison the minds of innocent children through filthy movies, television shows, music, magazines, the works.

  The resistance fighters were also composed of criminals, gang members, atheists, bitter politicians who had been thrown from their cozy offices, and other people who hated what America stood for...for whatever reason. The resistance fighters were determined to continue their goal of destroying all that was good and decent.

  Deep down, Jessica knew they were losing the war. The American military was slowly beginning to stop the flow of weapons into the country. President Green had ordered the Mexican government to stay ten miles away from the border to stop disguising the drug cartels. For two long years, continuous riots had taken place right on the southern and northern borders.

  Slowly, the riots were being pushed back ten miles into the Gray Zone, allowing American satellites to monitor the borders and capture individual enemy movement without having to sort through large crowds. Even with the rioters being pushed back into the ten-mile Gray Zone, President Green would eventually have to authorize a ground invasion into Mexico to clear out the drug cartels.

  What worried Jessica more than the drug cartels were the Islamic terrorist groups that had been allowed to bed down in America. The groups had fled north into Canada and were helping the resistance fighters with weapons and IEDs. The Islamic terrorists were nothing but cowards, but Canada had a very long border and a lot of wilderness to hide in. Reports were coming in that the terrorists were brainwashing millions of angry and bitter Canadians. They were forming a small army that would eventually have to be destroyed.

  “People are angry, Alvin. It’s been two years. People have children.” Jessica shook her head. “I can understand the anger.”

  “Let’s focus on the here and now,” Jacob called out over the machine gun fire.

  “Fine,” Jessica nodded her head, and waited until she heard the sound of heavy tanks over the machine gun fire. “Tanks are here.”

  “Roll them down, boys!” Alvin yelled.

  Jessica glanced at Alvin. She loved Alvin as a brother and adored her nephew. What bothered Jessica about Alvin, at least within the past few weeks, was that the man didn’t seem to care about people who were suffering around the world. To Alvin and Jacob, it was all about America.

  Jessica understood their concerns and commitment for retaking America from the hands of demonic people, but her heart went out to the billions of innocent people who were without power, food, water, medicine and hope. But what could be done?

  The Mayes AI virus was holding true and remaining a steady watchman, refusing to restore power and communications to any country. What could Alvin or Jacob do? Perhaps, Jessica thought, as the sounds of the tanks shelling enemy positions began, the reason both men seemed indifferent was because there was nothing within their power that could be done. Thinking about it could drive a man insane. Absorbing all the death, suffering and torture taking place around the world was enough to cripple a man’s mind within a second. If he had a conscience, that was.

  “Light ‘em up!” Alvin yelled, and let out a victorious shout. “This is our country, and we’re taking it back!”

  Jacob grinned. Alvin, after having his son, seemed to have become a different man. He was full of fire and vigor, determined to take back America and transform the country into a land that his son could be proud of and call home. He was determined to provide a land filled with justice, honor and truth, and a moral code that would direct the hearts and minds of future generations toward the God of Israel, Heaven and Earth.

  “I think our guys aren’t going to leave any prisoners.”

  Jessica waited until the tanks eliminated the enemy, killing over eighty-nine enemy fighters. Walking out into a grim, cool, gray day that was threatening rain, Jessica asked, “Where to now?”

  “We’ll stay here for the night,” Jacob explained. “The satellites will run the area, and then we’l
l move into the YELLOW-ECHO zone tomorrow.” Jacob glanced up at the sky, and then focused on five M1A2 Abram Tanks sitting out on a cluttered street lined with run-down warehouses and torched vehicles. The tanks sat like growling dogs, waiting to pounce at any sign of danger. “The Air Force will send some jets to start doing some fly-by reconnaissance. Foxtrot Team will start doing a few patrols and—”

  “We get it. We get it,” Alvin complained. He slapped Jacob on his shoulder and laughed. “We know the routine that takes place after each battle. Satellites, air and ground reconnaissance. We get it.” Alvin tossed his cigar down onto a glass-littered sidewalk, looked around, and then rubbed his chin. “It’s suppertime. Who wants an MRE?”

  The thought of eating another MRE made Jessica want to scream. She quickly reminded herself that, in other countries, people were starving. “I guess I could eat,” she said. She looked around, hoping to see Tom, and then sighed. Tom was back in Hope Springs, tending to his congregation while Jessica was far away in Los Angeles. “I miss Tom,” she confessed in a sad voice, surprising both Jacob and Alvin. It was rare to hear Jessica speak in a voice that showed her tender side.

