“Sure thing,” Leecy said, leaving her seat next to Wakefield and walking toward the back of the plane.
I watched her check Ryan, who was shackled and cuffed to the jump seat at the rear of the plane, and was turning back around in my seat when Zach stood and walked towards Leecy.
“Hey, Zach. Sit with me?” I heard Leecy ask. She sat down on the couch that ran along one side of the plane. “What’s our flying time?”
“We’ll be in Cologne in three hours,” Zach answered, sitting down next to my daughter. “Then nine or ten more hours, depending on headwinds, till we reach DC.”
I was still looking over my shoulder when I saw her take his hand in hers. I allowed for a slight smile, then felt Val’s gentle but firm elbow in my side and turned to face her. “What?”
“You’re wasting your time worrying about her.”
“I’m not worrying.”
“Well, you should be worried, but about him,” Wakefield said from across the narrow aisle.
“Is that so?” I asked, looking from one woman to the other.
“Have you ever stopped to consider what Leecy would do if Zach ever got out of line with her?” Val asked.
“Now that you mention it, no, I haven’t.”
Furukawa turned around to face us. “I’ve been waiting for the right time to talk to you about Leecy,” he said. “I understand the CIA no longer employs her. Would…”
“No,” I said, cutting him off. “Don’t ask that question. She’s already informed us she wants to finish college. So, that’s that.”
Patting my arm while flipping through the pages of a magazine, Val said, “Take it easy, big fella.”
The End
EPILOGUE
LATE OCTOBER 2016
I RAISED MY GLASS of champagne for one final toast and said, “To Leecy, Yale graduate, I’m so proud of you. Congratulations.”
Touching champagne flutes and glasses of sparkling water together again, Val added, “Me too, sweetheart. I love you.”
“Really great, Leecy,” Zach said, leaning over and kissing her cheek. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you again,” Leecy said, taking a sip of sparkling water before continuing, “but I think they want us to leave. We’re the last ones here.”
Downtown New Haven was closing up after a long day of celebrating. Seeing a couple of inebriated graduates walking arm and arm in the middle of the road, I was about to offer them a ride home when the campus police appeared, and I could hear them doing the same. With that one exception, the streets of New Haven were relatively quiet, though I thought I heard the sounds of a couple of late night revelers crossing the quad before we turned off the main drag onto our street.
Watching Zach and Leecy walking together ahead of us, holding hands… well… the relationship was something I was getting used to. She was taller than he was, and wearing heels with her jeans made the difference in size even more noticeable, but Zach didn’t seem to notice or care. He was a good kid, but, more importantly, I knew Leecy. I trusted my daughter’s judgment.
“Can you believe it?” I whispered to Val.
“What?”
“She’s finished with Yale at eighteen.”
“Oh, that. I thought you were talking about her and Zach.”
Smiling I said, “Yes, well, that also crosses my mind from time to time.”
“I bet it does,” she said, tugging on my arm. “You know he reminds me of you when we first met. Do you remember?”
“I remember, but I don’t agree.”
“You were as smitten with me as he is with Leecy, and I was out of your league, too.”
“Yes, I did marry above my station,” I said, squeezing her hand.
“I love you,” she said, reaching up and kissing me.
*
The short walk from the restaurant to our front door was soon over, and I was inserting the key into the deadbolt when something occurred to me.
“Zach, it’s too late for you to drive back to your parent’s house in Boston. Why don’t you call them and let them know you’ll be staying here on the couch.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Granger,” Zach said, a little too enthusiastically for my liking, but I let it go.
Turning on the light in the living room, I asked, “Anyone want to catch the late news with me before lights out?”
Valerie brushed past me and whispered, “You just earned some brownie points, mister.” Then louder, she added, “Sure, I’ll turn on the TV. Coffee?”
“Decaf, please, and thank you,” I said, watching Zach follow Valerie toward the kitchen with his phone to his ear.
I turned to lock the door and came face to face with my daughter.
“So does this mean you like my boyfriend now?”
“It means I love my daughter.”
“Dad.”
“Yes,” I said, hugging her. “Of course I like Zach, but he stays on the couch.”
She slapped my arm and walked around me toward the kitchen. “I know that.”
I checked the deadbolt and then heard the TV come to life. The words “Breaking news,” caught my attention.
Looking at the TV, I saw flames and black smoke filling the screen and heard the disembodied voice of the reporter.
“Continuing our report on our top story tonight,” the female voice began, “it’s been confirmed that the explosion in a downtown Washington, D.C. office building was the result of a bomb being detonated, and not a gas leak as reported earlier. The explosion has claimed the life of an as-yet-to-be-named member of the Intelligence community. As you can see from the images we’re bringing you tonight, the three-story building has been completely destroyed. Dozens of people are seeking medical attention here in the street.”
