A thin young man with tattoos all over the parts of his body that were visible poked Thorpe in the arm. "Hey, man, no breaks. You said it!"
"I've got to talk to the lady, Crew," Thorpe said.
The young man doubled over coughing, then straightened with a weak grin. "Yeah, well, I want to see this done."
"We'll get it done," Thorpe promised. "Maybe you should take a break too."
"Nah." Crew dipped his roller in the paint.
Thorpe walked over to Parker. "How goes things back in the States?"
"Things are good. Dublowski sends his regards and his thanks for the hundredth time."
Thorpe nodded.
"Hill and Hancock are dead," Parker added.
"How?"
"According to Gereg, someone infiltrated some VZ gas into where they were in Costa Rica."
"Interesting," was Thorpe's only comment on that.
"That seems to close everything out," Parker said.
"You think so?"
"Are all the world's problems solved?" Parker asked rhetorically. "Of course not. But a couple of them are."
"Jawhar and Akil haven't been spotted, have they?"
Parker shook her head. "Not a peep."
"I think Daddy took care of them," Thorpe said.
"We've kept an eye on Nabi Ulmalhamah," Parker said. "Nothing since Yasin left. No one's gone in there or out. Looks abandoned."
Thorpe sat down in an old chair that the stuffing was coming out of in several places. Parker settled down on a battered couch.
"There's something else," she said hesitatingly.
"What?"
"The German link who set up Jawhar and Akil with the Russian military. We've received word from the Israelis that—"
Thorpe held up his hand, then pointed. "See that wall?"
A splash of colors covered the concrete. The pattern caught the eye and held it, as the mind tried to make sense of the swirling images.
"It's beautiful," Parker said.
"Crew did that," Thorpe said. "He created something."
Parker opened her mouth to speak, then paused.
Thorpe leaned forward. "We're creating something here. A place for these kids to be safe. Because there will be more Jawhars. And Akils. And Hancocks. And Hills. All of them. I don't care about who the German intermediaries were and what they're doing now." He stabbed a finger at the floor. "As long as they don't come here. Nabi Ulmalhamah was the last mission. The Omega Sanction, to use CIA terminology. I'm done destroying."
Thorpe stood up. "We've got an extra brush if you want to help."
Parker nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
About the Author
NY Times bestselling author Bob Mayer has had over 50 books published. He has sold over four million books, and is in demand as a team-building, life-changing, and leadership speaker and consultant for his Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way concept, which he translated into Write It Forward: a holistic program teaching writers how to be authors. He is also the Co-Creator of Who Dares Wins Publishing, which does both eBooks and Print On Demand, so he has experience in both traditional and non-traditional publishing.
His books have hit the NY Times, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and numerous other bestseller lists. His book The Jefferson Allegiance, was released independently and reached #2 overall in sales on Nook.
Bob Mayer grew up in the Bronx. After high school, he entered West Point where he learned about the history of our military and our country. During his four years at the Academy and later in the Infantry, Mayer questioned the idea of “mission over men.” When he volunteered and passed selection for the Special Forces as a Green Beret, he felt more at ease where the men were more important than the mission.
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, leaving the reader questioning what is real and what isn’t.
He took this same passion and created thrillers based in fact and riddled with possibilities. His unique background in the Special Forces gives the reader a sense of authenticity and creates a reality that makes the reader wonder where fact ends and fiction begins.
In his historical fiction novels, Mayer blends actual events with fictional characters. He doesn’t change history, but instead changes how history came into being.
Mayer’s military background, coupled with his deep desire to understand the past and how it affects our future, gives his writing a rich flavor not to be missed.
Bob has presented for over a thousand organizations both in the United States and internationally, including keynote presentations, all day workshops, and multi-day seminars. He has taught organizations ranging from Maui Writers, to Whidbey Island Writers, to San Diego State University, to the University of Georgia, to the Romance Writers of America National Convention, to Boston SWAT, the CIA, Fortune-500, the Royal Danish Navy Frogman Corps, Microsoft, Rotary, IT Teams in Silicon Valley and many others. He has also served as a Visiting Writer for NILA MFA program in Creative Writing. He has done interviews for the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Sports Illustrated, PBS, NPR, the Discovery Channel, the SyFy channel and local cable shows. For more information see www.bobmayer.org.