Latest from the Janitors, Asps, Other Books, and More Books - Billy's Rescue (Asps Series, Book #7) - Billy finally found.

Today’s excerpt is from Billy’s Rescue, Book #7 of the Asps Series.  Billy about to be picked up by the C-130 after escaping from the terrorists and finding some friendly Army fellas.  Enjoy and have a wonderful day.

m.j.

 

After ending the call—even though the others had figured out Billy was alive by then—Bruce quickly filled in those with him, before calling Wendy.  “Wandering boy has come up for air.  He’s on his way to Kabul.”

“What!  Are all Marines crazy, or just the ones we’re involved with?”

“All of ‘em, Wendy.  Anyhow, where are you on the fuel situation?”

“Got a full load…heading back to where we were this morning.”

“Yeah, well, hold off.  I’ve got the coordinates on Billy.  Go see if you can spot him.  He’s with some Army Special Forces guys.”

After Bruce gave the coordinates to Wendy, along with the cell phone number of Bubba, she circled the plane around to head in that direction.  When she got there, Phil immediately picked up the seven men on the infrared and soon had a visual.  Wendy could see them, too, as Phil, using a telescope, laughed.  “They’re down there, drinking.”

Wendy laughed as she dialed the number she had gotten from Bruce.  When Staff Sergeant Lawton answered, she asked, “Is this Bubba?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Great.  How about giving your phone to my Marine, who’s trying to get you guys drunk.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Billy took the phone.  After finding out it was Wendy he said, “Hi there, General.  How’s tricks?”

Bubba Lawton nearly passed out at the mention of a General being on his phone who had mentioned their drinking—which was totally forbidden in Afghanistan…or Pakistan—Special Forces or not.

“About ten miles west of you down the road, below where you’re at, is a place wide enough and flat enough I should be able to land.  How about moseying your cute little ass down there…ASAP!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

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Latest from the Janitors, Asps, Other Books, and More Books - Bullets And Baseball (Asps Series, Book #6) - Billy and Bear have some fun in Yemen.

Today’s excerpt is from Bullets And Baseball, Book #6 of the Asps Series.  In Yemen, Billy and Bear leave a rude surprise for a shipload of terrorists.  Enjoy and have a great day.

m.j.

 

When Dusty reached the outskirts of Al Hudaydah, he had Kye call Bear.  After a short conversation, Bear told her he and Billy would be up and waiting for them in an alley next to the cut-rate hotel they were in.

Billy grumbled as he heard Bear’s part of the conversation, but soon got up.  Neither man had undressed after agreeing there was less likelihood of leaving their lodging with bugs by sleeping fully dressed. 

As Dusty pulled into the alley, with Ike right behind him, Bear and Billy walked up to Dusty’s car, got in the rear, then explained what their plan was.  Dusty thought it sounded good, while Kye thought they were “nuts.”

Bear directed Dusty to a place for both cars to park that allowed those in the car to see the ship he and Billy were going to “attack.”  Dusty had offered to go with them, but Bear thought they could handle it without help.

As the four in the cars watched, Bear and Billy went to the dock, seemed to head down a ladder of some type, then disappear from view.  At the bottom of the ladder, there was a slight ledge from an outcropping of rock.  Both men soon disrobed and eased into the water, for a three hundred yard swim to the boat. 

When they arrived at the bow of the ship, they swam around to the side of it, opposite the side nearest the dock.  There they found what they expected to—a ladder with a landing that had a small boat attached.  They had seen the smaller vessel come and go a few times, each time to return with more “recruits” aboard.   They correctly surmised the small boat must be off-loading some of the recruits from Oman on a much smaller boat arranged there. 

At the base of the ladder, no one was in sight.  So in no time the two were up on the landing, then up the ladder.  At the top, they peered over the gunwale.  The top of it was nearly three feet above the deck.  Again, no one was in sight, except for about twenty men sleeping on blankets on the deck.  Bear glanced at Billy, who shrugged, before they went over the gunwale and proceeded to search what they could of the ship.  Their main goal was to find something explosive they could rig to cause the most damage.

They found a small armory and busied themselves with rigging some of the contents to explode when they wanted them to go off.  Earlier in the day—or actually the previous day—they had been discussing the ‘how’ of using what they found aboard to cause the boat to explode.  Billy had had come up with an idea.  “Bear, the harbor’s water is pretty calm, and I’m sure once at sea, it’ll be much less calm.  What say when we rig it up, we figure out something so the rolling sea causes our trigger to go off with the motion.”

