Green File Crime Thrillers Box Set

by James Kipling

  Alvin grew silent for a minute and listened to the fire consume the wood, throwing spooky shadows across the cave walls.

  “I guess I do hate myself,” he finally spoke. “Hey, this is a perfect ending to a miserable life, right? Sure, it is.”

  Jessica wanted to scold Alvin for being pessimistic, but she didn't. After all, deep down, she was wondering how many days she had left to live. How many days Mandy had left to live. Jacob...well, he had President Green and the entire force of a crumbling government to help him.

  “Do you think we're going to die?”

  “Do you think we have a chance to survive?” Alvin asked. “We have a pastor on his way, carrying a few suitcases full of clothes, hair dye, a hair clipper...shoot, I doubt we'll get twenty miles.”

  Jessica bowed her head and studied the fire. Her tummy was so hungry, and drinking river water to remain hydrated was no treat. Pastor Braston had promised to have food in the van, but Jessica wasn't certain if she could last. Going days without food was tearing down her body.

  “You can make it,” she whispered. “You have to.”

  “Are you talking about the food?” Alvin asked Jessica who reluctantly nodded her head. “Best to not think about food,” he said, “A starving man can drive himself crazy thinking about food.”

  “I feel weak,” Jessica whispered.

  “Come tomorrow, you'll find the strength to climb out of this gorge. We all will,” Alvin promised, offering Jessica a weak smile. “Our last meal will be waiting for us, and that's worth fighting for.”

  “Maybe we'll have more meals, Alvin.” Jessica dared to hope. “If I...”

  Alvin frowned when she didn’t continue, then asked, “What?”

  The Journal...the virus a stern voice spoke into Jessica's ear. “If I have...faith.”

  “Yeah...faith,” he whispered, letting out a sad sigh as he laid back down and closed his eyes. “I once had faith. It’s a mighty powerful weapon. But then I lost faith in myself. It's all downhill from there. Don't matter if we live or die. This man is already dead.”

  Jessica watched Alvin place his left arm over his eyes and slowly drift off into a troubled sleep. She sat very silent for a long time and then added wood to the fire and listened to Mandy, Alvin and Jacob all letting out little sounds in their sleep. The sounds were all filled with worry and fear. By the time her watch ended, Jessica still felt wide awake. She decided not to wake poor Alvin. She let the man sleep and continued her watch until daylight broke outside of the cave. The approaching morning cast light on Jessica's hidden thoughts.

  “Jack, I have to locate your journal, but where did you hide it? Is it in the house? A safety deposit box? Where is the journal?” Jessica stopped and stood up to stretch her sore back and then walked to the entrance of the cave. The snow was falling heavily and at a steady rate, and the air felt lifeless.

  “Jack,” she whispered staring off at thick brush, “don't leave me, honey. I need you. Please, don't leave me. Please.” And with those words, Jessica woke Mandy up for her watch, and then laid down and struggled to fall asleep next to a fire that offered no comfort.

  ((((((((((*))))))))))

  Jessica stepped behind a tall, frozen, bare tree under the cloak of heavy darkness. Impossible amounts of snow were threatening to prevent any form of traffic from moving. The road, running parallel to the city park, was blanketed with snow, worrying Jessica. Would Pastor Braston be able to get through? Would the church van the man was driving be able to battle the snow? Jessica wasn't certain. But then, as her eyes continued to search, she heard a noise; a blessed noise.

  “A snow plow,” she whispered, as her heart leap inside of her chest.

  Mandy, who had come down with an awful fever, put a shaky hand on Jessica's frozen shoulder.

  “I told you, the Lord works miracles,” she whispered, as her weak body leaned against the back of her sister.

  “Well, I'll be,” Alvin said, breathing white trails of smoke into the night air. “Look at that.” Alvin's eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.

  Jacob watched an orange dump truck with a plow on the front slowly clear the front street, and then move toward the four way stop. In the distance, he heard the sound of a second plow.