  “Would you like to go see Pastor Braston?” Jacob asked, spotting Colonel Taylor approaching. Colonel Taylor was a good man who knew combat better than Jacob, but the man was hard and difficult to get along with. “Answer that later. I need to speak with Colonel Taylor.”

  Jessica watched Jacob walk down the street and begin speaking with the sixty-four-year-old man who was wearing combat BDUs that made him appear somewhat clownish, rather than battle tough. But, there wasn’t a soldier present that didn’t respect Colonel Taylor.

  “In a way, Colonel Taylor reminds me of Pastor Braston,” she told Alvin, as Jacob saluted the Colonel.

  Alvin walked Jessica back into the bullet-torn warehouse, where they spotted a group of soldiers sitting next to the brick wall. They were either smoking or eating their evening MRE. Alvin decided to rest his legs in a private corner that smelled of car oil and dust.

  “Take a load off,” he said, taking off his field pack and sitting down.

  Jessica removed her field pack and dropped it. She stretched her tired soldiers and then sat down next to Alvin. “How is your shoulder?”

  “Hurts sometimes,” Alvin admitted, as he dug into his field pack in search of his evening MRE. “I know when it’s going to rain,” he tried to joke.

  “I’m sure you do,” Jessica agreed. Alvin placed a Bible in his lap, and then finally managed to locate his MRE. “I wish Jacob would read his Bible.”

  “Jacob is too stubborn,” Alvin sighed. “He seems to have grown more distant from the Good Lord these days. I don’t know why.”

  Jessica studied the group of soldiers sitting at the brick wall. They were brave young men and women; a mixture of Christians, Messianic Jews, and some who were still struggling to fully surrender to the love of Jesus Christ. Like Jacob.

  “He asked me to marry him again last week.”

  Alvin slowly turned his head and looked at her cautiously. “You said no?”

  “I said no,” Jessica nodded her head. “My heart still belongs to Jack.”

  “And in return, you’re making Jacob’s heart become very bitter,” Alvin pointed out.

  “I know.”

  “You can’t force a woman to love a fella,” Alvin said and patted his Bible. “Love has to come from the heart. Only the Good Lord knows our heart, too.”

  “My heart belongs to my husband, Alvin, I do love Jacob, but not the way I love Jack. I will go to my grave with my husband,” Jessica confessed. “I wish Jacob would find another woman to love.”

  “That man has it bad for you.”

  “I know,” Jessica’s sigh showed her misery. “My rejection is pushing him away from Jesus, too.” Jessica bowed her head. “Alvin, I—”

  Before Jessica could finish her sentence, machine gun fire erupted from outside, and then the tanks began shelling a nearby warehouse.

  “Man down!” a soldier yelled.

  Jessica froze. She imagined Jacob lying dead on the glass-littered sidewalk. And at that moment—that one, single moment in time—she heard her husband’s voice again.

  Love again, because love is all there is. You won’t lose me by loving again, because I’m waiting for you.

  “Jacob...no,” Jessica whispered. She scrambled to her feet and ran outside into the gray, miserable day that smelled of tank grease and gun powder. And there, lying on the sidewalk with a crowd of soldiers surrounding him was Jacob Green.

  “No!” Jessica cried, as tears spilled onto her cheeks. She ran toward Jacob, fully aware that she had just been telling Alvin that she wished the man would find another woman to love.

  “Jacob!”

  Alvin ran after Jessica and pushed through the crowd of soldiers, expecting his best friend to be lying dead on the sidewalk. Instead, to his shock and relief, Jacob was laying on top of Colonel Taylor, trying to stop blood from gushing from the Colonel’s chest.

  “Get the EVAC chopper!” he yelled.

  Alvin grabbed Jessica and pulled her back, ordering, “Give the man air.”

  Jessica stared at Jacob, watching him desperately trying to stop blood from leaving an innocent man’s body. That’s when she noticed the tears on Jacob’s cheeks.

  “Please, Jesus, not this man,” Jacob prayed over Colonel Taylor, “Take me instead. Not this man. Take me instead.”

  A few minutes passed before an EVAC chopper landed on the street, barely managing to squeeze in between the run-down warehouses. Colonel Taylor’s limp body was quickly loaded onto the chopper and flown out, leaving Jacob standing there with his hands covered in blood.