Bear had agreed and now, as they were rigging the explosives they’d found, Billy found a small bottle, and soon made a concoction which, when moving much, would explode.  Bear checked it out, and nodded.  “Yeah, that’ll do…nice work.  Give it to me—I got the perfect place to put it.”

As those two left the boat, Jack muttered, “Didn’t take them too long.”

Dusty agreed as he watched Bear and Billy swim until they were out of sight, when they neared where they had left their clothing.  Kye joked, “Sure hope they carry their clothes back here.  At this distance, it looks like Billy is hung pretty well.”

Dusty—knowing full well Kye hadn’t been able to see any such thing—just shook his head, while Jack and Ike, in the other car, both laughed. 

When the two fully-clothed saboteurs reached Dusty’s car and got in, Dusty started up, then began the drive back to Sana’a, with Ike following close behind.

After Billy and Bear put their communication sets back on, there was quite a bit of joking around, especially about Kye’s words.

 

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Latest from the Janitors, Asps, Other Books, and More Books - Bear's War (Asps Series, Book #5) - Patty has terrorist aboard her plane and seeks Jim's help.

Today’s excerpt is from Bear’s War, Book #5 of the Asps Series.  Patty flying a charter flight customer who has her land to pick up a “friend.”  The friend turns out to be a most wanted terrorist.  Enjoy and have a fantastic day.

m.j.

 

When Patty landed, she taxied to where she was told to go for refueling.  She had called ahead and arranged for fuel, down to having already given her credit card number, to avoid an over-long stay on the ground.  After she stopped the plane, Patty went to the cabin and opened the door for Rolfe, who left the plane to wait for the man who was going to Los Angeles with them.  Patty stayed at the door until the fuel truck arrived, before she went back to the cockpit to check on Harry VI, who was sleeping soundly.  Nothing else to do, she sat down in her seat and waited for the fueling to be completed and the new passenger to arrive.  When he did arrive, Patty’s eyes flew wide open and she felt a chill run down her spine.  The man meeting Randal Rolfe was none other than Ibn Mohammad…one of the most wanted terrorists in the world.  As a matter of course, Patty looked over the pictures of wanted terrorists on Jim Scott’s computer every time she visited the Asps complex on Jim’s ranch.  There was no doubt who she was looking at.  She thought of the Asp Jim had given her, which was in a mostly hidden holster on the left-hand side of her seat, but knew she’d never risk firing it…especially while refueling was going on.  She had no intention of risking her son’s life by blowing her plane up with him in it.  She thought of running back, shutting the plane’s door, and calling the authorities…but she felt she might not make it in time.  So she just sat there, took three deep breaths, let them out slowly after each was taken, and did some fast thinking on what to do.  By the time she got up and went back to greet her new passenger, she had her plan more or less figured out.

Rolfe introduced Mohammad using a Hispanic name that went right over Patty’s head, as she tried her best to remain calm and friendly.  After signing off on the fuel slip, Patty closed the door.  “Er, Randal…you two—as always—help yourselves to anything you want from the bar and fridge.  But do it early on.  Looks like after about an hour out and for some time after that, we’ll be running into a few pretty tough headwinds, so I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your seat belts fastened most of the time.  I’d hate for either of you to go bouncing off the overhead.  An uninjured customer always pays better.”

Rolfe laughed as Patty turned for the cockpit.  As much as she wanted to do so, she left the cockpit door open as she always did with a small load of people.  Then she stopped, went back to the door, and asked, “Randal, would you like me to shut the door, in case you two have any business to talk over?”

Rolfe glanced at Mohammad who gave a brief nod, then Rolfe answered, “That would be a good idea, Patty.  Thanks for your consideration.”

“You’re welcome.  Oh, one more thing.  I’ve got a few friends in L.A. who have never seen Harry.  Will I have time to spend a few hours with them…if I have them meet me at the airport?”

“That will be fine, Patty.  We’ll probably be there two days or more.”

Patty just nodded, as she pulled the door shut and let out a sigh.  While she would still be careful in what she said later on in the flight, a slip of her tongue would be less likely heard and, as she arranged things with various control towers along the way, she didn’t want to be overheard.  When she took off, she set her course directly for Montana, having no intention of ever landing in Los Angeles…at least not in the next several hours.  She did, however, call ahead and make arrangements for landing at the small airport in Los Angeles, and for having a spot to park her plane for a few days.  When her course was set, she immediately called Jim Scott.  “Hi, Hec—Patty Chickamunga here.  I’m on my way to Los Angeles and, since you and Joyce have never seen Harry, I thought it’d be nice if you met me at the airport when I get there.  Maybe you could bring Dan and Ethel along, also.  They’ve never seen him either.”

