by L. J. Martin
"And you say?"
"One has to believe one's commander."
"I thought you were Corps?"
I laugh again. "You're right. He never was my boss, so I guess I can make up my own mind."
"And you say?"
"I say let's go up to Mr. Weatherwax's office and talk private."
"Lead the way."
I take a brand-new chair behind Pax's brand-new desk, and she sits across from me...and I'm happy to say, far enough that when she crosses her long perfectly tanned legs I can enjoy the show. "So, what's up?"
"Two of my uncle's men are being held for ransom in Afghanistan and he wants you to bring them home. And these guys have a little package they hauled from Kazakhstan. A very nasty little package. These bastards are Chechen, but one of them is Afghani, born and raised and has high placed contacts there. We think the package and the Blackthorn guys are in the same place."
"Lots of guys know Afghanistan. I know...or knew...something about Iraq, but don't know—"
"He wants you." She moves forward and places the briefcase on Pax's desk and pops it open. "A half million in cash to cover your expenses, a million more if you bring them home to Italy, another million if you get the suitcase. You'll need four or five more men, and we'll need to get them to Atlanta. I’ve got a Citation chartered. When I give the word a company plane will come over to meet you there.”
"From there to where?"
"Italy then Uzbekistan. You'll jump off from there into Afghanistan."
"Why Uzbekistan?"
"No one will expect Americans to come that way."
"It's a long drive over some high mountains and through the poppy fields."
"Two MH-53's will be waiting for you and, hopefully, get you to within twenty miles of where we think they're being held."
"And do we hump from there to the target?"
"Nope. There’ll be lots of supplies to cache, but the real reason for two choppers is there will be a DPV slung under each. They'll be fully armed with the 50 cal machine gun and MK-19 grenade launcher on front, MK-48 on the rear, and LAW rockets mounted on the top frame. You'll have sat communication, of course. And they'll be flying an Afghan flag and you'll be wearing Afghan uniforms. We’ll have a friend in place to act as guide and interpreter."
I laugh. "They shoot spies, not that they wouldn't shoot us anyway. Do I have to have a mechanic along?"
She smiles. "I know, they've not been too dependable in the past. These two machines have had a little work. The Volks engines have been replaced."
"With?"
"Porsche. Top end of eighty or so is now one-thirty, not that I'd advise driving them that fast. Put the pedal to the metal and they might do a wheelie, or go ass over teakettle."
"When am I scheduled to leave Atlanta?"
"Your transport is standing by. A complete inventory of your gear is in the briefcase. They'll go when you load up."
"Visas?"
"You won't need them. You'll go private, you'll land on a private strip in Italy, and you'll go private from there directly to a strip near Tashkent. The choppers are registered to an oil company doing biz with the Uzbeks."
"I'll leave for Atlanta in eighteen hours, quickest commercial flight I can get."
"No need, we'll charter you a flight from McClellan. I've got a Citation standing by."
"Sounds good."
"I know I don't have to tell you, you'll need a very hard-ass, gung-ho crew."
"Yeah, I know, they'll be as tough as you are beautiful."
"You don't say." And I love the coy look I get. She continues, “Don't worry about BDU's, we have everything in every size in Italy. Bring your rucks, your webbing and battle rattle, but we’ll have the basics. You just bring some guys with lots of bark and no back up...oh, by the way, the Hungarian born in Afghanistan is the president's cousin, one of the world's largest dope dealers."
And she's gone.
DPV's are Desert Patrol Vehicles, very sexy and well-armed, but not particularly well protected. MH-53 is a Sikorsky Helicopter. BDU's are battle dress uniforms...and it sounds like the ones they have are Afghani. It's nice to work with serious guys...particularly serious guys with deep pockets.
However, it sounds like these bad guys may have even deeper pockets.
More great action-adventure novels from acclaimed author L. J. Martin
(click on the title or the cover to go to a purchase link)
Windfall. From the boardroom to the bedroom, David Drake has fought his way…nearly…to the top. From the jungles of Vietnam, to the vineyards of Napa, to the grit and grime of the California oil fields, he's clawed his way up. The only thing missing is the woman he's loved most of his life. Now, he's going to risk it all to win it all, or end up on the very bottom where he started. This business adventure-thriller will leave you breathless.
