Fatal Justice: Vigilante Justice Series 1 with Jack Lamburt

by John Etzil

  Like any proud father, he’d wanted to groom his son to take over the business, but health-conscious Jack would rather have bamboo shoots shoved under his fingernails than peddle fast food. So after graduation Jack landed a government job in McLean, Virginia, better known as Langley, where he currently worked as a CIA analyst. He’d decided that he needed a change of scenery after his rough breakup, so he had taken some time off and headed north to Princeton to visit with Eric and Kathy.

  Jack was seated at the head of the table when Cheryl arrived, and even sitting down she could tell that he was tall and athletic—she guessed about six foot four or five. He had broad shoulders that filled out his dress shirt, and she could see his biceps flex when he raised his drink to make a toast or gestured with his hands during the conversation. She had a big weakness for tall, athletic men, and she had to work hard to hide her excitement over him throughout the evening. She didn’t even know him, and she had butterflies in her stomach just from observing his demeanor. She wondered if anyone could tell by her subdued presence that she was nervous.

  The night had been uneventful, a “nice to meet you” handshake upon departing, and just like that, he was gone and it was over. When she took her German Shepard, London, out for his final walk of the night, she wondered if she would ever see him again.

  Unable to get him out of her mind, she’d tossed and turned all night, hardly getting any sleep. His presence in her thoughts had triggered something in her that she hadn’t felt in a long time. A mixture of excitement that only meeting a new special someone for the first time could generate, narcotic and addictive while soothing and comfortable at the same time. The way he looked at her, his easy smile, his sense of humor, his kindness to the servers—it all just meshed with her philosophy on life, and he was everything she wanted in a man. And, God, he was hot.

  Jack had called her Sunday morning and asked her if she’d like to get a cup of coffee later that day before he drove back to D.C. Even though her heart was beating like a jackhammer in her chest, she surprised herself by being able to answer in a nonchalant manner. “Sure, that’d be okay.”

  When she hung up the phone, her hands had been trembling.

  She nudged Jack. “Hey, wake up. You can’t sleep on our honeymoon.”

  “What? I’m not sleeping.” He looked over at her, grinned, and placed his head on her shoulder.

  She elbowed him in the ribs. “You’re supposed to be so excited that you’re pacing the aisle, unable to stay in your seat for more than five minutes. Remember how you used to say how hot I was? Before I was pregnant?”

  “Are. How hot you are,” he corrected her with a smile and laid his hand across her inner thigh, her one ticklish spot that he’d discovered by accident on their first date, and squeezed softly. Before the baby had started growing he had been relentless in his thigh squeezes, borderline torturous, making her squirm in her seat whenever he was in a devilish mood. Now his thigh squeezes had morphed into gentle caresses.

  “I’ve been aroused since we got married. Does that count for anything?”

  Cheryl eyes lit up and she giggled as she leaned over to give him a playful kiss. “You bet it does.”

  Beverly rolled her beverage cart next to them. She locked the wheels and held out a cocktail napkin.

  “Hi, folks, can I get you a beverage this evening?”

  “Can I have a bottled water?” asked Cheryl.

  “Sure. And you, sir?”

  “I’ll have a Diet Coke, lots of ice, please,” said Jack.

  Cheryl knew that he wanted more than a Diet Coke, but being a supportive husband, he’d refrained from alcohol after she became pregnant. A gesture that she’d found nice, but she never believed in holding anyone back, so it also annoyed her.

  “He’ll have some rum with that too, please,” said Cheryl. “A double.”

  She turned to Jack, “I told you, don’t be martyring up to me and trying to ‘share my pain.’” She finger quoted and switched to an exaggerated arm pinch, a habit she had when adding emphasis to a point that she was trying to make. “Got that, old man? I mean, honey?” She leaned over and kissed him hard on the lips and he grinned.

  “Okay, honey, I’ve got it.” He squeezed her hand under the blanket and she rested her head on his shoulder. A sigh of contentment came from her lips as she closed her eyes and snuggled in close to him, both arms wrapped around his bicep as he sipped his drink.

  Airliner Down Chapter 6

  One hour and twenty minutes before the event

  “Miss. Oh, miss!” the old man in 3B bellowed out to Carol, waggling his empty glass at her, rattling the ice cubes that hadn’t had a chance to melt in the thirty seconds it had taken him to down his second drink. “Another drink. I’ll have another drink. Scotch ’n’ rocks,” he called out.

  Carol, the senior member of the flight crew with over twenty years’ seniority, had her pick of stations on every flight. She chose to work first class because most of the people she served were hard-working businesspeople. Nice folks with good social skills who were appreciative of her service. But not this guy. He was just obnoxious.

  She looked over at the loudmouth and fake-smiled at him. “I’ll be right with you, sir.” Jackass.

  He looked to be in his fifties and wore steel-rimmed glasses that were a seventies throwback. Fat, balding with a bad combover, he was stuffed into a polyester suit that had maybe fit him in high school, on a good day. His tie was so tight that it dug into the fat around his neck, causing it to hang over his collar like the jowls of an old Saint Bernard. He had a blotchy red face, from high blood pressure or alcohol abuse or whatever else he’d done to kill himself over the years. Yech. Carol’s stomach turned as she took in his appearance, and she forced herself to look away before her nausea progressed to vomiting.

