Did he still have a job? Did he still want to have that job?
Would Sinbad be coming after him? Would he have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, jumping at every errant sound in the dark?
Keller sat down on the bar stool in Sherman Oaks and ordered a beer, even though it was still early afternoon.
He reached over and grabbed a handful of nuts and popped them in his mouth. As he chewed, he realized there was one thing that required zero thought. He rooted out his iPhone and dialed.
Richard Prati answered immediately. “Who is this?”
“It’s Mickey. Got a new cell number. And I’ve got a tip for you.”
“Any of that info on the fertility clinic fire pan out?”
“Sure did. That’s what I’m calling about. Remember it looked like arson? It was arson. And I can give you the perpetrators and connections. Pretty amazing story. High profile.”
“I’m listening,” Prati said. “Go on.”
“I’ve got a couple of conditions.”
“Conditions,” Prati repeated. “Like what?”
The bartender set the beer on the counter in front of him. “You’ve gotta leave me out of it. And I want immunity.”
Prati groaned. “I’m not liking the sound of this.”
“Do those two things and I’ll give you a good case. I didn’t do anything wrong here. I wasn’t even involved. That’s not why I want immunity. The implications could endanger my employer and my career.” Assuming I still have an employer—and a career—to protect.
“Then why do you want immunity?”
“Because the people you’re going to arrest are very well capitalized and vindictive individuals. They’ll try to cut a deal by dragging me through the mud. But they’ll be lying and it’ll have nothing to do with the arson.”
“I’ll have to talk with the AUSA.”
“Call me back.”
Keller drank his beer, the dark porter rolling over his tongue, the alcohol relaxing his taut shoulder muscles. Tossed back some more nuts. And then his phone rang. He had been lost in thought—and consequently lost track of time—but figured it couldn’t have been longer than thirty minutes.
“AUSA is reluctant to agree to your terms without more information as to what we’re dealing with, but I vouched for you and she’s given me a lot of leeway.”
“Okay.”
“Based on our relationship, I’m going to give you what you asked for. Please don’t make me sorry. Because it’ll be the last time.”
Keller took a long, deep breath, then closed his eyes. “When you’re done hearing what I have to say, you’ll realize who the bad actors are in this equation. And that I’ve been the good guy.”
He went through the story, blow by blow—minus a few details.
“What happened to the woman and the girl?”
“No idea. But this case isn’t about them. They’re basically background noise.”
“And you want me to—”
“Arrest the couple. And the owner of the fertility clinic in Boston, John Hutchinson. Arrest Dr. Hutchinson first, then get him to roll on the Ellises. Hutchinson gets a reduced sentence but loses his medical license. And those two bastards, the husband and wife, will live out the next few decades in federal prison. Conspiracy to commit arson, conspiracy to defraud insurance companies, conspiracy to steal biologic tissue.”
Prati sighed. “Sounds intriguing, I’ll give you that.”
“Trust me. It’s a solid case. You’ll come out looking like a hero.”
“You know that’s not what makes me tick.”
“No. But it never hurts. So, we got a deal?”
“Deal. Give me their names.”
Keller grinned. Finally—a case where he got to do something constructive. Positive. And, most importantly, help put bad guys behind bars.
Just like the old days.
90
The Indiana summer sun was beating down on the ribbon that stretched across the small storefront door of Lindan Bakery. Ramie Spector shielded her eyes as she sliced through the taut nylon with a pair of scissors, the ends snapping back as if being freed from each other.
In a sense, she and Melissa, now Missy, had also been freed—from the burdens of their prior lives—as they embarked on a new journey together.
In the six months that had passed, Ramie had taken the $75,000 that Zach had given her, untraceably through Butch Thurston, and signed a lease for space and equipment. She printed promotional materials that were distributed to area businesses, residences, and caterers and invested in a website for online ordering.
Ramie had figured that if she could build the business modestly enough to employ a handful of people, including a manager, she could devote afternoons and evenings to Missy as her daughter matured through childhood, teen hood, and adulthood.
