BooksBarbecue
Back The Neighborhood
Chapters (59)
  1. Part I Reconnaissance
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Part II Incursion
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Part III Under Siege
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Part IV Course Correction
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Part V Balance of Power
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Chapter Twenty-Two
  28. Chapter Twenty-Three
  29. Chapter Twenty-Four
  30. Chapter Twenty-Five
  31. Chapter Twenty-Six
  32. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  33. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  34. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  35. Part VI Spy versus Spy
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Part VII Winds of War and Flame
  41. Chapter Thirty-Four
  42. Chapter Thirty-Five
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Part VIII Strong to the Finish
  50. Chapter Forty-Two
  51. Chapter Forty-Three
  52. Part IX Spy Games
  53. Chapter Forty-Four
  54. Chapter Forty-Five
  55. Chapter Forty-Six
  56. Part X What Goes Around
  57. Chapter Forty-Seven
  58. Chapter Forty-Eight
  59. About the Author

Zack snorted and shook his head. “You know, I’ll never understand what it is with you guys. You have all the money, power, and women any man can have, and yet you always screw it up by killing innocent people. You think our government doesn’t know what you’ve been doing with your private army since you started? We looked the other way, at least at first. But you killed the wrong person, and as a result, your world as you know it, is over.”

Belyakov stared at Zack, patiently allowing a silence to build between them before he responded. “Who was he, the man I killed?”

No denial. No pretense. This man is cold-blooded. “Let’s just say the cameraman wasn’t really a cameraman.” Zack offered nothing more.

Belyakov nodded. “This business—it’s brutal and hard, and when you don’t play by the rules, it gets messy. And messy leads to more death and destruction because human nature is inherently greedy, always wanting more, taking, taking, taking. In order to manage that mess, you have to keep people in line, because eventually, they all fall out of line. And things like that—with the reporter and the cameraman—they are intended to send a simple message: Do not interfere in our affairs. But”—he raised a finger and looked directly into Zack’s eyes—“it also sends a message to those inside the organization: If the man in charge is willing to kill a reporter and his cameraman, what will he do to me if I screw up, if I step out of line?” He lowered his finger and put his hand back on the bed next to him. “It’s never personal. It really is just business.”

Zack looked at him, shaking his head. “Unfortunately, in this instance, it was very personal. You just didn’t know it.” He turned to leave the brig, and Belyakov spoke one more time.

“I don’t know who you are, and this may mean nothing to you, but thank you for sparing my family. No matter what you may think of me, my family means more to me than my life.”

Zack felt the sincerity of the man’s words, the weight of them, and he looked back one more time, nodded in silent acknowledgment, and left the room oddly satisfied by the way the day’s events had played out. Your soul is still intact.