  “It's 6:51PM,” he whispered, hovering behind a large tree, “Law enforcement will be making their shift change—”

  “Call it what you want,” Mandy cut Jacob off in a weak, but sharp, annoyed tone. “My God works miracles!”

  “Yeah,” Alvin supported Mandy. “Man, we were in this spot two nights ago. There weren't no plows, and the snow was just as heavy.”

  Jacob watched the city plow vanish into the night. He had to admit that the timing was amazing, and that Alvin was right.

  “We need to move. Let's go.” he ordered. “Alvin, you're with Mandy. Get her in the van first. Jessica, you enter the van third. I'm going in last.” Jacob raise a cell phone up to his ear. “Okay, General, we're on the move.”

  “Your son is preparing for the extraction,” the General told President Green in a calm but concerned voice.

  President Green leaned forward in a black chair and placed his nervous hands together. Sitting in the shadowy meeting room, located under the White House, made him feel like a coward. His son was out in the ocean of danger, fighting the currents alone while he was playing political patty-cake with a bunch of sharks. And to make matters far worse, Roger Alden was due to give an 'Official' press conference from the CIA building the following day at noon. With both sides of the aisle hungry for an immediate impeachment, President Green knew his time in power was growing shorter and shorter.

  The press had manipulated the American people and turned them into wild savages hungry for murder. Small protests were not massive wars. Cities were being torn apart by paid actors, while the media portrayed the criminals as 'Angry and Denied Americans', who were voicing their frustration toward President Green's lack of leadership.

  Roger Alden was playing his wild card very cleverly—and dangerously. The Russians and the Chinese were not amused, and both countries had their military on high alert. President Green, in order to throw some water on the flames, agreed to place the American military on high alert across the planet, which encouraged NATO to go 'Red', which in return, infuriated the Russians and the Chinese even more. And, of course, the Middle East countries, except for Israel, even though they were in no danger, took it upon themselves to start playing the 'Victim' card again, and promised retaliation for upsetting their 'Peaceful Way of Living', another card Roger Alden had played.

  The European Union, a group of absolute hypocrites in President Green's view, were watching and waiting in order to see which side to take; which winner to support. Other countries, such as Canada, Australia, Mexico, and Brazil, were all biting their nails, while battles of corruption continued to wage within their own halls. The entire planet was on edge, and one wrong move would send the planet into absolute chaos, all because of one single woman.

  “Move,” President Green ordered General Garcia.

  General Garcia nodded his head and informed Jacob, “President Green has given the order to move.”

  Jacob closed his eyes for a few seconds and allowed the icy winds to clear his exhausted and troubled mind. “How is he, General?”

  General Garcia studied President Green's beaten face. “Sometimes a queen takes a beating before she captures the King.”

  Inside of Jacob's mind, he saw a beaten down man who was on the verge of a mental and emotional breakdown. But was that right? Was President Green truly a man who collapsed under pressure? So far, the man had only been forced to battle little piranhas nipping at his feet. Now, he was fighting a massive Great White shark that was swimming across the Oval Office floor.

  “I understand. Moving out. Will make contact at 0600 hours tomorrow. Please keep sending maps of clear routes.”

  “Will do. The Lord be with you, son,” General Garci
a told Jacob, and then put his cell phone away. “I have men constantly sending updated routes to Jacob's phone. If we're careful—”

  “If we're careful…what?” President Green asked in a sharp tone. “General, our only option is to eliminate Roger Alden. Even if we do that, there are others who will immediately take his place. We have no idea what Roger Alden's end game is, or who he has in reserves. Tomorrow will be the first time the man will make a public appearance, but he's still staying at the CIA building. He knows we're after him. But does that really matter?” President Green shook his head. “Before this ends, we will enter a third world war, General, and America isn't prepared to defeat the Russians or the Chinese. Our military is so weak right now that we couldn't defeat...”

  President Green shook his head again. “We are a military that depends on advanced weapons to defend our nation. Our boys could not go hand to hand with the Russians and Chinese on a raw battlefield and win. We are a nation filled with snowflakes, General; overweight, weak, whiny puppets that sit and complain that they have to get a job and earn a living. Our colleges and public schools are nothing more than indoctrination centers. The family unit is destroyed. Television has destroyed common critical thinking abilities. The youth of our country are nothing more than mere zombies being fed by that demonic Hollywood...”