  “Are you okay?” Jessica approached Jacob on unsteady legs.

  Jacob studied his blood-stained hands. “I guess this is what the hands of Jesus must have looked like, in a sense,” he answered Jessica. He looked into her worried eyes and saw tears. “I’ve been praying, and...well, I know that Jesus is with me as my Lord and Savior. He’s with us all.” Jacob raised his eyes and pointed at the EVAC chopper that was vanishing into the sky.

  Jessica couldn’t hold back the tears. She reached out and hugged Jacob, a man who had appeared at her sister’s front door in Dalton, Georgia, posing as an FBI Agent long ago. The same man who had helped her escape from the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office. He had shot at gang members, jumped into an underground river with her. And he was a man who had never given up believing.

  “I thought you were dead,” she whispered and broke down. “I thought you were dead.”

  Jacob felt Jessica trembling and carefully pulled her close. Alvin smiled and walked away, but not before pointing out, “I hear wedding bells.”

  “Hey, I’m alright. I’m alright,” Jacob promised.

  Jessica looked up with tear-filled eyes, studied Jacob’s war-torn face, and leaned forward to gently kiss him.

  “I will marry you. I will become your wife, but we have to leave this war. I can’t lose you. We’ll go to Maine and stay with Mandy until this war is over. Please.”

  Jacob didn’t know what to say. Jessica had become so war-hardened. Now, she was showing her delicate, fragile side once again. He couldn’t believe she was begging him to leave the war. For a minute, Jacob saw the downfall of cold, gray rain reflected in Jessica’s eyes. A grief stricken woman stood over a rain-soaked casket, saying goodbye to her husband. He suddenly understood.

  “Okay,” he promised. He pulled Jessica into his arms and held her tightly.

  The war, for Jessica Mayes and Jacob Green, was now over.

  ((((((((((*))))))))))

  Twenty Years Later…

  President Jacob Green drifted off into a gentle, falling snow with Jessica at his side. Even though they were both now in their fifties, Jessica was still just as beautiful as the first day he had seen her in Dalton, Georgia.

  “You look very lovely in your new
winter coat.”

  Jessica glanced down at the thick, white coat Jacob had bought her as a gift. Snow covered her blond hair, which was now showing some heavy gray. Raising a set of seventeen-year-old twin boys surely contributed to the gray hair.

  “I like the coat very much,” she smiled, hugging Jacob’s arm, as she looked out at the wide, beautiful snowy field that sat behind their country home in Vermont.

  “Everything seems so far away,” she spoke in a gentle voice. “There’s a sweet peace in the air today.”

  “That’s because I’m still president,” Jacob tried to tease, feeling at ease in a warm, brown coat that made him feel older than he was. But, so what? Sometimes feeling old wasn’t too bad.

  “You won the election by a ninety-eight percent margin, honey,” Jessica responded, adoring the falling snow, as white trails of cold smoke left her mouth. “America is secure.”

  “Well, we’re not in the ‘50s, as my dad had hoped.”

  “Aren’t we?” Jessica objected. She stopped walking and looked up into Jacob’s eyes which had grown wise and patient through the years. They were the eyes of a man who had become not only President of the New United States, but a God-fearing preacher as well. “Our children are secure in a country that now fears and honors God. Our enemies are eliminated. Our school systems are now teaching the truth. Our homes are filled with families. Abortions are outlawed, and those who carry out that murderous act are put to death. Marriage is between a man and a woman again. The elderly are respected. There is no more Hollywood. All of our television shows are Christian-themed. Our music is now innocent again...” Jessica smiled. “Jacob, we have young men and women who now want to serve in the military out of a sense of love for their country. I would suggest, in my humble opinion, that we have...no...that God has given us victory.”

  “I would agree.”

  Jessica looked back out at the snow. “No government agencies. We destroyed the IRS, CIA and the FBI. No Department of Homeland Security, or smaller agencies like the Department of Land Management. America is free from the suffocating grip of the Federal Government. The states are in control of their own borders again. There is no Supreme Court. Each state has their own court system that isn’t governed by the Federal Government or the Military.” Jessica motioned away with her left hand. “Vermont, once a state that had laws that sickened my stomach, is free and beautiful once again. A state that honors God in all of its laws. I would say that is not only a victory, but a miracle.”