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 looked at the boy, who scrambled to his feet, and he realized he was actually a young man, maybe a year or two older than Sam. The hood had come down, and blond hair that had been pushed up and back fell across his eyes. “Are you okay?”

Zack heard movement, and a woman cried out, “Josh! Josh! Oh my God!” Before the boy could reply, his mother rushed over and engulfed him in a hug, nearly knocking him over. The woman stared over her son’s left shoulder at Zack. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Josh replied, “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault, Mom. I’m so sorry.”

His fault? What did this kid do to unleash an army of private contractors on a suburban neighborhood? But before he could ask, a voice called out from behind him, and he froze. “Zack, I guess I owe you a debt of gratitude, even more so than the agency.”

The voice was familiar and sent a rush of blood to his head, but he hadn’t heard it in years. It can’t be. Zack turned as Josh’s father appeared next to him, holding the first dead gunman’s M4 assault rifle in the ready position, comfortable and confident enough to use it at a moment’s notice. The man was in his late fifties and trim, with black hair peppered with streaks of gray. He wore a short beard but kept his neck clean, but it was the look of amusement that caught Zack off guard.

Zack was surprised nearly to the point of shock at the man standing before him—retired CIA deputy director Brandon Harper, former director of the National Clandestine Service.

Zack stared at the man, and his features remained emotionless, but then, uncontrollable to even himself, his eyebrows reflexively lowered and he felt his jaw tighten. “With all due respect, I honestly thought I’d never see you again. At least I hoped not.”

The man looked at Zack and then back to his son. “I understand, but here we are. We need to get back inside, and I can tell you what all this is about, but first, are you telling me you had no idea we were neighbors?”

Zack’s eyes bored into the man, and he thought he saw Brandon flinch. “Let me put it this way: if I’d have known that you lived in Hidden Refuge, I would’ve never moved in.”

“Son, I’m going to say this one time, and you need to hear it: I’m sorry about what happened to you, but you need to find some way to live with it.”