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Back Thunder of Heaven Save as PDF
Chapters (53)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. PRAISE FOR TEDDEKKER’S NOVELS
  3. TITLE PAGE
  4. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  5. LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
  6. DEDICATION
  7. TABLE OF CONTENT
  8. PROLOGUE
  9. CHAPTER ONE
  10. CHAPTER TWO
  11. CHAPTER THREE
  12. CHAPTER FOUR
  13. CHAPTER FIVE
  14. CHAPTER SIX
  15. CHAPTER SEVEN
  16. CHAPTER EIGHT
  17. CHAPTER NINE
  18. CHAPTER TEN
  19. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  20. CHAPTER TWELVE
  21. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  22. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  23. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  25. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  26. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  27. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  47. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  53. EPILOGUE

He would take them to the plantation’s perimeter, stash them safely, and return after a quick penetration.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

ABDULLAH AMIR leaned over his desk, picking a scab that had formed over an infected mosquito bite on his upper lip. White miniblinds covered the window that overlooked the processing plant. Behind him a dilapidated bookcase housed a dozen books, haphazardly inserted.

Abdullah sucked blood from his lip and returned his attention to the Polaroids spread on the desk. He had taken them of the bombs in the lab below, their panels opened like two spacecraft waiting to be boarded while the Russian scientist slept. Beside the photographs, a hardcover book titled Nuclear Proliferation: The Challenge of the Twenty-first Century lay open.

It had been nearly a week since Jamal had made contact. He’d simply said that it was time and then vanished. The thought that the man might be on his way here to the compound had not escaped Abdullah. The thought both terrified and delighted him. He’d decided that if Jamal came, he would kill him.

A knock startled him. Abdullah shoved the photographs into the book and dropped the evidence into his top drawer. “Come.”

Ramón opened the door and guided the captain of the guards, Manuel Bonilla, into the room.

The captain’s eyes skirted him and beads of sweat covered Manuel’s forehead.

“Yes?” Abdullah said.

“We successfully took the compound, sir.”

But there was more. Abdullah could see it in the man’s tight lip. “And?”

“We suffered four casualties, sir.”

It took a moment for Abdullah to understand the words clearly. When he did, heat surged up his spine and washed through his head. “What do you mean, you suffered casualties?” Abdullah felt his voice tremble.

The man stared directly ahead now, not making eye contact. “It was highly unusual,” Manuel replied awkwardly. “There was a woman . . . She escaped with the priest.”

Abdullah stood slowly. A wave of dizziness washed through his head. The infection on his lip stung. Not so long ago he would have lashed out in a moment like this, but now he only felt sick. What he was about to do loomed like a giant in his mind.

“I am sorry—”

“Shut up!” Abdullah screamed. “Shut up!”

He sat, aware that he was trembling. Where was Jamal?

“Find her,” he said. “When you find her, you will kill her. And until then, you will double the guard in the valley.”

Manuel nodded with an ashen face, sweat now running in small rivulets down his cheeks. He turned to leave.

Abdullah stopped him. “And if you think they are alone, you are an idiot.”

Manuel nodded again, turned, and left the room.

“Have you heard from Jamal?” Abdullah asked Ramón.

“No, sir.”

“Leave.”