“She’s here somewhere, the signal’s really strong.”
Reading surveyed the area. It was an intersection, a smaller road intersecting the one they were on, reflective stop signs about the only thing he could see beyond his headlights.
Except a strange glow coming from the ditch.
Laura!
He sprinted forward as the police cars screeched to a halt, the officers jumping out, barking orders. Reading ignored them, instead jumping into the ditch as he spotted a small overturned car half inside a culvert running under the intersection, one of its headlights shining dimly.
He looked in the rear window and saw two bodies lying on the roof of the car, a cellphone between them, still glowing.
“I found her!”
He pulled his weapon and smashed out the rear window as Dawson and Niner jumped in after him, the police lining the ditch. Reaching inside, he grabbed Laura by the wrist but she didn’t react.
“Laura, can you hear me? Laura!”
He pressed his fingers along her radial artery and tried to calm himself, gently adjusting his fingers, looking for a pulse but finding nothing.
But she was still warm.
He moved his fingers again and cried out as he felt the beat, weak but still there.
“She’s alive!”
Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France
Laura opened her eyes, everything a blur. She could feel the warmth of sunlight on her face and the comfort of soft sheets surrounding her. The gentle beeps of several machines nearby were quickly replaced by hushed voices. She blinked a few times, allowing her eyes to focus on the ceiling tiles then turned toward the voices.
And smiled.
“She’s awake!” James jumped from his chair, rushing to her side as he took her hand in his. “How do you feel?”
She smiled. “Better.”
“You had us scared there for a while.”
“What happened?” she asked, reaching down to feel her wound. She found a clean dressing and very little pain when she pressed on it.
“You were in a car crash. Hugh and the others found you just in time.”
She looked at the window, the sun blazing in. “How long has it been?”
“Three days.”
Her jaw dropped. “Three days? But—”
“You nearly died, hon. You lost a lot of blood and an infection had set in. They’ve got you on antibiotics and you’re responding very well. They think you wouldn’t have survived another half hour.” He sighed. “We were lucky.”
Lucky.
She looked past her husband to see Reading standing in the doorway, a smile on his face. “Hi Hugh.”
Reading stepped inside, resting his hands on the rail at the foot of her bed. “Feeling better?”
She nodded. “Almost normal, actually. I’m sure I don’t, but compared to how I was feeling, it’s a miracle.” She smiled. “A miracle I understand I have you to thank for.”
“Hey, I knew he’d take all the credit if we let him in there alone.”
Laura turned toward the door and her smile broadened as she spotted a grinning Niner, Dawson right behind him. She motioned with her head for them to come in, Giasson following them into the rather small room.
She didn’t care.
She was just happy to be alive.
And free.
“What happened? Did they catch him?”
Reading shook his head. “No, not yet. Dietrich Kruger, the man who kidnapped you, and his father haven’t been found. We eliminated four of his men and we think there are at least two more, but we’re pretty sure it’s over.”
“Why?”
“Because we found him.”
Laura felt a rush flow through her body as she looked at her husband. “Longinus?”
He nodded, grinning. “We found him in Mantua, along with the spear and the sponge used to cleanse the body.”
She squeezed her husband’s hand. “I’m so proud of you, I knew you could do it.”
“Terrence and Jenny helped, and so did Mario.”
Mario leaned into view. “I just provided security and translators.”
“Translators?”
“It’s a long story,” said James, patting her hand. “I’ll tell you all about it when you’re stronger.”
“Where’s the spear?”
“He took it.”
“Dietrich?”
James nodded. “Yes. We recovered all of the stolen artifacts at the house and they’re being returned, but the spear and the jar holding the sponge are still missing. I’m afraid we’ll never see them again.”
Laura felt a deep sadness fill her to the core, the very thought of such an incredible discovery being lost to the ages because of a madman’s insane quest disgusting her. And as the emotion overwhelmed her it reminded her of the news she had received from Dr. Heinrich, all joy at her reunion wiped from her being.
“Terrence and Jenny are outside, they’d like to say hi for a moment.”
Laura looked at her husband, shaking her head. “I need to talk to you first, alone.”
He looked at the others who said quick goodbyes, the room soon empty. She took her husband’s hand in both of hers and held it to her chest. “I have some bad news.”
She watched as concern etched itself across his face.
“What is it?”
“There were complications.”
“What do you mean?” He looked at her stomach. “You mean with your wound?”