Jim, who was at the computer in the Asps compound with his wife, Holly, and Sarah Turner, Bear’s wife, sat bolt upright in his chair.  Before he spoke, he snapped his fingers and pointed at the phone near the terminal Holly was using, then the one near Sarah.  Jim asked, “You got a problem, Patty?”

“Yeah, Hec, I do.  Really looking forward to seeing all four of you.  Your two kids, too.  Haven’t seen Billy since he turned ten last year.”

“Okay, you can talk, but might be overheard.  What I say is okay…that is, they can’t hear me?”

“Yeah, that’s right.  Just missed seeing you the one time I came out there.  Sorry about that…of course it would just have been the two of you, since Dan and Ethel were in Hawaii at the time.”

“Okay, I’ll ask three things at once.  Any of them are wrong, you let me know and I’ll ask them one at a time.  You on your plane?  And there’s a bad guy on there, too.  And you’re headed to L.A.?”

“Hold on, Hec.  I want to see if I’ve got my plane on the right course.  I just set the autopilot.  Yeah, it’s okay.  Wouldn’t want my two passengers to get mad at me for taking them someplace besides Los Angeles.”

“Good girl.  Two bad guys on the plane.  They think you’re going to L.A.  Where are you going?”

“I’m not sure about the time.  I might have to make a stop along the way.  I’ve got plenty of fuel to make L.A. without the headwinds I may run into.  They’re too bad, and I may have to make a pit stop.  Thought I’d stop at Jim’s place.  I know he carries extra fuel, and that way I wouldn’t have to waste a bunch of time.  Think my passengers would appreciate it.”

“Okay, Patty, I got it.  You’re gonna tell them you’re up against stiff headwinds, want to err on the side of caution, and make a fast refueling stop at a friend’s landing strip, where you’ll be able to get in and out without wasting a bunch of time.  When you land here, we nab the bastards.  I take it you’ve got someone pretty hot.”

“Oh, yeah.  Harry’s right here in the cockpit with me.  Sleeping like the baby he is right now, thankfully.”

“Okay, Harry’s with you.  We’ll figure it out.  You just come on in, honey.  Let me know when you’re getting close.”

 

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Latest from the Janitors, Asps, Other Books, and More Books - Tears And Terrorists (Asps Series, Book #4) - The hunt is on for terrorist in Namibia.

Today’s excerpt is from Tears And Terrorists, Book #4 of the Asps Series.  The Asps put bait on their hook and get a bite in their efforts to track down the would-be new King of Namibia.  Enjoy and have a wonderful day.

m.j.

 

In Namibia, Bruce told Anson about the call.  Both agreed Jim must be on to something important, to go flying off to Iran under cover of darkness.  They went back to their task.  While Dusty and Ike made the rounds of likely places to drop the hint they were guns for hire, Bruce and Anson had passed the word they might be interested in investments.  Kye and Bear, the happy brother and sister tourists, did all the sightseeing things expected of them, and kept their ears to the ground.  They were the first to discover a bit of discontent with the status quo.  A travel guide who seemed less than happy in his job was overheard by those two telling a friend that he would very much like to see something other than a democracy in Namibia.  The friend told the travel guide things could be changing for the better in the near future.  Kye and Bear split off from the group of tourists and followed the travel guide’s friend.  They saw where he lived by the end of the day, and contacted Bruce with their information.  Bruce assigned Dusty and Ike the task of picking up the man and following him around, until they felt he was in a location where they could discuss their desire to make money as soldiers of fortune.  Their chance came when the man went into a coffee bar and was talking to another man in hushed tones at a corner table.  Dusty and Ike sat next to their table, discussed their chances of finding work as hired guns, and spoke just loudly enough to be heard by the man and his companion.  When they got up and left, the man they had followed and his friend followed them and approached them on the street.  The man asked if they were serious about taking up arms for a price.  Assured they were, the man asked where they could be contacted…and what type of experience they had.  They told the man they had extensive experience in such matters and had at one time led a Special Forces detail for the Canadian Armed Forces, and they told him where they could be found.

The same evening, in their hotel room, they were contacted by a man who wanted to know what they would charge to help train an insurgent force.  They stated a price, which was counter offered.  In time a price was agreed to.  Dusty mentioned he and Ike had met two American investors who might be interested in supplying money to the operation—if they were convinced it would succeed—and they would be in a position to profit from a change in government, from favorable dealings with the new government.  Since money and the arms it buys are the lifeblood of any insurgency, the man who had come to see them became quite excited at the prospect of more money and wrote down the names of Bruce and Anson and where Dusty thought they were staying.