  “One minute, sir,” she said.

  “I’ll have another drink,” he called out, rattling his glass again, just in case she hadn’t gotten the message the first thirty times he’d done it.

  “Just a minute, sir.” Double jackass.

  Beverly came into the galley next to Carol and opened up one of the cabinets. “My drinks are going like crazy. I’m out of cups already. Can you spare any?”

  “Looks like someone didn’t refill their station supplies before we left. I’ll be writing that in my report, young lady.”

  “Hey, don’t blame me. I was a last-minute swapout with Tess.”

  “I saw that. She gave up a three-day layover in Hawaii for you?”

  “Yeah, I owe her big-time. Of course, now that I see she didn’t stock her station correctly, I’ll have to punish her.” She playfully smacked Carol’s ass. “How many whacks should I give her?”

  “Please. Get in line.” Carol smiled, and Beverly laughed in response to her pretend dislike.

  “I know, it’s not fair that one person could be so beautiful. I’d hate her if she wasn’t so cool,” Beverly replied.

  The old man in 3B interrupted them with more cup rattling. “Did you hear me? I’ll have another. Please.”

  “Wow, do you believe this guy?” Beverly asked. “Must be a full moon tonight.”

  “’Tis the season.” Carol winked at her and pretended to chug a shot. “It’s going to be the flight from hell with this clown on board. I’ll double up his drinks, and maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll pass out.”

  “Come on, be honest. You’re attracted to him, aren’t you?” Beverly nudged her shoulder.

  “Oh. My. God. Are you kidding me? Have you seen this guy?”

  “Hey, you know what they say about not judging a book by its cover. You’d never know how good a lover he is unless you try him out. How would you be able to go through life not knowing? Could you live with yourself? I think that you should sleep with him. Tonight. Consider it your Christmas penance for the time you had sex in the pilots’ lounge with that married French copilot.”

  “Oh dear, I don’t know how those rumors get started.” Carol shook her hea
d and sighed. “He was a captain, not a copilot.”

  “Right. Just the same, I’ll put in a good word for you with your new friend in 3B. I’ll tell him that you want him. That you’re fantastic in bed and that you won’t take no for an answer. That men line up for your services. They fly in from France. Pay you, even. But he won’t have to. Wait in line. Or pay you. Unless he wants to pay you. Brad Pitt pays you. What should I tell him your normal rate is?”

  Carol giggled and shook her head. “Don’t you have work to do? I hear the cattle in the back of the plane are thirsty.”

  Beverly smiled mischievously at Carol before turning to leave. She couldn’t resist throwing out one last dig to her friend, letting it fly in a serious tone that was loud enough for everyone in first class to hear. “Okay, Carol, I’ll find out what hotel he’s staying in tonight and get his room number for you.”

  Beverly sauntered over to 3B, her hips swinging as if in an old Mae West movie, and stopped right next to him. She looked right in his eyes and smiled.

  “My drink?” he asked, holding out his glass.

  She pushed his arm away, leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Carol will be right with you, sir,” her voice raspy and seductive like a young Kathleen Turner. She winked, looked him up and down with the lustful approval of a sailor at a strip club, and proceeded down the aisle.

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  Acknowledgments

  To my readers: THANK YOU!

  One of the rewards of being a writer is hearing from fans. If you have a free minute, I’d appreciate a review.

  Look for Jack Lamburt 2 in the fall of 2017. Until then… ;-)

  About the Author

  John Etzil graduated from College in the early 80’s. After a short four year stint as a law enforcement officer in New York City, he decided that working for someone else wasn’t for him. In 1986 he ended his brief career and has been a small business owner ever since.

  John was introduced to Agatha Christie in the late seventies, and became a life long reader of mystery and thrillers after he read Murder On The Orient Express.

  His favorite book is Deliverance. His favorite authors include; Russel Blake, fellow New Jerseyan AND Hungarian Janet Evanovich, Barry Eisler, Wayne Stinnett, Mark Dawson, and Lee Goldberg, but he'll entertain anything with airplanes, Jiu Jitsu, bad ass women with tattoos, and big manly dogs.

  His first novel, Airliner Down, was drafted in the summer of 2015. After numerous rewrites he released it in March of 2017.

  Fatal Justice; Jack Lamburt Vigilante Justice Series 1, was written during the Airliner Down re-writes, and also released in March of 2017.

  Fast Justice; Jack Lamburt 1.5, is a sixteen thousand word "Thriller Shot". It is FREE, and available only to his reader group here:

  FREE Thriller Shot - Jack Lamburt 1.5!

  John is a commercial rated pilot with over twenty years of flight experience. He is an avid weight trainer and holds a blue belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu.

  He currently resides in New Jersey with his bad ass wife, two teenage sons, and two medium sized dogs.

  www.JohnEtzil.com

  johnetzil@gmail.com