She had learned from her prior life that a career was important, even vital, in providing for your family and establishing personal self-fulfillment, but it exacted a high price when it became all-consuming. Ramie lost her family once. She did not want to risk having her second chance pass in the blink of an eye.
As fortunate as she felt, Ramie still had moments where she would be overcome with sorrow. While the clinical depression was gone, the years of medication a bad memory, she knew the deep sadness over the loss of her family would never leave her. She took solace in knowing that in Missy, both Lindy and Dan would always be nearby.
The ups and downs, challenges and obstacles, sorrow and elation were part of life. Intellectually, Ramie knew that—but more importantly, she had come to realize that in order to appreciate the good, she had to summon the strength to defeat the bad. She had done that and—with the help of her little girl—had survived.
That afternoon, when Ramie picked her up from school, Missy was excited to tell her mom all about her day. After talking nonstop for five minutes, she paused long enough to make a request.
“Of course, honey. What would you like?”
Ramie figured Missy would want to go out for strawberry ice cream. Or to a zoo or find some ducks to feed. Yet it was something completely different—and wholly surprising. She wanted to go to the bakery to make a loaf of bread.
Pumpernickel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alan Jacobson is the award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of fourteen thrillers, including the FBI profiler Karen Vail series and the OPSIG Team Black novels. His books have been translated internationally and several have been optioned by Hollywood.
Jacobson has spent over twenty-five years working with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, the DEA, the US Marshals Service, SWAT, the NYPD, Scotland Yard, local law enforcement, and the US military. This research and the breadth of his contacts help bring depth and realism to his characters and stories.
For video interviews and a free personal safety eBook co-authored by Alan Jacobson and FBI Profiler Mark Safarik, please visit www.AlanJacobson.com.
You can also connect with Jacobson on Instagram (alan.jacobson), Twitter (@JacobsonAlan), Facebook (AlanJacobsonFans), and Goodreads (alan-jacobson).
NOVELS AND STORIES BY ALAN JACOBSON
Alan Jacobson has established a reputation as one of the most insightful suspense/thriller writers of our time. His exhaustive research, coupled with years of unprecedented access to law enforcement agencies, including the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, bring realism and unique characters to his pages. Following are his current, and forthcoming, releases.
STAND ALONE NOVELS
False Accusations > Dr. Phillip Madison has everything: wealth, power, and an impeccable reputation. But in the predawn hours of a quiet suburb, the revered orthopedic surgeon is charged with double homicide—a cold-blooded hit-and-run that leaves an innocent couple dead. Blood evidence has brought the police to his door. An eyewitness h
as placed him at the crime scene, and Madison has no alibi. With his family torn apart, his career forever damaged, no way to prove his innocence and facing life in prison, Madison must find the person who has engineered the case against him. Years after reading it, people still talk about his shocking ending. False Accusations launched Jacobson’s career and became a national bestseller, prompting CNN to call him, “One of the brightest stars in the publishing industry.”
FBI PROFILER KAREN VAIL SERIES
The 7th Victim (Karen Vail #1) > Literary giants Nelson DeMille and James Patterson describe Karen Vail, the first female FBI profiler, as “tough, smart, funny, very believable,” and “compelling.” In The 7th Victim, Vail—with a dry sense of humor and a closet full of skeletons—heads up a task force to find the Dead Eyes Killer, who is murdering young women in Virginia…the backyard of the famed FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit. The twists and turns that Karen Vail endures in this tense psychological suspense thriller build to a powerful ending no reader will see coming. Named one of the Top 5 Best Books of the Year (Library Journal).
Crush (Karen Vail #2) > In light of the traumatic events of The 7th Victim, FBI Profiler Karen Vail is sent to the Napa Valley for a mandatory vacation—but the Crush Killer has other plans. Vail partners with Inspector Roxxann Dixon to track down the architect of death who crushes his victims’ windpipes and leaves their bodies in wine caves. However, the killer is unlike anything the profiling unit has ever encountered, and Vail’s miscalculations have dire consequences for those she holds dear. Publishers Weekly describes Crush as “addicting” and New York Times bestselling author Steve Martini calls it a thriller that’s “Crisply written and meticulously researched,” and “rocks from the opening page to the jarring conclusion.” (Note: the Crush storyline continues in Velocity.)