After telling Dusty and Ike they would be contacted within the next day or two, he hurried off to meet Bruce and Anson.  The meeting went smoothly.  Bruce told the man that, given proper assurances and a guarantee of sweet deals with the new government, he and Anson would certainly be willing to invest in such a venture.  They too were told they would be contacted within the next forty-eight hours and taken to meet the man who would be the new “King of Namibia.”

 

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Latest from the Janitors, Asps, Other Books, and More Books - Fido (Asps Series, Book #3) - Drew and Boris get ready to chase down terrorist.

Today’s excerpt is from Fido, Book #3 of the Asps Series.  After taking out a large contingent of al-Qaida attackers, Jim get information from the captain of one of the boats used to bring the enemy to their location.  The main piece of data he gets from the captain is the name and location of the al-Qaida terrorist in charge of the operation.  With that information I hand, Drew and Boris decide to track down the man.  Enjoy and have a great day.

m.j.

 

NOTE:  Thanks for the nice words about my heart condition I received from various visitors to this web site.  Turned out after looking around, the doc said no further procedure was needed and we will just go with the medication I’ve been taking since the stints were put in back in November.  

 

The captain swallowed.  “I only had a crew of four.  Two died in the attack.  You have the other one here, with a hood on his head.  He will do anything you ask.  Please do not kill him.  He is a good man…and a good man in the engine room of my boat.”

Jim looked hard at the captain again.  “We’ll see.  For now, my inclination is to let both of you live.  Please don’t do anything to change my mind.  Oh, one more question.  Is there anyone in al-Qaida you contact for any reason?”

“Yes.  The man who hired me in the first place…though, at the time, I didn’t know he was al-Qaida, or any kind of terrorist.  Actually, I figured it out on my own, in time.”

“Where is this man located?  And what is his name…or the name he’s using?”

“Laguna de Perlas—and his name is Rafael Sanchez.”

“Is it his real name?”

“I do not know.  He told me he was originally from Guatemala.”

“Do you speak any language besides Spanish?”

“Yes…English…very well, I’ve been told.  Though my English is no match for your Spanish,” the captain answered in passable but heavily accented English.

Not wanting to hurt the man’s feelings, Jim sighed, “We will continue to use Spanish…though your English is very good.”

After a good deal of discussion, it was decided Dan, Dusty, Bear, and two of the SAS men would have to go back to the ranch, because of their wounds, along with the body of the SAS man killed.  They would go in one of the SAS vehicles, with another of the SAS men driving it.  When that was settled, Drew looked at Boris.  “I’ve always wanted to visit Laguna de Perlas.”

Boris smiled and nodded.  “If I had any idea where it was, I’m sure I’d agree.”

Suzan butted in.  “It’s about a hundred and ten miles up the coast from the eastern border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua…population, about eleven thousand.”

Even as Boris started to ask, “How do you happen to know that, dear wife?” Holly tried to stop him.

When she was too late, she did manage to speak before Suzan.  “Oh, crap—here it comes.”

Suzan, the former Marine Captain, threw out her chest.  “In the United States, we train our Marines.”

Boris just sighed as Sharon asked, “Is this gonna be a family vacation?  By ‘family,’ I mean Suz and me, along with Andrew James.”

Drew shook his head.  “No…boys’ night out, as it were.  We’ll also need to borrow one of the planes, and could probably use a pilot or two.”

Suzan smiled.  “I’ll fly you.  Who wants to sit up front with me?”

Janet almost laughed.  “Well, I’m sure not gonna sit around and listen to Orf cry about the little hole in his leg.”

Seizing on a chance to keep Trip out of harm’s way, Jim raised his hand.  “Okay, that’s solved.  Trip, will you drive them back in one of the unarmed buggies?  You know your way better than the rest of us, and I’ve seen both Suzan and Jan drive.”

Trip started to object, then remembered his special friend, Dusty, was going back.   “Yes, sir.”

 

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Latest from the Janitors, Asps, Other Books, and More Books - The Zimo Hunt (Asps Series, Book #2) - Bear, Dusty, and Kye find some trouble.

Today’s excerpt is from The Zimo Hunt, Book #2 of the Asps Series.  After monitoring a large al-Qaida camp inside Pakistan, Bear and Dusty head back to where Kye waits guarding their car.  As they get near her location, Dusty spots trouble.  Enjoy and have a fantastic day.

m.j.

