A Sacred Pact
Page 24
Katie took Pandora’s hand, and they walked out of the room.
As they left, Pandora raised her other hand and flipped the council the bird.
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Wilson lay on his prison cot reading his copy of The Old Man and the Sea. He sighed as he attempted to decipher the text through the pictures and graffiti drawn in the book. He did have his own cell, though. That was something. He had been given his own cell after assaulting a bunkmate. Wilson didn’t mind sharing a room, but he was not at all willing to share his cell with some naïve idiot in there for going AWOL. No matter what sort of trouble he was in, he was still a lieutenant colonel who had proudly served his country for two decades.
He turned the page and paused as footsteps echoed down the hallway. A guard approached his cell door and stood at attention. “Colonel Wilson, you have a visitor.”
Wilson peered at the guard, then set down his book.
They brought him into a private meeting room in cuffs. The small dark man inside stood up and gave him an oddly unnerving grin. Wilson frowned. “Who the fuck are you?” He whistled when he spoke. That was because of his broken tooth, courtesy of a mean hook delivered by General Brushwood.
The man shook his hand and gestured for him to sit. “My name is Mr. Belly.”
“Dumb name.”
Belphegor shrugged inside his new lawyer skin. His old lawyer skin was attracting too much attention. He had chosen the name and had to admit it wasn’t great, but it would do. “Nevertheless, it is my name. Mr. Belly. Rather jolly, I think. I’m your new legal counsel.”
“I have a JAG lawyer.”
“The World Council asked me to represent you. I am told that you were charged with working for a foreign power.”
Wilson wrinkled his forehead. “World Council? That’s General Brushwood’s little boy-band. He hates my guts.”
Belphegor tried to hide his glee. “Is it correct that you shot Katie of Katie’s Killers right in the gut?”
Wilson chuckled. “That’s correct. I’m a dangerous man.” His face went cold. “So why the fuck would you put yourself in a room with me, then tell me you’re buddies with General Brushwood?”
“Brushwood and I are hardly friends.” Belphegor sighed and opened his briefcase. “You are a dangerous man. The charges against you are flimsy, and you have your men as character witnesses. Not to mention the time you’ve already served.”
Wilson frowned. “Are you trying to get me out of here?”
“Oh, no, Colonel Wilson.” Belphegor slid a few papers across the table. “I am getting you out of here. I’ve worked very hard to make sure the right people got the right things. Everything is in order now. I just need your signature.”
Wilson didn’t get it. “But…why?”
“Because you’re a dangerous man. You took Katie on. That might make you the most dangerous man in the entire world. That’s just the kind of man the World Council needs.”
Belphegor handed him a pen. “Sign on the dotted line, please.”
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Author Notes - Michael Anderle
November 22, 2018
THANK YOU for not only reading this story but these Author Notes as well .
(I think I’ve been good with always opening with “thank you.” If not, I need to edit the other Author Notes!)
RANDOM (sometimes) THOUGHTS?
Happy Thanksgiving, 2018!
I’m reminded by Ell Leigh Clarke (Ellie Clarke) that those who don’t come from the United States won’t think about a big holiday right at the end of November.
(Well, I believe some countries might, but I’m too lazy to go Google it right now. I have to get my exercises going so I have more room for the turkey. ;-) )
Then, I have to “plump the pillow” and get ready for the annual After-Thanksgiving Turkey Nap (ATTN for short) while family is still at the house. It is actually a Marine-like effort to stay awake while paying attention to our loved ones, especially since the food we have overindulged is full of
Yes, for those fans who are thinking I overemphasized with the “Marine-like effort” I understand your concern that I am minimizing what Marines do. I’m not.
I’m talking about the effort of listening to my mom, whom I love, speak about the comings and goings of her community instead of allowing my head to flop forward, the fourth helping of mashed potatoes acting like an airbag to stop my comatose self from smashing my nose. It is difficult for me.
That’s all.
I salute you who have just made it through your own effort to mollify family while what you really want to do is curl up on any available horizontal surface, grab the nearest pillow, cat (pillow)—please, those demons wouldn’t allow you to sleep on them, but the selfish little twits don’t mind using ME as a bed, much less a pillow—or a rolled up coat.
Oh…I should probably talk books, too.
Today we have released the third act of the DAMNED series. Katie has changed Pandora, or has she? Can her ex-husband tempt them both back into the fold? If he does, will he live to regret it? (Can you imagine Pandora without donuts?)
Next Friday, we release The Kurtherian Endgame #3, Through the Fire and Flame. For those ready and waiting for a bit of ass-kicking with a different type of protagonist, we have it lined up.
Further, we are trying really hard to make the next release about four to six weeks (hopefully at most) beyond that. So, end of December / beginning of January 2019.
We already have the next book here in Katie’s series on tap and ready to start, so we should have our next book to you here in December.
May EVERYONE reading have a good end of the year.
Join us on Facebook if you use that social media site.
Some of the funniest shit is dropped into the Protected by the Damned Facebook Group. It’s the Group for those with twisted senses of humor (raising hand.) (Editor’s Note: Raising hand)
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AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
One of the interesting (at least to me) aspects of my life is the ability to work from anywhere and at any time. In the future, I hope to re-read my own Author Notes and remember my life as a diary entry.
Today I’m writing these author notes from my white leather chair at our place in La Puente, California. This home has been in my wife’s family for decades, first purchased by her immigrant mom at least thirty-five years ago and later purchased by my wife from her mom. It is a very peaceful neighborhood where the neighbors look out for each other.
This morning, while half-way awake and half-way asleep, I heard the cooing of a dove…or the hoot of an owl. Frankly, I can’t remember.
(No laughing!
Anyway, it took me back to my time with my grandparents in Moulton, Tx. A time where I wanted nothing more during the Thanksgiving holidays as a schoolkid than freezing weather and the new set of books I had checked out of the school library.
If that happened? Then the parents were ok with me going back to the damned-cold room to cuddle up under an HONEST TO GOD feather bed (the kind where you could get stuck with a quill… cause the feathers came from something that was probably eaten in that household.)
I would LOSE myself reading. Life’s worries washed away, and I was doing something amazing, somethi
ng awesome, and something that didn’t make me work.
I admit it. I wasn’t the hardest-working child. Rather, I was working my intelligence to figure out how to hack getting out of work, or at least doing the work in less time.
Hacking is something I still do. Soon, you will see comments about “THE ZOO” or “The ZOO is coming…” Know that the kid who wanted to read all day is still at it.
Creating ways to get the stories he wants, at a velocity that makes him wish he could just sit in a comfortable chair, bed, lounge (whatever) and read through the holidays.
Now, I’m off to go practice my napping like the true man I am. LOL
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Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
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Books by Michael Todd
PROTECTED BY THE DAMNED
Torn Asunder (1)
Killing Is My Business (2)
And Business Is Good (3)
Sit Down, Shut Up, And Pull The Trigger (4)
Welcome To The Jungle (5)
Metal Up Your Ass (6)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (7)
For Whom The Bell Tolls (8)
WAR OF THE DAMNED
Resurrection Of The Damned (1)
No Quarter (2)
Dark Is The Night (3)
Dim Glows The Horizon (4)
Waking The Leviathan (5)
Subversive Giants (6)
Juntto (7)
Redemption (8)
WAR OF THE ANGLES
A Sacred Pact (1)
DAMIAN’S CHRONICLES
Crucifix (1)
Renegade (2)
Apostle (3)
Books written as Michael Anderle
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:
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