Velocity (Karen Vail #3) > A missing detective. A bold serial killer. And evidence that makes FBI profiler Karen Vail question the loyalty of those she has entrusted her life to. In the shocking conclusion to Crush, Karen Vail squares off against foes more dangerous than any she has yet encountered. In the process, shocking personal and professional truths emerge—truths that may be more than Vail can handle. Velocity was named to The Strand Magazine’s Top 10 Best Books for 2010, Suspense Magazine’s Top 4 Best Thrillers of 2010, Library Journal’s Top 5 Best Books of the Year, and the Los Angeles Times’ top picks of the year. Michael Connelly said Velocity is “As relentless as a bullet. Karen Vail is my kind of hero and Alan Jacobson is my kind of writer!”
Inmate 1577 (Karen Vail #4) > When an elderly woman is found raped and murdered, Karen Vail heads west to team up with Inspector Lance Burden and Detective Roxxann Dixon. As they follow the killer’s trail in and around San Francisco, the offender leaves behind clues that ultimately lead them to the most unlikely of places, a mysterious island ripped from city lore whose long-buried, decades-old secrets hold the key to their case: Alcatraz. The Rock. It’s a case that has more twists and turns than the famed Lombard Street. The legendary Clive Cussler calls Inmate 1577 “a powerful thriller, brilliantly conceived and written.” Named one of The Strand Magazine’s Top 10 Best Books of the Year.
No Way Out (Karen Vail #5) > Renowned FBI profiler Karen Vail returns in No Way Out, a high-stakes thriller set in London. When a high profile art gallery is bombed, Vail is dispatched to England to assist with Scotland Yard’s investigation. But what she finds there—a plot to destroy a controversial, recently unearthed 440-year-old manuscript—turns into something much larger, and a whole lot more dangerous, for the UK, the US—and herself. With his trademark spirited dialogue, page-turning scenes, and well drawn characters, National Bestselling author Alan Jacobson (“My kind of writer,” per Michael Connelly) has crafted the thriller of the year. Named a top ten “Best thriller of 2013” by both Suspense Magazine and The Strand Magazine.
Spectrum (Karen Vail #6) > It’s 1995 and the NYPD has just graduated a promising new patrol officer named Karen Vail. During the rookie’s first day on the job, she finds herself at the crime scene of a woman murdered in an unusual manner. As the years pass and more victims are discovered, Vail’s career takes unexpected twists and turns—as does the case that’s come to be known as “Hades.” Now a skilled FBI profiler, will Vail be in a better position to catch the offender? Or will Hades prove to be Karen Vail’s hell on earth? #1 New York Times bestseller Richard North Patterson called Spectrum, “Compelling and crisp…A pleasure to read.”
The Darkness of Evil (Karen Vail #7) > Roscoe Lee Marcks, one of history’s most notorious serial killers, sits in a maximum security prison serving a life sentence—until he stages a brutal and well-executed escape. Although the US Marshals Service’s fugitive task force enlists the help of FBI profiler Karen Vail to launch a no holds barred manhunt, the bright and law enforcement-wise Marcks has other plans—which include killing his daughter. But a retired profiling legend, who was responsible for Marcks’s original capture, may just hold the key to stopping him. Perennial #1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford compared The Darkness of Evil to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, calling it “smoothly written, intricately plotted,” and “impressive,” while fellow New York Times bestseller Phillip Margolin said The Darkness of Evil is “slick” and “full of very clever twists. Karen Vail is one tough heroine!”
Red Death (Karen Vail #8) > Hawaii. Home to picturesque waterfalls. Pristine beaches. And a serial killer who proves as elusive as the island breeze. When Honolulu Detective Adam Russell encounters the body of a woman in her sixties—the second in recent days to inexplicably die of what seems like natural causes—he reaches out to renowned FBI profiler Karen Vail. But even for someone as fluent in the language of murder as Vail, this case is hard to read. Lacking a profile, Vail and Russell pursue an offender who asphyxiates his victims while leaving behind a clean tox screen and no signs of trauma. Perhaps most terrifying of all, if the deaths appear natural at first glance, how many victims have already been overlooked? The queen of FBI thrillers, New York Times bestseller Catherine Coulter, calls Red Death “A unique and imaginative plot filled with witty dialogue and page-turning intrigue.”