  President Green, realizing he had fallen into a justified angry speech, suddenly stopped speaking, looked at General Garcia with tragic eyes, and bowed his head. “According to the Bible, General, I'm fighting a losing battle. The Book of Revelation wasn't written for a righteous General.”

  “No, Sir. The Book of Revelation was written for the people who took our world back to the days of Noah and Lot.”

  “Abortion and homosexual marriages...is God not just destroying a people, a world that rebels against His Holiness?” President Green asked. “The blood of the unborn cries out night and day, and we have people…demons within our own country who demand the right to murder the unborn.” President Green fought back tears. “We live in a country that has turned into the world of Noah before the flood, General.”

  “Yes, Sir, we have,” General Garcia agreed. “But Sir,” he insisted, “we have to keep the battlefield level until the end.”

  “I fear the water in the boat is too high, General,” President Green confessed. “The ship is sinking. The moral conscience of the American people has degraded and dissolved into a filthy puddle of absolute sin. We now live in a nation where half of the citizens identify as enemies of God.” President Green slowly stood up. “Pray for my son, General,” he pleaded, and left the meeting room. As he did, Jacob ordered his group to move.

  (((((((((*)))))))))

  Jessica turned, squeezed Mandy's hand with the little strength she had left, and forced a weak smile on her face.

  “We'll eat in a few minutes,” she promised. “We're almost there. Just a little more. You can make it.”

  “I will make it,” Mandy promised, feeling as if she were ready to collapse. The fever, along with no food, was destroying her will to fight. Still, deep down inside her heart, Mandy kept praying for strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other. “Let's go, Alvin. Your arm, please.” Alvin quickly gave Mandy his right arm. “I'm ready. Let's go.”

  Alvin, to Mandy's shock, leaned down and kissed her cheek. “If we die, it's been an honor to die with a woman like you,” he told Mandy in a gentle voice, and then began helping her move through the thick snow. Jessica glanced over at Jacob, saw the man searching the darkness, and then followed after Mandy and Alvin as they moved through the tree line of the park, past one frozen tree after another toward the four way stop.

  “Where are you?” she whispered, searching for the church van. And then, as if her question had been answered by a mighty angel, a pair of headlights appeared on the dark, snowy road. “It's him. It's Pastor Braston,” Jessica called out, breaking the noise code Jacob had set.

  Mandy spotted the pair of headlights and then smiled. “Right on time,” she said, in a relieved whisper. “Alvin, we have to hurry.”

  “You bet,” Alvin nodded his head, stopped walking, looked Mandy deep into her fevered eyes, and then simply swooped the woman up into his arms. “I just got my second wind. Let's move.”

  Jacob watched Alvin take off running through the dark woods. Jessica quickly followed. Instead of ordering the group of people to stand down, he took off running himself. The four-way stop was less than two hundred meters away from his position, around one hundred and twenty five steps or so. Just a skip and a hop.

  “We're going to make it,” he whispered, watching Jessica's shadowy figure run past a dark tree. “Somehow, we're going to win this fight.”

  Jessica watched Alvin break the tree line, run up to a frozen stop sign with Mandy in his arms and wait for Tom's church van to drive up. Tom was shocked to see the headlights on the van splash onto a large black man who burst out of the woods, carrying a woman who was holding on for dear life. He hit the gas, sped up to the man, and rolled down the driver's side window.

  “Get in. Hurry.”

  Alvin could have kissed Tom all over his forehead. He ran Mandy around the van, snatched open the side door, and helped the woman inside. “Good?”

  Mandy nodded as she crawled into the warm van and laid down on a soft seat. Alvin glanced behind him, saw Jessica appear, and hurried her into the van. Jacob appeared a few seconds later.

  “This man is our hero,” he grinned, and then dived into the van.

  Jacob glanced around the dark night, studied the empty roads, and then jumped into the belly of the van and slammed the side door closed.

