CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Riley stared at the old building across the street. Students were streaming toward it from all directions. It was a beautiful fall day with the sun warming away the night's coolness.
He turned and smiled at Kate as she linked her arm through his and gave it a squeeze. They'd driven up to the city yesterday. The previous evening had been taken up with introducing Kate to his family. Riley thought his mom liked her.
"So that's where you went to high school?"
Riley nodded. "Evander Childs. Graduated more professional basketball players than any other high school in the country, although I think some school in Philly says otherwise."
Kate laughed. "That's something to be proud of."
Riley gave her a mock serious frown. "Well, actually it is. You got to have something. For a lot of these kids the future isn't too bright." He tugged her. "Come on. Let's cross."
They dashed across Musholu Parkway and walked past the front of the school. Riley was feeling pretty good. The last couple of weeks had been rough, but things were sorting themselves out. Pike had been forced to retire but nobody was anxious to make waves. There were several reasons for that. The people in power in Washington couldn't argue with success. The Colombian government hadn't done any complaining. Keeping the whole thing quiet seemed to be the best route.
Riley's thoughts were interrupted by two black youths who stepped in front of them. Riley had let go of Kate and was already moving into his ready stance when he realized that it wasn't a rip-off.
The taller of the youths leaned forward. "Yo, man. Want some stuff? Got good stuff and it's cheap."
Riley doubled over the tall one with a side kick. His leg swept the second boy down and he slammed an elbow into the prone youth's stomach, leaving him gasping for air. Riley returned his attention to the first one. He spun the kid over his hip onto the concrete, knocking the wind out of him.
Riley knelt over and did a quick check of the youth's pockets. The search yielded several sandwich bags of various drugs. Riley looked up threateningly at the gathering crowd of students.
Westland grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet. "Let's go."
Riley paused, then followed her as she pushed her way through the crowd and headed off. When he caught up with her, Westland turned and angrily faced him. "Why did you do that?"
Riley shook his head. "I didn't go through all that shit down south and have my friends killed just to have some punk try to sell me drugs in my own hometown."
"That's great, Dave. What the hell are you going to do? Clean up New York City by yourself? What did you plan to do to those kids? Break a few ribs? Maybe an arm?" Riley paused. He hadn't really been sure what he was going to do.
Westland grabbed him and looked into his eyes. "This isn't Colombia, Dave. You can't go around beating up on people and killing them because they're drug dealers."
Riley felt the energy seep out of his body. "What the hell are we supposed to do, then?"
Westland looked back at the school. "We've done what we can. If they want it they're going to get it from somewhere. It's time you and I spent some time and energy on us."
Carlos Ramirez twirled his Harvard ring as he watched the various military and political figures he had invited to the luncheon enjoy themselves. They were all pigs in his opinion. Eating and drinking without a single brain among them. The women he had brought were circulating and Carlos carefully noted as couples disappeared off to the right, where the bedrooms in the house were located. His video cameras would be recording the action in those rooms for posterity.
His attention was distracted as his brother came over and sat down next to him. Jaime grabbed a glass of champagne and offered it to Carlos for a toast. Carlos clinked his glass indulgently. "And to what are we toasting, my brother?"
"The general agreed to let us have the old airfield at Punto Fijo. We can run both aircraft from the airstrip and our boats from the docks. There's plenty of room for the lab." His brother smiled at him. "This was a brilliant idea of yours, moving here to Venezuela. It is a perfect setup."
Carlos smiled back at his brother. They were back in business again.
About Bob Mayer
NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer attended West Point where he earned a degree in Psychology and later he earned a Master's degree in Education. He went on to serve in the Infantry and then Special Forces as a Green Beret and commanded an A-team, which is where many of his bestselling ideas were formulated.
Mayer's obsession with mythology and his vast knowledge of the military and Special Forces, mixed with his strong desire to learn from history, is the foundation for his science fiction series Atlantis, Area 51 and Psychic Warrior. Mayer is a master at blending elements of truth into all of his thrillers such as The Green Beret Series, The Shadow Warrior Series, The Presidential Series as well his historical fiction, leaving the reader questioning what is real and what isn't.
Bob has lived all over the world and beyond, but has settled down on Write on the River with his wife and 2 golden labs, Cool Gus and Sassy Becca. He spends his free time running with the dogs, biking, kayaking, and watching or reading whatever his much smarter wife tells him to. She controls the remote. He has a grandson, whom he is training to be the leader of the resistance against the machines.