OPSIG TEAM BLACK SERIES
The Hunted (OPSIG Team Black #1) > How well do you know the one you love? How far would you go to find out? When Lauren Chambers’ husband Michael disappears, her search reveals his hidden past involving the FBI, international assassins—and government secrets that some will go to great lengths to keep hidden. As The Hunted hurtles toward a conclusion mined with turn-on-a-dime twists, no one is who he appears to be and nothing is as it seems. The Hunted introduces the dynamic Department of Defense covert operative Hector DeSantos and FBI Director Douglas Knox, characters who return in future OPSIG Team Black novels, as well as the Karen Vail series (Velocity, No Way Out, and Spectrum).
Hard Target (OPSIG Team Black #2) > An explosion pulverizes the president-elect’s helicopter on Election Night. The group behind the assassination attempt possesses far greater reach than anything the FBI has yet encountered—and a plot so deeply interwoven in the country’s fabric that it threatens to upend America’s political system. But as covert operative Hector DeSantos and FBI Agent Aaron “Uzi” Uziel sort out who is behind the bombings, Uzi’s personal demons not only jeopardize the investigation but may sit at the heart of a tangle of lies that threaten to trigger an international terrorist attack. Lee Child called Hard Target, “Fast, hard, intelligent. A terrific thriller.” Note: FBI Profiler Karen Vail plays a key role in the story.
The Lost Codex (OPSIG Team Black #3) > In a novel Jeffery Deaver called “brilliant,” two ancient biblical documents stand at the heart of a geopolitical battle between foreign governments and radical extremists, threatening the lives of millions. With the American homeland under siege, the president turns to a team of uniquely trained covert operatives that includes FBI profiler Karen Vail, Special Forces veteran Hector DeSantos, and FBI terrorism expert Aaron Uziel. Thei
r mission: find the stolen documents and capture—or kill—those responsible for unleashing a coordinated and unprecedented attack on US soil. Set in Washington, DC, New York, Paris, England, and Israel, The Lost Codex is international historical intrigue at its heart-stopping best.
Dark Side of the Moon (OPSIG Team Black #4) > In 1972, Apollo 17 returned to Earth with 200 pounds of rock—including something more dangerous than they could have imagined. For decades, the military concealed the crew’s discovery—until a NASA employee discloses to foreign powers the existence of a material that would disrupt the global balance of power by providing them with the most powerful weapon of mass destruction yet created. While FBI profiler Karen Vail and OPSIG Team Black colleague Alexandra Rusakov go in search of the rogue employee, covert operatives Hector DeSantos and Aaron Uziel find themselves strapped into an Orion spacecraft, rocketing alongside astronauts toward the Moon to avert a war. But what can go wrong does, jeopardizing the mission and threatening to trigger the very conflict they were charged with preventing. New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds said Dark Side of the Moon is “the thriller ride of a lifetime…a non-stop tale of high adventure that Tom Clancy’s most ardent fans will absolutely love!”
MICKEY KELLER SERIES
The Lost Girl (Mickey Keller #1) > Amy Robbins suffers a tragedy no one should ever endure: the loss of her young daughter and husband in a deadly accident. Mired in a depressive fog, her successful career vanishes—followed by her life savings and the will to live. But while biding time in a dead-end job, she stumbles on something that upends everything—and lays bare a disturbing truth at the heart of a tragic lie. With fixer Mickey Keller attempting to take from Amy the last hope she has for a return to a normal life, her sister-in-law—FBI Agent Loren Ryder—squares off against Keller in a heart-pounding climax that will leave you wondering who are the good guys and who are the bad. In the words of Rizzoli and Isles’ creator Tess Gerritsen, “Jacobson expertly ratchets up the tension and shows us that the most courageous heroes are those with everything to lose.”
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