  “Move, Pastor. Drive to the gas station,” he ordered, and then crawled to the back of the van and vanished behind the last seat. “Everyone, stay down.”

  “My sister needs aspirin,” Jessica called out to Tom, hiding behind the second seat with Alvin. “She has a high fever.”

  Mandy, realizing she could remain laying on the first row of seats, eased down onto the floor.

  “Where is the food?” she asked the scared and nervous man.

  “The food is in the bags located in the third-row seat. I moved all the food and luggage to the third row,” he explained, searching for a cop car as he hit the right blinker and carefully turned onto Hill Street. The local law enforcement was conducting a shift change, but Tom still feared the worst.

  “Have faith,” he whispered. “You saw the plows. Have faith.”

  Jacob quickly grabbed a brown paper bag off the third-row seat and opened it. The bag was full of snacks instead of solid food. “Smart,” he whispered, and then shoved the bag under the second-row seat into Alvin's hands. “It's mostly beef jerky and candy bars. Pass the food out.”

  “What? No cheeseburgers?” Alvin joked taking the bag.

  “Too many roadblocks. A bag full of food might have looked strange,” Tom explained in an apologetic voice. “Beef jerky and candy bars will have to do for now.”

  “Who cares. It's food,” Alvin laughed and began pulling handfuls of snacks out of the bag. “Ladies first,” he smiled, reaching under the first row of seats. He handed Mandy two candy bars and a bag full of beef jerky, and then focused on Jessica. “Eat.” Jessica smiled at Alvin, took a candy bar, and, instead of immediately eating, bowed her head and gave thanks to the Lord.

  “Amen,” Alvin whispered, and then tore into a bag of beef jerky. “Jacob, you eating?”

  Jacob took a candy bar out of a second paper bag and, like Jessica, bowed his head and gave thanks to the Lord.

  “Amen,” he whispered and then opened the candy bar. “Pastor, you were right on time. Thank you,” he called out into the warm air. “My people are sending me updated routes. After you stop and get gas, and buy a few more snacks, we're moving south.”

  “Shouldn't we move south now while the shift change is taking place?” Tom asked, spotting a glowing CITGO gas station sign down the snowy road.
/>
  “No,” Jacob explained. “My people have informed me that law enforcement in this town have ended all roadblocks. It is believed, because a few days have passed since—”

  “I saw the news this morning,” Tom politely, but urgently cut Jacob off. “No one has a clue. The media is reporting that it is possible you have moved farther West and may be out of the State of Missouri, altogether.”

  “Small towns like this one are calling off their roadblocks, but the state patrol and larger cities are still active,” Jacob told Tom. “However, it wouldn't be smart to be seen in an unknown church van, creeping out of town right at shift change. This van has to appear as normal as possible.”

  Tom struggled to understand Jacob's reasoning. For the moment, they were in the clear and the van had enough gas to drive out of town. Why was Jacob insisting on taking such a risk?

  What Tom didn't realize was, that if he had driven straight south to leave town, he would have run right into a state patrol car that was keeping watch. Because he did as Jacob ordered and stopped at the gas station, he met a young cop who was a Christian, a cop who didn't search the van. To Tom's amazement, the young man actually led the van out of town and to the county line, straight past the hidden state trooper. Another miracle? Tom knew the answer to that question was yes.

  Extraction complete.

  Chapter 2

  Press Conference

  Roger Alden cleared his throat, as he gazed out into a sea of reporters and paid puppets standing in a fancy room with expensive blue carpet. Some of the reporters were arrogant punks who thought they were a gift to mankind. Others were young models hired to act as reporters, while others were middle-aged men and women hired to add a little pepper to the salt. All in all, Roger was pleased to see a room filled with the usual aroma of reporters that the American public had become conditioned to accept.

  “As of now,” he began to speak, silencing the chatter in the room, “it is believed that Jessica Mayes and her accomplices could be anywhere inside the United States.” The reporters, seeing a red light appear over Roger's head, that the public audience couldn't see, began shouting out questions. Roger raised his right hand. The red light went off.