Taming the Telomeres, a Thriller
Page 39
Postscript
Thanks very much for reading Taming the Telomeres. If you enjoyed TTT it is appreciated if you can recommend this book to a friend and leave a positive review or comment at your favorite book site.
Comments and emails are also invited at www.RNShapiro.com where information behind TTT is posted, including more information about topics like telomere research.
Please enjoy the prologue and chapter 1 of Targeting the Telomeres on the following pages.
Author website: www.RNShapiro.com
Twitter: @tamingtelomeres
Facebook: taming the telomeres
Pinterest: Taming the Telomeres inspired scenes
Amanda Michaels Youtube music playlist
Andy Michaels Youtube music playlist
Targeting the Telomeres (Preview)
About Targeting the Telomeres
Amanda Michaels returns home for a peaceful summer break from college, but several new crises make clear she and her family members remain targets of espionage designed to gain economic control over her father’s cell telomere discoveries, which may extend human lifespan.
* * *
Events conspire to cause Amanda and an unlikely ally to attempt a dramatic do-or-die rescue mission inside communist China.
* * *
With billions at stake, foreign agents believe they have the leverage they need.
* * *
Will Amanda Michaels find a way to beat them at their own game?
Sleeper
Prologue
Lying on the cramped, lower bunk of the sleeper car, she feels with her fingertips along the thin foam-rubber pad masquerading as a mattress. There it is. She tugs on the lower portion of her backpack hiding the loaded pistol with the customized silencer, nestling what constitutes all her belongings in the crook of her right arm.
She thinks, all I wanted was to get some of my memory back from before the crash. Not this.
The bullet train hurtling northbound towards Beijing at 180 miles per hour suddenly lurches, causing a metallic screech that soon fades.
Amanda thinks for a moment about a family photo. Of her dad, her, and her mom, sitting on the front porch of the house they lived in before the crash. The one she hopes to recall, that her Uncle Andy showed her. She mentally photoshops her baby brother Justin in too. Nothing can stop fantasies no one else can see.
If my plan fails, I won’t have to worry anymore, Amanda decides. Because I’ll be dead.
Gag Reflex
Washington, D.C.
* * *
The TV in the background startles FBI counter-intelligence Agent Steven Solarez during his early morning ritual of checking the weather on his tablet, sending a swig of burning hot French roast coffee everywhere.
Holy crap, he thinks, listening to the reporter on CNT.
"According to the Washington Observer, over 200 million dollars were transferred from the U.S. Government to a Hemispheres Airlines bank account, effectively funding most of the wrongful death claims for the victims of flight 310, which left D.C. for New York City and crashed in Quarryville, Pennsylvania about two years ago. Official sources with the Department of Justice are strenuously denying this claim."
Solarez feels his cell phone vibrating on his waist, slides it off its holster, and reads the incoming text message.
Emergency meeting @ 8:30 AM with Director. Confirm.
His mind whirls. Once the proverbial cat is out of the bag, can you ever shove it back in? This is bad, for sure. But he didn't hear any details of why the money was paid to the airline, so maybe whoever leaked it doesn't have the whole story. Maybe.
He texts his confirmation to his assistant, Dean, then decides to add more.
Find Amanda Michaels now. Tell her not to talk to the reporters. Put two agents on her 24/7.
He smiles knowing she stands far from helpless now. It was a fantastic move on his part to give her training at Quantico once school let out, virtually the same as a field agent undergoes. Weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and avoidance driving techniques. He had to pull a lot of strings for approval, but given the role her father was undertaking, it made sense. Sounds like his idea may prove useful sooner than he thought.
Next, he calls Andy Michaels and braces himself for an onslaught.
"I just heard the report on the radio. Do you know what this’ll do to my practice? My reputation? Do you?" Andy barks as soon as he answers, mentally cataloguing every material possession in his Georgetown home and imagining his lucrative practice going right down the rathole.
"Careful, this isn’t a secure line. Yeah, I get how serious this is."
"How about my clients who settled their cases? What if someone decides I knew everything..."
Solarez interrupts him. "Stop! We need to talk in person. You did nothing wrong, so don't start panicking. We’re putting protection on Amanda immediately. No one talks to any reporters until we have a solid response plan, hopefully around noon."
"What am I supposed to tell my partners and my staff?"
"Tell them you can't comment now, but you’ll issue a statement soon."
"Are you kidding? I can't say that."
"You can't tell them anything until you look into the allegations. Better?"
Andy contemplates this a few seconds. "Completely unconvincing." He tries to come up with a logical explanation, but the more he thinks about it, the more furious and anxious he gets. He was never comfortable with the confidential information the DOJ lawyer had shared with him, that the U.S. did indeed pay the $200 million. His clients trusted him when he recommended they settle their wrongful death claims. Sure, they all were awarded reasonable settlements, but that was before he learned of the secret government payout to the airline. He realized then if anything about sabotage leaked later on, there would be hell to pay.
"What about the press when they start calling?"
"Same thing.”
"I want you to call Stein at the Department of Justice to confirm everything is still okay. He assured me all my settlements were legal."
"I'll talk to him."
"My head is ready to explode."
"Tell you what, I have a meeting with the FBI director this morning, but when I’m done I’ll call, okay?"
Andy isn't listening. He’s still thinking about the news story. Whoever leaked it must have an agenda. Why would the Chinese, who sabotaged the plane, leak it? Makes no sense. Maybe a disgruntled FBI or CIA employee? It's possible, but who, and what was their motive?
"Andy?"
"Of course, yes. Text or call me then."
"We’ll work this out," Solarez promises, but Andy has major doubts. What is it they say about hiding the truth, he thinks? It usually floats back up to the surface no matter how hard you try to weight it down.
* * *
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About the Author
R. N. Shapiro presently practices law as a trial attorney in the field of personal injury law. He worked as a congressional aide on Capitol Hill, and following his graduation from law school he served as a law clerk for a federal judge before entering private practice. An American inventor, he holds 19 U.S. patents and has travelled to China and Europe to design and license folding consumer products like wagons, carts, and baby strollers, with licenses to Radio Flyer, as well as other international companies.
Also by R.N. Shapiro
Targeting the Telomeres, is the follow along sequel to Taming the Telomeres, and is available in ebook and paperback versions.
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