 

NOTE:  This will be my last posting for a few days.  Have to make a trip to the hospital for a bit of repair work on my aging heart.  

 

As the two men headed toward Kye and the car, they joked about who would have been making the trip alone the following day to get more water.  They continued to chat from time to time as they descended the high area they had reached to keep watch on the camp.  About an hour before they reached Kye, Dusty stopped and took a drink of water.  He handed the canteen to Bear, who asked, “What’s up?  This is twice you’ve stopped for water in the last twenty minutes.”

“We have company about three hundred feet behind us.  Seems to be just following for now…but I’m not wild about being stalked.”

That said, Dusty called Kye, told her about the situation, and added, “Get yourself in position to take out whoever it is.  When we’re about ten minutes from you, we’ll put it in second gear and hurry along.  Maybe he’ll speed up, to the point of being careless.”

Kye joked, “Will do—but don’t get killed in the meantime.  I’m not in the mood to break in a new lover.”

When Bear and Dusty neared Kye and the car, Dusty muttered, “Now, Bear,” and the two men sped up their pace to just short a running.  Neither man heard the shot that killed the man stalking them, but they did hear Kye say into her headset, “Guys, he’s not alone, get off your path…now!”

Dusty and Bear reacted quickly, as Dusty went down toward the path below, while Bear went further up the hillside.  Both turned and brought up their rifles as they made their move.  They saw four men, and as Dusty started to sight in on one of them, he dropped from a shot fired by Kye.  He quickly adjusted his aim and fired at another of the men, as shots rang out from their foes.  As a shot whizzed by him, Dusty squeezed off a killing shot, even as Bear was lining up for a second target, after killing one.  Bear shot him, as Kye’s shot also hit home.

When no further shots were headed in their direction, Bear sighed.  “I’ll go check ‘em out…give me cover.”

A few minutes later, Bear muttered into his headset, “They’re all dead.”

Dusty was already walking in his direction.  “Start checking them out for any kind of papers.”

“Ahead of you.  The one at my feet had Chechen papers.  Looks Chechen, too.”

Dusty, remembering Kye had mentioned that she thought the two who had been in her camp might have been Chechen, growled, “Just what we need, Chechens stalking us.  Those darn guys are good.  Wonder why they didn’t take us out earlier?”

Kye muttered, “Because they didn’t know who you were.  Nothing on what we’re wearing to give away who we belong to.”

 

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Latest from the Janitors, Asps, Other Books, and More Books - Birth Of The Asps (Asps Series, Book #1) - Dusty and Kye find al-Qaida camp.

Today’s excerpt is from Birth Of The Asps, Book #1 of the Asps Series.  On the first mission of the team, Dusty and Kye find the al-Qaida encampment on the island of Dominica.  Enjoy and have a wonderful day.

m.j.

 

Then they started up the incline, with Dusty carrying both equipment bags.  Just as he reached the top, Kye—who had been right behind him—lost her footing and fell down the incline head-over-heels.  Dusty heard the commotion and turned to look down the incline to Kye, now sitting up at the bottom.  He hurried down and knelt beside her.

“Are you okay?”

“No.  I hurt all over.  Let’s go.”

Dusty smiled, helped Kye to her feet, then followed her up the incline, giving her a gentle boost from behind.  Kye was sore, humiliated, and mad at herself, but thankful for Dusty just calmly helping her out, without sarcastic comments—which she was sure would follow at some point.

When she reached the top of the incline, she saw nothing of any camp and quietly asked, “Where’s this camp?”

Dusty pointed through some of the thick foliage.  Then Kye could see just a glimpse of what she had been looking for.  Without comment, Dusty started down the not very well worn path and Kye followed.  The further they went, the more Kye could see of the camp.  For the most part, it was in a clearing in the rain forest.

As they neared the camp, Dusty veered off the path into some thick vegetation and Kye followed.  Dusty pointed to a small place of concealment and whispered, “You climb in that hidey hole, while I go find a place to set up our gear.”

“Okay.  Hey, got a question—why are they right out in the open like this?”

“Because they’re al-Qaida…idiots.  They must feel sure no one will just come along this way, and none of our satellites will be wasting time to snapping pictures of Dominica.  They’re probably right on both counts, but they’re still idiots for not being concealed in the lush vegetation, where no one could see them with ease.  It would never occur to them someone might actually come along here, looking for them…or not.  See you in a while.  You see anybody coming along our trail from either direction, try to give me a head’s up.”

Kye said nothing in return, as Dusty eased off and was gone from sight in less than a minute.  The spot Dusty had picked out for her was far from comfortable—especially with her aches and pains from the fall—but she suffered on in silence.

