“But their violent response is like that of a Colombian drug cartel. No mercy.” That was Franklin, repeating the same thing he’d said earlier. I swung my head around and looked to the stalls. I thought I heard some mumbles. I walked across the floor until I reached the last door. I heard Winston saying, “Amen to that.” Just like I’d heard him say in the office.
I kicked the stall door open. Garrett, who’d been sitting like a catcher, his feet perched on either side of the toilet, slipped, dropping one of his feet into the toilet bowl. He was holding earbuds in one hand and his phone in the other. A disgusted look on his face, he pulled his wet foot from the toilet.
I grabbed him by the lapel of his jacket and dragged him out of the stall. “Who are you talking to, Garrett?”
“None of your business.” He tried to walk past me, but I blocked him.
“Do you have a bug in Winston’s office?”
His face glowed like a red beacon. “Of course not. That’s outlandish. I’m going to leave now.”
“You’re not telling the truth, Garrett.”
He tried staring me down, but he couldn’t hold it.
“Who is paying you to bug Winston’s office, Garrett?”
“That’s absurd. I’m just listening to some music.”
It was easy to see that Garrett was not a lawyer. He had yet to perfect the art of lying.
I snatched the phone from his hand and saw that the line had been disconnected. But I knew what I’d heard.
Garrett had to be on the payroll of this Just Win group.
Seconds later, federal agents burst through the door and arrested the little prick. I walked out into the reception area and found Bowser and Porter standing there.
“I think we got more than we ever dreamed,” Porter said, looking to Bowser.
“This Garrett connection could be the big one, Ozzie. But you were right,” Bowser said. “You thought Franklin would dig his own grave. And he did.”
“I just know his type. They can’t help but flap their gums, even when they know they should shut their mouths.”
A moment later, Franklin walked out in handcuffs. He stopped in front of me, called me every name in the book, and then said, “Do you know what will happen to me in prison?
I moved a foot closer and pointed a finger at his chest. “This is for the girl your brother kidnapped and raped and you paid off; this is for Pamela Conner; this is for Riya Patel; and especially, this is for your wife. It’s called karma, Franklin. It’s also called justice. And regarding your new home for the next few years…as one loud-mouth Texas gubernatorial candidate said when comparing the weather to rape: just sit back, relax, and enjoy it.”
I popped him on the shoulder as my mind envisioned punching him in the throat.
37
With an earbud stuck in one ear—I was waiting for Alex to return to the phone—I opened the lowest drawer in my metal filing cabinet, which was the last item that remained from the Ray Gartner regime. I’d get around to buying a new one eventually. The extra cash I’d received from LEAP could have been used for furniture for my Gartner Automotive office, but instead, I’d opened a college fund for Mackenzie. I still had enough left over to create this wad of cash I had in a plastic pouch that was locked with a small combination lock. That and a number of other survival items were sitting on my desk. I was putting them into a small backpack.
Alex came back on the line. “Hey, Oz, sorry about that.” She puffed breaths into the phone as if she’d been running. “My cat, Pumpkin, just barfed all over Luke’s bed. Ezzy just ran to the grocery store to get some cleanup items.”
“Ezzy. You never told me about her.”
“The woman who saved my life when it was about to crumble? I’m not religious, but if anyone deserves sainthood, it’s her. She’s been my nanny for years. Well, there was a period of time when she was replaced by a little tramp. But that’s a story for another day.”
“I thought my life was full of drama.”
“I think that’s why I can identify with everything you’ve experienced. But enough of that. I really just called to update you on our investigation.”
“I’m all ears…kind of.”
She laughed, aware of my hearing issues. “I wish I had better news.”
My skin prickled. “Is my family still in danger, Alex?”
“I don’t think so. Your friend, Tracy, ran the story in the Austin American-Statesman four days ago, as you know. Since then, it’s gone viral, been picked up by other news outlets—you know, the ones who actually deliver real news—and I saw him on TV twice. He might hit the big time with this story.”
“Great for him, but…”
“So, that takes the eyes off you, Ozzie. Now, everyone knows what you knew. And it’s not like you went out and found these allegations. They were hand-delivered to you by Franklin’s nutjob brother.”