She nodded. “Dr. Heinrich scanned me and confirmed it.” She burst into tears, sobs racking her body. “Oh James, I’m so sorry!” She could see his own face cloud over, his love for her so deep she knew he could never stand to see her upset.
“What is it?” he asked gently, leaning toward her, clutching her hands. “You can tell me.”
“I-I..” She looked away, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to fight off the tears that refused to stop. “I can’t have children anymore.”
James gasped, the grip on her hands loosening for a moment, that momentary reflex crushing her inside as she felt the bond between them break, all their future plans destroyed, their marriage torn asunder by a madman’s quest to save his father.
His grip tightened again and she turned back toward him, a thin thread of hope tugging at her. She looked at her husband through tear filled eyes and saw the anguish on his face, his own tears pouring down his cheeks, he too devastated at the news.
“I’m so sorry, James, I’m so sorry.”
He reached up with one of his hands and caressed her cheeks, wiping away some of the tears. “It’s not your fault.”
“Do-do you still love me?”
A cry erupted from him as he collapsed on her and hugged her, his chest heaving with sobs. “Of course I do,” he said as he held her, “of course I do. Never doubt that I love you, no matter what.”
“But our children—”
“Are nothing if you aren’t in my life.” He let go of her and sat up slightly, looking down at her as he ran his fingers through her hair. “I love you. My life is incredible because of you. Am I disappointed we can’t have children of our own? Of course, but do I blame you? Of course not. I could never blame you for that, and I could never love you any less because of it. You are my life. You are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, to grow old and die with, and whether or not we have children of our own to share that with is unimportant, as long as I have you.”
She reached up and rested her hand against his cheek, wiping away the still flowing tears.
“I love you so much.”
He smiled and turned his head slightly, kissing her palm.
“And I love you.”
Somewhere in South-East Asia
Six months later
The roar of the ocean was something Dietrich would never tire of. The weather was idyllic, the sand was perfect, and the company even better. He had put an exit plan in place the moment he had decided to break the law in
order to save his father, a plan that had meant liquidating a significant portion of their assets and transferring them to secret accounts around the world. Even if the authorities found an account, they’d be hard pressed to find them all.
And so far they’d found none.
He sipped his piña colada, savoring the rich, cold drink as he watched his son play near the water, his wife keeping a watchful eye nearby, his own mother at her side. Smiling at the bartender, he took the tall glass of imported German beer, brought in just for them, and returned to the reserved area of the beach, separated by several cloth windbreaks.
He handed the beer over.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Father.”
THE END
Acknowledgements
Sometimes decisions made in prior novels of a series pose challenges to the author later on. I try to keep my characters as timeless and “ageless” as possible so that you the reader can continue to enjoy their exploits in the years to come, and I can continue to write them as well. Unlike actors, characters on the written page don’t have to age.
Just think if they had decided to have the Simpsons age with each new season. Bart would be heading into middle age soon, Homer staring in Expendables 4.
It works with some series, Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot (one of my favorites!) comes to mind, but Poirot wasn’t exactly fighting terrorists and scurrying around ancient ruins.
And if I sell over one billion Acton thrillers, I just might look at retiring the character.
But since I need to feed my family, I keep soldiering on, keeping my characters enmeshed with current events, but essentially leaving them at their original ages, “magically” allowing the world to age around their own timelessness.
I think it works, especially when you consider most of these books take place over an extremely compressed timeframe with little gap between them.
But where it doesn’t work is when you want characters to evolve outside of the physical. One of those quandaries was the relationship between James and Laura. They fell in love, got engaged, got married, moved into a single home, and so on. The next logical step in my mind was children.
Which would probably kill the series, since Acton telling Laura to “go long” while he tossed the baby over as some ancient cult opened fire on them just wasn’t believable—though I’m sure I’ve seen that on cable somewhere.
As I wrote this novel the idea of how to address this permanently came to me, and the result is the heart wrenching revelation that Laura can no longer have children. When I wrote the opening scene, shooting her in the abdomen, it had never occurred to me what I would eventually do with that. I wonder if I had shot her in the shoulder, would this turn of events have followed.
But now that the deed is done, my mental torture of my beloved heroes (for I do love these people, they’re very real to me after so many years together) will allow me to continue with their adventures without having to worry about how to keep getting them into trouble with little feet under foot.
I hope as a result we’ll enjoy many more years of the professors getting into trouble.