Dusty worked his way down to a spot of concealment and set up the listening device contained in the two bags.  It was an elaborate set-up that not only listened, but also recorded.  Dusty could listen by plugging in an earphone apparatus.  The device only recorded when something was being said.  By careful aiming and tuning, Dusty was able to get the receiver pointed at a tent he determined was the headquarters tent, after listening in on various conversations from various points.

After two hours of listening, and being amazed at what he was hearing, Dusty popped out the tape of what he’d heard and put in a new one.  Then he started working his way back to Kye.  To avoid making noise or giving away his presence in any manner, the going was slow, but he carefully worked his way back toward her.

Meanwhile, Kye had also been busy.  She’d brought along a pad and pen in the pocket of her leotards and had been busy sketching out a map of the camp’s layout, which was fully visible to her from the vantage point where Dusty had left her.

She was so intent on what she was doing that she didn’t see or hear the machete-armed man who was walking down the path from the original direction she and Dusty had approached the camp.

He, on the other hand, was observant enough to accidentally spot Kye.  He quietly left the trail and approached her from behind.  Just as he raised his machete, Kye somehow sensed his presence and turned, reaching for her Asp as she did so.  She realized she’d never be fast enough, and resigned herself to joining her husband in death.

 

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Latest from the Janitors, Asps, Other Books, and More Books - Assassin I Am (latest book in More Books) - Some humor on a shopping trip.

Today’s excerpt is from Assassin I Am, a standalone book featuring new hero Fred Dupree.  After his plane is blown up, Fred brings his new friend, Rosemary, home with him to his hideout near Sedona, Arizona.  Since her clothing was lost when the plane was attacked, Fred offers to take her to town for some shopping.  Enjoy and have a great day.

m.j.

 

On the drive back to the highway, Fred gave Rosemary careful instructions and pointed out landmarks she could use to find her way.  She just followed his instructions, not telling him she could find her way already.  When they reached Sedona, Fred directed her to a place to park that was convenient for most of the shopping she would do.  They went into a small store selling mostly women’s clothing.  The sales clerk offered to help, as Rosemary explained her luggage had been ‘lost’ and she would need several items.  When the clerk offered a few suggestions and took a blouse off a rack, Fred crinkled up his face in obvious disapproval.

On the flight from Scott Air Force Base, Fred had asked the airman for an ice pack Rosemary could use on her swelling lip and darkening eye, but both still showed signs of damage—especially the eye, which was becoming “a full and proper black eye”, as Fred had put it during idle conversation over breakfast.

Rosemary and the clerk had both noticed Fred’s distain at the item shown to Rosemary.  While Rosemary didn’t much care for it either, she looked it over and muttered to the sales girl, “I sorta like this, even if the guy who gave me the fat lip and black eye doesn’t much approve.  But not wanting further damage to my body, I guess I’ll pass.”

Fred sighed, grunted, and growled, “I get the message.  About four doors down is a bar and restaurant.  I’m going for a drink…or three, since I have a chauffeur.  See you later.”

As he started to walk off, he stopped, took out his wallet, and extracted a credit card.  He handed it to Rosemary.  “Since I’m such a brute, I may was well pay.  See ya.”

Rosemary was laughing as he walked away and, after he was out of the building, she explained to the salesgirl that Fred hadn’t been the one who hit her, before she added, “Actually he saved me from the guy who did.  He was…is…a rapist and murderer, and was in the process of kidnapping me when Fred arrived on the scene and saved my bacon.  How I come to have no clothes is another story—one best left alone for now, I guess.  Anyhow, I only said that about Fred hitting me to get rid of him, so I could shop in peace.”

Both women were laughing about that when Fred walked back in and summoned Rosemary by wagging his finger.  She walked over to him and he whispered his pin number into her ear, then added, “The card is a debit/credit card.  Use it either way…doesn’t matter.  But if you use it as a credit card, just sign my name.”  As he turned to leave, he stopped and told her how to spell Dupree.  Having done that, he sighed and left after telling her the pin number to the card.

While Rosemary went about her shopping, from time to time she would stop and load up the SUV with her purchases.  When she finally walked into the restaurant and up to Fred, he was about halfway through a steak lunch he had ordered—and had just ordered his third drink.  He glanced up at her and asked, “You want a steak?”

“Yes—but I’m not finished shopping yet.”

“Of course you aren’t…you’re a woman.  A beautiful, well-put-together woman—but still a woman.”