“Oh my God,” Leecy said.
I glanced away from the TV to look at her, Valerie, and Zach standing in the kitchen, and when I looked back at the screen, a young, black female reporter’s face filled the screen. She was holding her finger to her ear and nodding her head, then faced the camera again.
“Sources have confirmed there was a meeting of high-level government officials here tonight. I’m being told the meeting had adjourned prior to the explosion and only one of the participants was still inside the building. We’re trying to verify that person’s identity now.” I watched as she paused, placing her finger to her ear again. Then she nodded and continued.
“If you’re just joining us, a bomb has exploded in downtown Washington, D.C. tonight, killing one and injuring others. Sources are now confirming the possible target of the bombing was Senator Savid. Yes,” the reporter said, nodding her head, “that’s now the official word. Senator Danielle Savid, the front-runner in this year’s Presidential election, was the target of tonight’s bombing in Washington, D.C.”
I felt my cell phone vibrating in my back pocket and reached for it.
“Valerie, can you believe this?” I asked. Then I looked at the screen of my iPhone and added, “It’s Wakefield.”
“It’s never good news when the Deputy Director of the CIA calls in the middle of the night,” Valerie said.
“What do you think she wants, Dad?”
I shrugged my shoulders and answered the phone.
“Tammy. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Ron, are you watching the news?”
“Are you okay? You sound like something’s wrong.”
“Just answer the question. Are you watching the news?”
“Yes, we’re watching the news its all about some explosion in DC. Why?”
“The director of the CIA was killed in that explosion.”
“Jesus, Tammy, what’re you guys into?”
“That’s why I’m calling, it’s literally blowing up in our face. I’m in trouble, Ron. I need your help.”
“Just tell me where and when.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BORN IN CAMDEN, SOUTH Carolina, John Jefferson (Jeff) Davis moved with his mother and sister to Valdosta, Ge
orgia after his parents’ divorce in the early seventies. In Valdosta, he spent his formative years hunting, fishing and playing golf with his grandfather, William “Dynamite” Goodloe, a member of both the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
Like most boys, John was interested in all things Valdosta, especially the Valdosta High Wildcats. He traveled with Dynamite to every Valdosta football game, watching his childhood heroes like Buck Belue and Lawrence Lowe. When his grandfather wasn’t keeping him busy, his grandmother, Gwen, was encouraging him to read. She introduced him to the classics: Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and many more.
During the summers, John traveled back to Camden to visit his father, John J. Davis, Sr. Mr. Davis played football at Georgia Tech, and met John’s mother while he was at school. John’s father and his stepmother, Cindy, introduced John to contemporary spy and detective novels in the works of Pat Conroy, Elmore Leonard, Robert Ludlum, and Tom Clancy, among others.
John attended Valdosta High, playing for the Wildcats, and later attended Valdosta State University. After graduating, he began his career as a shift coordinator with Roadway Package System in Orlando, Florida (now Fedex Ground). John moved around Florida with RPS before landing a pharmaceutical sales position with Glaxo Wellcome in Augusta, Georgia, where he met his wife, Rebekah.
He and Rebekah settled in South Georgia, and John began the next phase of his career as a manufacturer’s sales representative in 2002. That same year, he and his wife welcomed the arrival of their daughter, Leecy.
In 2012, John left his life on the road, essentially swapping places with his wife to become a stay at home dad. Seeing his growing restlessness, and wanting to help John find a way to fill his free time, Rebekah urged John to take up writing, something he’d talked about doing – and dabbled in occasionally – but had never had the time to indulge fully.
In 2014, John released his first novel, Blood Line, part of his Granger Spy Novel series. Blood Line was an immediate success, and, to John’s surprise, an award winner, gaining four awards in 2015 - Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Reader’s Choice Award, Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal and eLit Awards in two categories. John credits the years of sitting in lobbies and airports for honing his skill of human observation, which feeds his talent for writing fast-paced, character-driven stories. The newfound success lead John to write the second installment in the series, Bloody Truth, and the upcoming third, Blood Hunt.
John’s inspiration for the Granger family of spies comes from the people he has known and his family roots in Georgia and the Carolinas—the extraordinarily strong and gentle women and men whose lives are defined by the love, trust and respect for family.
John is currently at work on the accompanying screenplays for the Granger Spy Novels.
FIND AND FOLLOW:
www.johnjdavis.com
Facebook: JohnJDavisOfficial
Twitter: @JJDavisOfficial
Goodreads: John J. Davis
Table of Contents
From the Award-Winning Author of Blood Line…
Dedicated To
Special thanks to:
Books by John J. Davis:
BLOODY TRUTH
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
About the Author
Find and Follow:
Bloody Truth: A Granger Spy Novel Page 22