Bloodlines. When an ancient document is found deep under the streets of Manhattan, no one can anticipate the wild results. A businessman is forced to search deep into his past and reach back to those who once were wronged, and redeem for them what is right and just. There's a woman he's yearned for, and must have, but all is against them…and someone want him dead.
The Repairman. No. 1 on Amazon's crime list! Got a problem? Need it fixed? Call Mike Reardon, the repairman, just don't ask him how he'll get it done. Trained as a Recon Marine to search and destroy, he brings those skills to the tough streets of America's cities. If you like your stories spiced with fists, guns, and beautiful women, this is the fast paced novel for you.
The Bakken No. 1 on Amazon's crime list! The stand alone sequel to The Repairman. Mike Reardon gets a call from his old CO in Iraq, who's now a VP at an oil well service company in North America's hottest boomtown, and dope and prostitution is running wild and costing the company millions, and the cops are overwhelmed. If you have a problem, and want it fixed, call the repairman…just don't ask him what he's gonna do.
G5, Gee Whiz When a fifty million dollar G5 is stolen and flown out of the country, who you gonna call? If you have a problem, and want it fixed, call the repairman…just don't ask him what he's gonna do.
Who's On Top Mike Reardon thinks his new gig, finding an errant daughter of a NY billionaire will be a laydown...how wrong can one guy be? She's tied up with an eco-terrorist group, who proves to be much more than that. And this time, the group he's up against may be bad guys, or kids with their heart in the right place. Who gets lead and who gets a kick in the backside. And if things go wrong, the whole country may be at risk! Another kick-ass Repairman Mike Reardon thriller from acclaimed author L. J. Martin.
Quiet Ops. "…knows crime and how to write about it…you won't put this one down." Elmore Leonard
L. J. Martin with America's No. 1 bounty hunter, Bob Burton, brings action-adventure in double doses. From Malibu to West Palm Beach, Brad Benedick hooks 'em up and haul 'em in…in chains.
Crimson Hit. Dev Shannon loves his job, travels, makes good money, meets interesting people…then hauls them in cuffs and chains to justice. Only this time it's personal.
Bullet Blues. Shannon normally doesn't work in his hometown, but this time it's a friend who's gone missing, and he's got to help…if he can stay alive long enough. Tracking down a stolen yacht, which takes him all the way to Jamaica, he finds himself deep in the dirty underbelly of the drug trade.
Venom A medical thriller. Snake venom can be used to cure...or kill. Dex Reno leaves the Navy Shore Patrol thinking he's taking a cushy job as a campus cop at U.C.L.A...noproblem bigger than panty raids and peeping toms...boy, is he in for a surprise. Dope's sold, bullets fly, and snakes slither...not to speak of the distractions of a T & A wonderland. For laughs, shivers, and hot, hot moments, enjoy Venomous.
The Clint Ryan Series:
El Lazo. John Clinton Ryan, young, fresh to the sea from Mystic, Conetticut, is shipwrecked on the California coast…and blamed for the catastrophy. Hunted by the hide, horn and tallow captains, he escapes into the world of the
vaquero, and soon gains the name El Lazo, for his skill with the lasso. A classic western tale of action and adventure, and the start of the John Clinton Ryan, the Clint Ryan series.
Against the 7th Flag. Clint Ryan, now skilled with horse and reata, finds himself caught up in the war of California revolution, Manifest Destiny is on the march, and he's in the middle of the fray, with friends on one side and countrymen on the other…it's fight or be killed, but for whom?
The Devil's Bounty. On a trip to buy horses for his new ranch in the wilds of swampy Central California, Clint finds himself compelled to help a rich Californio don who's beautiful daughter has been kidnapped and hauled to the barracoons of the Barbary Coast. Thrown in among the Chinese tongs, Australian Sidney Ducks, and the dredges of the gold rush failures, he soon finds an ally in a slave, now a newly freedman, and it's gunsmoke and flashing blades to fight his way to free the senorita.
The Benicia Belle. Clint signs on as master-at-arms on a paddle wheeler plying the Sacramento from San Francisco to the gold fields. He's soon blackmailed by the boats owner and drawn to a woman as dangerous and beautiful as the sea he left behind. Framed for a crime he didn't commit, he has only one chance to exact a measure of justice and…revenge.