“Thanks for the ‘beautiful’.  How about ordering me a steak and drink?  I’ll be right back…I gotta pee.”

“How elegant—but your steak and drink will be ordered by the time you get back.”

 

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Latest from the Janitors, Asps, Other Books, and More Books - Sedona Chip (Janitors Series, Book #9) - Jim gets a new horse.

Today’s excerpt is from Sedona Chip, Book #9 of the nine-book Janitors Series.  On the ground inside Iran, the C-130’s pilot, Wendy, spots a horse wandering around and alerts Jim.  Enjoy and have a fantastic day.

m.j.

 

NOTE:  The portion of this excerpt dealing with a WWII B-17 pilot is a true story.  The pilot was my Dad and I was aboard the flight.  In addition a cousin of mine who is now a retired Air Force Brigadier General helped load the horse on the plane.

 

 

Hector and the others quickly started loading up the empty bags and the ladder in the buggies that Bruce and Harry had pulled out from their hiding place.  After loading everything, the six Janitors headed back to the plane, where Jim was grumbling at Wendy.  Just a bit earlier, she had asked, “Jim, I guess it would ruin your morning if I told you a large force with tanks and such was headed our way, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, it would.”

“Okay.  I won’t tell you that then.”

“Dammit, Wendy—do you see something or not?”

“No, just wanted to see if you were awake.  Well, actually, there’s a horse wandering around.”

“Hell of a difference between a horse and a tank, Wendy.”

Wendy just laughed as Jim walked toward the horse and talked gently to it.  When the horse came up to him, he petted the animal, then rubbed its nose.  “Somebody open one of the MREs we’ve got on the plane, and bring me crackers or whatever you can find that a horse might like.”

Phil hopped down from his position at the machine gun and went inside the plane to open an MRE.  It didn’t have crackers inside, but did have a piece of wheat bread.  Quickly, he opened three more and found two with crackers and another with wheat bread.  He took those items out to Jim, who had noticed the horse was saddled, and unsaddled it while he waited on the food.

When Phil arrived, he handed Jim one of the sealed pouches of crackers, then started opening the other three pouches.  Jim opened the first and gave it to the horse, who chomped the crackers down without delay.  Soon the horse had eaten the other crackers and the two pieces of bread as well.  Jim handed his empty pouches to Phil.  “Now we need to give this fella some water.”

Phil headed back to the plane, with the four empty pouches in hand.  As he did, Jim gently took up the reins hanging down from the horse’s head and started leading it to the plane.

Wendy asked, “You’re not taking that horse on my plane, are you?”

“You just look for tanks.  I’ll worry about the horse.”

Wendy sighed, then smiled, knowing she was about to fly a horse halfway around the world.

When the two dune buggies from the compound area drove up and into the plane, Holly was the first to spot the horse.  She busted out laughing, even as Phil drove the third buggy into the plane.  Soon everyone was gathered around the horse, with Jim explaining where it had come from. 

When he finished, Holly looked around.  “Must be from the guys we shot up last time.  Poor thing must have been wandering around in the desert for all these months.  Wonder how it survived?”

Jim sighed, “That, darling, we will never know.”

Wendy walked up then.  “Jim, this is nuts.  Oh, I know we’re gonna do it because you want to—but it’s still nuts.  We aren’t set up to fly any damned horse.”

“Neither was the first guy to do it.  After World War II, a former B-17 pilot named Stan Jackson started a small non-scheduled cargo airline out in the Los Angeles area.  His company was National Air Cargo, and they were the first to ever successfully fly a horse.  They had a good deal less to work with than we do.  So we’ll figure something out…right Phil, Chet?”

“Sure, Jim,” both men said in unison.

Wendy grunted, “Fine.  I’m gonna start her up and head for home.  Get that horse secured, pronto.”

Jim grinned, “Yes, ma’am.”

 

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Latest from the Janitors, Asps, Other Books, and More Books - Devil's Brew (Janitors Series, Book #8) - Dirty Dozen times 20.

Today’s excerpt is from Devil’s Brew, Book #8 of the nine-book Janitors Series.  Asked to enter Syria to take out a large (2,000 strong) al-Qaida training camp, the team starts the process of getting at least two hundred men to add to the team.  The only stipulation the President made on the new recruits were that they could not be employed by the government.  Jim added to that by insisting that none of the new men would be married, or deeply involved in their respective communities.  In addition to retired military men they knew who fit the mold, Boris suggested that they needed “a Dirty Dozen times about 20 or so”, thus Military and other Federal convicts would be considered.  Enjoy and have a wonderful day.

m.j.

