Fast paced violent action, political intrigue centered on Dagestan, a break-away republic of the Russian Federation.
The Caucasian Menace, has political intrigue, espionage and fast-paced violent action, centered on Dagestan, a remote corner of the Russian Federation. This break-away republic has nuclear warheads left over from the Soviet Union. The democratically-elected president has been ousted in a coup, and the usurper is intent on selling some of the warheads to Iran and/or terrorist organizations. He also holds a Russian nuclear physicist whom he intends to sell as well. To prevent interference with his plans, the usurper has nuclear missiles trained on key European capitals.
Neither the U.N. nor NATO will take action. The United States, wishing to avoid a nuclear disaster, cannot take any overt action. CIA operatives Baker and Gold are assigned to help the Loyalist army eliminate the usurper and help the Loyalists to recover the reins of government, while avoiding a nuclear confrontation. They must also rescue the scientist and prevent the sale of nuclear warheads to rogue states or terrorists.
Complicating matters, Baker’s wife had been tortured and murdered years before by Thorne, the sadistic mercenary now employed by the usurper. Gold fears that Baker may have killing Thorne as his top priority, rather than capturing him for questioning. Meanwhile, William Bell, their immediate superior, has been selling information to the usurper that could result in failure of the mission and the deaths of Baker and Gold.
Excerpt
The door suddenly opened. A leggy young brunette took two steps into the office and stopped short. Her brown eyes widened, she hastily excused herself and turned to leave. Pérez’s jaw dropped as he looked up at her high heels and ankles. He crawled out from under the desk and turned questioningly to his partner. Thorne didn't hesitate. He took one swift stride from behind, clamped a hand tightly over her mouth, and pulled her back into the room, disregarding her wildly flailing legs and frantic attempts to claw his hands away. He shut the door with a backward thrust of his foot.
"What do we do now?" Pérez whined.
"Observe." Thorne spoke calmly, as would a professor demonstrating a familiar operation to a beginner. Using both hands, he briskly snapped her neck. She stopped struggling.
"ˇAy, Dios!" Pérez's eyes bulged. "Now what!? What do we do with her?
* * * * * * *
Thorne looked over at Pérez and said, "Don't forget to order something when the waiter comes over."
"I'm not hungry."
Thorne leaned across the small table and spoke in a low, menacing tone, "Listen, Pérez, I don't give two shits about the state of your bloody appetite. This is a restaurant, you may have noticed. And it's lunch time, more or less. Order something to eat. Anything."
The waiter approached and asked what he could bring them.
Thorne said, "A good beefsteak, rare, with fried potatoes and a salad. I'm starving."
The waiter turned to Pérez, who looked as though he had been awakened from a dream. "Ah, yes…” His voice quavered. “Umm… A ham sandwich and a beer."
* * * * * * *
Thorne stood up and walked over to the wall telephone next to the bar and inserted a coin. When he heard the tone, he pushed buttons and waited. He heard the phone ring twice, but the third ring was not completed. The interruption of the third ring coincided with the roar of a deafening explosion. He looked past Pérez' head, through the window, and saw the name BANK OF BUFFALO on the plate glass window across the street crumple, turn to glistening dust and fall to the sidewalk as tinkling shards of glass. Black smoke issued from the opening that had been the bank windows, and, through the smoke, tongues of orange flame licked the air.
* * * * *
"Somehow, he found out where my wife lived, back in the States. I still don't know how he did it... Anyway, I was in Berlin at the time, and I get a note in the mail --right in the godddam mail!-- with pictures of my wife, showing what his men did..." Baker had to stop speaking.
Gold's jaws tightened. He shook his head while staring at the tablecloth.
Margot said, "I'm sorry. The details can wait."
Baker looked up and his eyes became hard. "No. It's important you know exactly what you're up against. There were about six or seven pictures. Six or seven! Before, during and after. Three guys were in it with her. They took turns beating her and raping her and finally... They used piano wire around her throat..."
Baker had to pause once more before continuing.
"And the pictures were accompanied by a detailed narration, computer-printed, of what they did to her... And her reactions..."
Gold watched as Baker started to stare into space. Margot laid her hand on Baker's and said, "Yes, I see. I see what we are up against."
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