Shadow of the Grizzly. "Martin has produced a landlocked, Old West version of Peter Benchley's Jaws," Publisher's Weekly. When the Stokes brothers, the worst kind of meat hunters, stumble on Clint's horse ranch, they are looking to take what he has. A wounded griz is only trying to stay alive, but he's a horrible danger to man and beast. And it's Clint, and his crew, including a young boy, who face hell together.
Condor Canyon. On his way to Los Angeles, a pueblo of only one thousand, Clint is ambushed by a posse after the abductor of a young woman. Soon he finds himself trading his Colt and his skill for the horses he seeks…now if he can only stay alive to claim them.
The Montana Series – The Clan:
Stranahan. "A good solid fist-slinging gunslinging read," William W. Johnstone. Sam Stranahan's an honest man who finds himself on the wrong side of the law, and the law has their own version of right and wrong. He's on his way to find his brother, and walks into an explosive case of murder. He has to make sure justice is done…with or without the law.
McCreed's Law. Gone…a shipment of gold and a handful of passengers from the Transcontinental Railroad. Found…a man who knows the owlhoots and the Indians who are holding the passengers for ransom. When you want to catch outlaws, hire an outlaw…and get the hell out of the way.
Wolf Mountain. The McQuades are running cattle, while running from the tribes who are fresh from killing Custer, and they know no fear. They have a rare opportunity, to get a herd to Mile's and his troops at the mouth of the Tongue…or to die trying. And a beautiful woman and her father, of questionable background, who wander into camp look like a blessing, but trouble is close on their trail…as if the McQuades don't have trouble enough.
O'Rourke's Revenge. Surviving the notorious Yuma Prison should be enough trouble for any man…but Ryan O'Rourke is not just any man. He wants blood, the blood of those who framed him for a crime he didn't commit. He plans to extract revenge, if it costs him all he has left, which is less than nothing…except his very life.
McKeag's Mountain. Old Bertoldus Prager has long wanted McKeag's Mountain, the Lucky Seven Ranch his father had built, and seven hired guns tried to take it the hard way, leaving Dan McKeag for dead…but he's a McKeag, and clings to life. They should have made sure…for now it will cost them all, or he'll die trying, and Prager's in his sights as well.
The Nemesis Series:
Nemesis. The fools killed his family…then made him a lawman! There are times when it pays not to be known, for if they had, they'd have killed him on the spot. He hadn't seen his sister since before the war, and never met her husband and two young daughters…but when he heard they'd been murdered, it was time to come down out of the high country and scatter the country with blood and guts.
Mr. Pettigrew. Beau Boone, starving, half a left leg, at the end of his rope, falls off the train in the hell-on-wheels town of Nemesis. But Mr. Pettigrew intervenes. Beau owes him, but does he owe him his very life? Can a one-legged man sit shotgun in one of the toughest saloons on the Transcontinental. He can, if he doesn't have anything to lose.
The Ned Cody Series:
Buckshot. Young Ned Cody takes the job as City Marshal…after all, he's from a long line of lawmen. But they didn't face a corrupt sheriff and his half-dozen hard deputies, a half-Mexican half-Indian killer, and a town who thinks he could never do the job.
Mojave Showdown. Ned Cody goes far out of his jurisdiction when one of his deputies is hauled into the hell's fire of the Mojave Desert by a tattooed Indian who could track a deer fly and live on his leavings. He's the toughest of the tough, and the Mojave has produced the worst. It's ride into the jaws of hell, and don't worry about coming back.
L. J. Martin is the acclaimed, award-winning, author of over 40 novels and non-fiction books. He was raised in the deserts of California and wrangled and packed horses throughout the Sierra, and later rode and hunted Montana, where he now lives with his wife, NYT bestselling romantic suspense and historical romance author Kat Martin. L. J. was in real estate development for much of his life, selling over one hundred million dollars in transactions the last year he worked in the field. He's traveled the world over, sailed his own ketch, been car wrecked, plane wrecked, beat, and bent…and dealt with some of the most powerful companies in the country. He knows the boardrooms and the backrooms of America, and her deep forests and wild high country. In wilder times he was the guest of many a jusgados but that's another story for another day. The Martins winter in California when not travelling for research on their novels.