I emptied my lungs. It felt good to hear. “Any idea on how Marco found my family?”
“Not sure yet. But after raiding his apartment, they found sniper gear. So, given how he ended his life, it’s not a stretch to assume he was getting his orders from a group that carries a lot of weight.”
“Have you been able to figure out if Riya was actually wrapped up in this conspiracy?”
“It’s an ongoing investigation.”
I laughed.
“What?”
“You sound like a federal robot. I know it’s ongoing, but what have you learned?”
“Okay, okay. Just between us girls…” She giggled and then continued. “Partnering with MI6 and our team that has been dispatched to the UK, there were communications intercepted, talking about getting incriminating evidence on officials in high places in Europe and, as they like to say, across the pond.”
“It really is ongoing.”
“So, Riya we’re not sure about, but her old boyfriend was definitely in the crosshairs.”
I thought I heard a sigh. “You said ‘was.’”
“He was found dead in his home last night. A bullet to the back of his head.”
The defiant act of violence being carried out from this group, was, just as Franklin had noted, similar to that of a drug cartel. “So, do you guys have any leads?”
“Well, we have the name that Franklin used. Just Win. But the best lead right now is probably Garrett. Bowser’s team found the bug, but Garrett has lawyered up. We still have hope we can get him to flip. Meanwhile, he’s under heavy guard so no one can reach him.”
I finished packing my items into my backpack—what Ray had called his SHTF bag—meaning, Shit Hit The Fan. It was part of my new insurance policy, just in case.
“One more thing. Winston Palmer actually admitted that he was being paid by some off-shore account.”
“Which means I was being paid from that slush fund as well. Laundered money?”
“Who knows?”
Mackenzie ran into the office and immediately started asking questions about my backpack. Alex asked to talk to her for a moment. When they finished chatting, I told Alex we’d touch base soon, and maybe one day we’d visit her up in Boston.
“You kidding me? It’s too frickin’ cold up here. I’ll come down to Texas, bring my whole crew. Maybe over the summer. We love the beach.”
Sounded like a great plan.
Nicole poked her head into the office and said we were late for a meeting with Brook. I locked my backpack in the filing cabinet, and we walked out the door. I saw Steve opening the door to his pickup.
“Taking off early, Steve?”
“Meeting the wife for lunch.”
“You guys are back on good terms?”
He looked at Mackenzie to make sure she wasn’t paying attention. She wasn’t. “It’s like we went back to our honeymoon phase. She even asked if she could go to one of the Spurs games with me.”
“Cool.”
“Hey, if you want to try a business that’s a little less dangerous, you could always give out relationship advice
.”
Nicole snickered. So did I. We waved goodbye to Steve, drove to pick up the dogs, and then headed over to the hiking trail at Lady Bird Lake.
With temperatures in the sixties and a lot of dogs out on the trail, Baxter and Rainbow had the energy of ten dogs. I let them drag me around on the grass for a good twenty minutes—my hip was feeling a little better—which might have depleted their energy by about ten percent. Shortly thereafter, we found Brook. She looked awkward standing there, waiting on us, as if she didn’t feel comfortable in her new single role. We were about to give her a hug when the dogs ran in circles around her, creating a dog-leash knot. Initially annoyed, she started laughing when Mackenzie began to crack up while trying to untangle them. In the middle of the dog mayhem, Brook looked at me. “This is the best medicine ever, Ozzie. Thank you.”
“Any time. You’re part of our extended family.”
“So I might be as important as the dogs?” she quipped.
“At least.”
As she, Mackenzie, and the dogs continued playing, Nicole and I walked over to the edge of the lake. I found a rock and skimmed it across the water. “Five hops.”
Nicole picked up a rock and hurled it perfectly across the lake. “Six hops, baby. Pay up.”
“We didn’t bet.”
“I’ll think of something,” she said.
She curled her arm inside mine, as wind brushed across our faces. We didn’t say anything for a few minutes. I took in deep pockets of air and allowed my lungs to empty completely each time. It was relaxing, yet invigorating, to be around my family.
“Steve said you have a new case—something about insurance fraud,” Nicole said.
