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Authors: Michael Murray
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key.”
Franklin finished off his own drink. “I have a great deal of respect for your Ned, but Alice Sangerman is quite capable of taking him apart with either her ‘diamond claws,’ as you put it, or her big blue eyes. Anyway, my plan will get us both Grant with his tablet and the last Sangerman with her dragon key. If we can get Alice on Laird’s boat, Callan will not be able to stay away. He wants that key. And he wants to finish off Alice—his reputation is a great deal of his wealth.Laird and I are putting together a trap for both of them.”
“It’s good to see you working with Northwin again, father. I thought you two had an issue with him blaming us for Sam’s death? I’m glad to see we’re getting past that.”
We will all be past it soon enough.
“Yes, it is important for Laird and I to see things the same way. Fortunately, we are getting to that place.”
“Does the plan end with Grant’s and Sangerman’s deaths?”
“Grant’s, certainly. We can’t have someone who works for us get away with theft.” Franklin refilled both glasses. “Alice’s—we will see. Maybe I will let you question her.”
Chapter 6, White Sails in the Moonlight
Jake
Jake Hannover got the assignment from Price on Friday, and Saturday he flew to Tampa from Los Angeles. On the flight, he read over the reports on his assignment. One report was on Alice Sangerman, the daughter of a rich man. A dead man now. Before his death, Sam Sangerman had held the title of CEO of one of the world's largest landholding companies, Apple Creek Corporation. The amount of land the report said the company owned around the world surprised Jake, but Alice rejected her father's money and entered the US military as a combat medic just when the Army started letting women fill that role.
Jake snorted at the idea. He'd seen his men fuss and worry over the two women in his Ranger platoon. It cut down on the entire unit's effectiveness. He remembered how he felt about it. He would put his life on the line for an American woman, as would most of his guys. That made the whole thing more dangerous as he would find his men rushing to protect the girls, leaving the unit’s flanks unprotected.
The report went on about Sangerman’s mastery of a little known martial art known as eddu. It seemed to be a blend of western anatomy and physiology knowledge with karate. So… sort of a Systema for girls. She also liked to shoot targets. After the Army, her record simply read “FBI Adjunct Staff.”
On the secure line, Price told him that she worked undercover for several years. Corporate crime stuff. Soon after her father died in a mysterious accident, she disappeared, and a great deal of cash that belonged to the FBI went missing with her. Jake wrinkled his nose. The profile stank. For one thing, there seemed to be a lot more experience on her sheet than the story her picture told. On paper, she sounded like a grizzled fifty-year-old battle-ax, but in her picture she looked no more than thirty. And why would Miss Richie Rich need to steal government money? Seemed as though she should be able to whine to daddy when she needed a million or ten.
He shrugged and let the thoughts go. Jake specialized in taking care of problems, not sorting out the reasons for them. That is a nice way of thinking about it. Really, I am a garbage man—one who has been told to put little Alice into the round file for good.
Price had as much as said that there had been several earlier attempts to bring her in. He had told Jake to bring her in alive if possible, to use lethal force only as a last resort.
Jake’s silenced carbine lay safe in his luggage—wrapped in federal tape to keep the TSA's grubby paws off it. The last resort might be a good place to start.
Jake thought Sangerman got fortunate daughter treatment, given honorable-sounding posts without actually being put in danger. The daughters of the wealthy simply do not enlist in combat roles in the
Franklin finished off his own drink. “I have a great deal of respect for your Ned, but Alice Sangerman is quite capable of taking him apart with either her ‘diamond claws,’ as you put it, or her big blue eyes. Anyway, my plan will get us both Grant with his tablet and the last Sangerman with her dragon key. If we can get Alice on Laird’s boat, Callan will not be able to stay away. He wants that key. And he wants to finish off Alice—his reputation is a great deal of his wealth.Laird and I are putting together a trap for both of them.”
“It’s good to see you working with Northwin again, father. I thought you two had an issue with him blaming us for Sam’s death? I’m glad to see we’re getting past that.”
We will all be past it soon enough.
“Yes, it is important for Laird and I to see things the same way. Fortunately, we are getting to that place.”
“Does the plan end with Grant’s and Sangerman’s deaths?”
“Grant’s, certainly. We can’t have someone who works for us get away with theft.” Franklin refilled both glasses. “Alice’s—we will see. Maybe I will let you question her.”
Chapter 6, White Sails in the Moonlight
Jake
Jake Hannover got the assignment from Price on Friday, and Saturday he flew to Tampa from Los Angeles. On the flight, he read over the reports on his assignment. One report was on Alice Sangerman, the daughter of a rich man. A dead man now. Before his death, Sam Sangerman had held the title of CEO of one of the world's largest landholding companies, Apple Creek Corporation. The amount of land the report said the company owned around the world surprised Jake, but Alice rejected her father's money and entered the US military as a combat medic just when the Army started letting women fill that role.
Jake snorted at the idea. He'd seen his men fuss and worry over the two women in his Ranger platoon. It cut down on the entire unit's effectiveness. He remembered how he felt about it. He would put his life on the line for an American woman, as would most of his guys. That made the whole thing more dangerous as he would find his men rushing to protect the girls, leaving the unit’s flanks unprotected.
The report went on about Sangerman’s mastery of a little known martial art known as eddu. It seemed to be a blend of western anatomy and physiology knowledge with karate. So… sort of a Systema for girls. She also liked to shoot targets. After the Army, her record simply read “FBI Adjunct Staff.”
On the secure line, Price told him that she worked undercover for several years. Corporate crime stuff. Soon after her father died in a mysterious accident, she disappeared, and a great deal of cash that belonged to the FBI went missing with her. Jake wrinkled his nose. The profile stank. For one thing, there seemed to be a lot more experience on her sheet than the story her picture told. On paper, she sounded like a grizzled fifty-year-old battle-ax, but in her picture she looked no more than thirty. And why would Miss Richie Rich need to steal government money? Seemed as though she should be able to whine to daddy when she needed a million or ten.
He shrugged and let the thoughts go. Jake specialized in taking care of problems, not sorting out the reasons for them. That is a nice way of thinking about it. Really, I am a garbage man—one who has been told to put little Alice into the round file for good.
Price had as much as said that there had been several earlier attempts to bring her in. He had told Jake to bring her in alive if possible, to use lethal force only as a last resort.
Jake’s silenced carbine lay safe in his luggage—wrapped in federal tape to keep the TSA's grubby paws off it. The last resort might be a good place to start.
Jake thought Sangerman got fortunate daughter treatment, given honorable-sounding posts without actually being put in danger. The daughters of the wealthy simply do not enlist in combat roles in the
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