As usual there are many people to thank. Big shout out as usual to my dad who did most of the research, another big one to Richard Jenner for helping make my British characters more British, Brent Richards for some weapons info, Ian Davidson for some info on motorcycles, Fred Newton for car racing info, Marc Quesnel for letting me know the history of a certain fashion designer, and of course my wife, daughter, mother and friends for their continued support.
One special note to Ian Kennedy: Yes, Ian, you win, your scar is bigger than mine.
And on one final note, yes, years ago I actually did ask if the new battery for my car had been blessed by the Queen.
It hadn’t.
They weren’t amused.
And it still didn’t solve the problems.
To those who have not already done so, please visit my website at www.jrobertkennedy.com then sign up for the Insider’s Club to be notified of new book releases. Your email address will never be shared or sold and you’ll only receive an occasional email from me as I don’t have time to spam you!
Thank you once again for reading.
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James Acton returns in the international bestseller Sins of the Titanic, now available everywhere!
To sample or purchase, please visit Amazon: US, UK, Canada, Australia, or click here for additional purchase options.
Check out the new Delta Force Unleashed series and get to know Bravo Team some more.
Get started with Payback (Delta Force Unleashed #1) today!
While waiting, why not try the Special Agent Dylan Kane spin-off series? Dylan Kane is a former student of James Acton and before being recruited into the CIA, served and trained under Burt "Big Dog" Dawson with Delta Team Bravo. Acton has a cameo in Rogue Operator, and Dawson and the boys appear in Containment Failure, Cold Warriors and Death to America.
Get started with Rogue Operator (Dylan Kane #1) today!
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author J. Robert Kennedy has been ranked by Amazon as the #1 Bestselling Action Adventure novelist based upon combined sales. He is the author of over twenty international bestsellers including the smash hit James Acton Thrillers series of which the first installment, The Protocol, has been on the bestseller list in the US and UK since its release, including occupying the number one spot for three months. He lives with his wife and daughter and writes full-time.
Visit Robert's website at www.jrobertkennedy.com and sign-up for the Insider's Club to be notified of new book releases.
Books by J. Robert Kennedy
The James Acton Thrillers
The Protocol
Brass Monkey
Broken Dove
The Templar's Relic
Flags of Sin
The Arab Fall
The Circle of Eight
The Venice Code
Pompeii's Ghosts
Amazon Burning
The Riddle
Blood Relics
Sins of the Titanic
Saint Peter's Soldiers
The Delta Force Unleashed Thrillers
Payback
Infidels
The Lazarus Moment
The Special Agent Dylan Kane Thrillers
Rogue Operator
Containment Failure
Cold Warriors
Death to America
The Detective Shakespeare Mysteries
Depraved Difference
Tick Tock
The Redeemer
Zander Varga, Vampire Detective Series
The Turned
The Protocol
A James Acton Thriller - Book #1
For two thousand years the Triarii have protected us, influencing history from the crusades to the discovery of America. Descendent from the Roman Empire, they pervade every level of society, and are now in a race with our own government to retrieve an ancient artifact thought to have been lost forever.
To sample or purchase, plea
se visit Amazon: US, UK, Canada, Australia, or click here for additional purchase options.
Return to book list
Brass Monkey
A James Acton Thriller - Book #2
A nuclear missile, lost during the Cold War, is now in play--the most public spy swap in history, with a gorgeous agent the center of international attention, triggers the end-game of a corrupt Soviet Colonel's twenty five year plan. Pursued across the globe by the Russian authorities, including a brutal Spetsnaz unit, those involved will stop at nothing to deliver their weapon, and ensure their pay day, regardless of the terrifying consequences.
To sample or purchase, please visit Amazon: US, UK, Canada, Australia, or click here for additional purchase options.
Return to book list
Broken Dove
A James Acton Thriller - Book #3
With the Triarii in control of the Roman Catholic Church, an organization founded by Saint Peter himself takes action, murdering one of the new Pope's operatives. Detective Chaney, called in by the Pope to investigate, disappears, and, to the horror of the Papal staff sent to inform His Holiness, they find him missing too, the only clue a secret chest, presented to each new pope on the eve of their election, since the beginning of the Church.
To sample or purchase, please visit Amazon: US, UK, Canada, Australia, or click here for additional purchase options.
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The Templar's Relic
Blood Relics (A James Acton Thriller, #12) Page 27