“You getting bored with your corporate job?”
She scrunched her face and gave me a cute half-smile. “Maybe. But I’m just saying, we don’t want to forget about it.”
“That’s a tomorrow thing,” I said. “I was thinking today we could go look for a house.”
Her eyes got wide. “Seriously? I was going to ask you the same thing. It makes sense, right? I mean, we want to start a new life, not go back to our old house. And your apartment, for the long term, is a bit small for all of us.”
“Agreed. But I’d like to stay out of the burbs. Somewhere closer to town, so Mackenzie can go to the same school, still be near Ariel.”
“Maybe find an old home that we can fix up?”
“You know me. I’m about as handy as Baxter and Rainbow. But if you lead, I will follow.”
She stood on her toes and kissed my cheek. I turned around planted a kiss on her she would not soon forget.
“Wow,” she said, looking around. “Too bad it’s not the middle of the night with no one around. We could…you know, be daring like we were in college.”
I guess she’d forgotten about our hot romp in the car by Barton Springs pool—just before I’d received the call from Brook about Noah’s brother being arrested for murder. Time flies.
I hugged Nicole and swung her around. She giggled, and then I put her down. For the first time in a while, my heart was aligned with my head.
But I also wondered if all these good feelings were more of a mirage. Would they eventually disappear, leaving me grasping for something that never existed at all?
Why focus on predicting doom and gloom, Ozzie? Don’t let the evil in other people change your outlook on life. Dread is not around the next corner.
I pushed any negative thoughts aside and pulled the woman of my dreams closer to me. She grabbed my head, looked me in the eye, and said, “I love you, Ozzie Novak.”
I felt the last of my protective barriers turn into dust and blow away. “I love you too. Forever.”
Dear Reader,
This ride has been full of so many crazy turns, it’s almost given me whiplash. Thanks for joining Ozzie each step of the way.
Are you ready to travel the last few miles with Ozzie? A bolt of lightning…and before Ozzie can blink, his world crumbles right before his eyes. Who could pull off a crime so heinous? Is this just the hand he was dealt, or is there an old secret that will destroy his life all over again?
You’ll love this Ozzie thriller, because of the non-stop action and the mind-bending twists that will leave you breathless.
Get ON The Run now.
Best,
John
P.S. A review for ON Fire would be greatly appreciated, if you have a quick moment. Thank you.
John W. Mefford Bibliography
Redemption Thriller Series
The Alex Troutt Thrillers
AT Bay (Book 1)
AT Large (Book 2)
AT Once (Book 3)
AT Dawn (Book 4)
AT Dusk (Book 5)
AT Last (Book 6)
The Ivy Nash Thrillers
IN Defiance (Book 7)
IN Pursuit (Book 8)
IN Doubt (Book 9)
Break IN (Book 10)
IN Control (Book 11)
IN The End (Book 12)
The Ozzie Novak Thrillers
ON Edge (Book 13)
Game ON (Book 14)
ON The Rocks (Book 15)
Shame ON You (Book 16)
ON Fire (Book 17)
ON The Run (Book 18)
Other Thriller Series
The Booker Series
BOOKER – Streets of Mayhem (Volume 1)
BOOKER – Tap That (Volume 2)
BOILERMAKER – A Lt. Jack Daniels / Booker Mystery (Volume 2.5)
BOOKER – Hate City (Volume 3)
BOOKER – Blood Ring (Volume 4)
BOOKER – No Más (Volume 5)
BOOKER – Dead Heat (Volume 6)
The Greed Series
FATAL GREED (Greed Series #1)
LETHAL GREED (Greed Series #2)
WICKED GREED (Greed Series #3)
GREED MANIFESTO (Greed Series #4)
ON Fire
Copyright © 2018 by John W. Mefford
All rights reserved.
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book (not just the sample) and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Formatting by Bob Houston eBook Formatting
Table of Contents
ALSO BY JOHN W. MEFFORD
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
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Dear Reader
John W. Mefford Bibliogra
phy
Copyright
ON Fire (An Ozzie Novak Thriller, Book 5) (Redemption Thriller Series 17) Page 20