 

 

When Holly, Hector, and Suzan reached the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, their arrival had been expected, along with knowledge that they could take any prisoners they wanted with them.

Hector rejected the first two men he interviewed out-of-hand.  The third impressed him enough that he made the offer.  “Okay, as my leader likes to say, here’s the deal.  The team I represent is going into a foreign nation after some terrorists.  We’ll probably be outmanned about ten to one.  If you want to join us, you’ll leave out of here now on a work-release program.  Tomorrow…”

“We don’t have a work release program.”

“You do now—by Presidential Executive Order.  Good until I leave this building.  Anyhow, as I was saying, tomorrow you’ll be listed as ‘escaped’ for violating the terms of the program—which are that you have to be back here by midnight.  You leave with me, you don’t ever come back.  You goof up or try any kind of shit, you’ll wish you were back here.  You come back alive from the mission, you’ll have a new identity and a hundred grand to start a new life.  I gotta tell you, there’s a real good chance you’re gonna get your butt shot off.  You in?”

“Are you kidding me?  Hell, yes!”

“Alright.  Anything in your cell you need?”

“Not really.”

“Fine.  I’m gonna tell the guard to take you out to a bus we have outside.  You’ll be put aboard.  There are two armed airmen on the bus.  You move, open your mouth, or fart, and they have orders to shoot you.  Got it?”

“Yeah.”

After Hector arranged to have the man taken to the bus, he sought out Holly.  She was conducting her fourth interview.  He asked her to step into the hallway outside the interview room.  Hector had set it up that he would do a few interviews, then only do the final portion of the interviews with any Holly and Suzan had approved of.

“Holly, I’ve got one out of here.  He’s on the way to the bus.  How’re you doin’?”

“Two for you to check out.  One back in his cell.  I’m on the verge of sending the one inside back to his cell.”

“If you’re on the verge, do it.  We don’t have all day.”

“Yes, Jim, dear.”

Hector grinned.  “Thanks for the compliment.”

·         

By seven that evening, the bus had 24 ex-prisoners on board and was heading for the Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth.

Hector called Jim.  “We got 24 out of Leavenworth…one over half of those we talked to.  I didn’t think we’d do near that well.  We’re now on our way to the Federal Prison.”

“Good job.  Boris, Drew, and I have a total of 12, so far.  About half of Ski’s guys are already at Quantico.”

“Hmmm.  I thought we’d only wind up with about a hundred total.  We’ve already passed that.  Sure would be nice to have two hundred or more, but we’ll never get there.”

“Doesn’t look that way, Hec.  Talk to you later.”

“By the way, Holly called me ‘Jim, dear’.”

“You piss her off?”

“Yup.”

“See ya.”

“So long.”

Hector was chuckling as they drove up to the front of the building.  Leavenworth Federal Prison was a foreboding-looking structure.  And Hector, who thought the Military Prison was bad enough, sighed as he led the two ladies up the front steps.

The Warden was none-too-happy to see them, or about the possibility of turning any of the seven inmates they had selected to speak with over to them.

Hector and the ladies agreed that he’d interview one inmate, then take a look at any Holly and Suzan approved of.

Jim’s original computer program was set up to automatically reject rapists and child molesters.  Their review of files had caused them to reject many more for the nature of their crimes.

The first one Hector interviewed was in for killing three people in an auto accident on Federal property while driving under the influence.  He was serving a 20-year sentence, 10 years completed.  He had been an Army Ranger while in the service.  Hector offered the deal and was accepted.

Holly was on her second interview, having rejected the first, who spent the entire interview staring at her more-than-ample bust line, or drooling at her beauty.

Suzan was also on her second, and when Hector called her away, she smiled.  “You’re gonna love this.  The first one I talked to, I want you to check out.  As an Indian myself, I oughta kill the guy just as soon as we get him to Quantico.  Damned guy killed his wife on the reservation—where he’d retired to after getting out of the Navy…he was an extremely well-thought-of SEAL by the way.  Killing his wife for cheating was almost understandable.  But when he was found, he was barbequing her…and eating her!” 

“And you want me to talk to this guy?”

“I think so, Hec.  You get past his killing and eating his wife and he’d be okay.”

Hector just rolled his eyes.  Twenty minutes later, the man was on the bus.  When they drove off they had a total of 27 ex-prisoners on board, having taken three of the seven interviewed at the Federal Prison.

By 3:00 am the entire force was gathered at U.S. Marine Base Quantico, located in Virginia, south of Washington.  Including the eleven Janitors, there were 152 men (and the three Janitor women) encamped.

 

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