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Back Angels of Vengeance
Chapters (68)
  1. Blurb
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. CHARACTER LIST
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. TWO MONTHS LATER
  60. ONE YEAR LATER
  61. TWO YEARS LATER
  62. FOUR YEARS LATER
  63. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  64. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  65. Also by John Birmingham
  66. ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
  67. Copyright
  68. Cover

He stood, dressed casually in jeans and a pink polo top. His accent was German, but he had worked on it assiduously and could have passed for a New Jersey native. His Ottoman heritage betrayed him only in so far as his olive skin stood out in a roomful of Anglo-Saxons who had endured a long winter.

Bilal Baumer positively beamed at her.

‘Caitlin,’ he said. ‘It’s been too long.’

53

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

‘Tusk Musso has a bunch of special ops-capable Rangers down there,’ said Wales Larrison. ‘Most of them with experience in village fighting in the Middle East and a tour of Manhattan.’

‘That sounds excellent,’ said Jed. ‘Wake Tusk up and tell him we have an agent needing extraction. Hostile extraction.’

Larrison hesitated long enough for Jed to know there was a ‘but’ coming.

‘The reason most of them are down in Temple, Mr Culver, is to recover from Manhattan. I know most of the civilians down there consider it a hardship posting because of the relationship with Fort Hood, but for those troopers, thirteen months of escorting survey teams around the countryside is akin to a vacation.’

‘Vacation’s over, Mr Director,’ Jed snapped. ‘Get Musso out of bed, and get their asses on the road. Now!’

‘With all due respect, sir, we don’t even know if Agent Monroe is under duress.’

‘When people say “With all due respect”, Mr Larrison, in my experience they mean anything but. So I’m not going to bother. You tell me she went in, under cover. She cracked their system, uploaded the data, and now she’s gone offline, but you can track her, or at least her handset, to Blackstone’s residence. I know you intelligence types hate to make assumptions, but I think we can safely jump to the conclusion that the brown stuff has well and truly hit the fan and we have a limited amount of time to clean this shit up before we’re all covered in it.’

To Larrison’s credit, he didn’t back down. ‘If that is so, Mr Culver, sending a stick of Rangers in to kick down the Governor’s door isn’t going to help. But it will surely escalate the problem. I would suggest that if we must intervene, we maintain the minimum possible profile. Sergeant Milosz is awaiting a signal to extract Monroe. We do not have a secure channel to him, but we can still contact him. By telling him to find a safe channel and briefing him in. It will take time we may not have, but I guarantee it’s a better idea than starting a civil war.’

A worsening headache added to Jed’s misery. A steady, growing pain that felt like somebody boring a knuckle into his temple. His hands shook and six slices of four-cheese pizza sat heavy in his gut, leaving him feeling clammy and nauseous.