EXCERPT
Existential Threats
(CIA International Thriller Series Book 4)
(CIA International Thriller Series Book 4)
by R.
Lawson
Existential Threats is the fourth book in R. Lawson's CIA
International Thriller Series. Also available: Cabo Caper, Killing Time (read my blog
post), and Retribution.
Description
The CIA’s incoming Director of Counter Terrorism, Biff Roberts, is
inheriting a multitude of challenges. For starters, there is the existential
threat of a nuclear Iran. Added to that, the Middle East has become enmeshed in
a surge of radical religious extremism ranging from fanatical Muslims of the
Islamic State to the Taliban, groups who commit unspeakable atrocities using
violence to pursue their atavistic goals. Syria’s civil war could result in
Assad’s weapons of mass destruction getting into the hands of the splintered
groups of Islamic Jihadists fighting there. This radical ideology has now
spilled over into Africa with furious intensity.
And as if these international problems were not enough imminent threats
to confront, Iranian mullahs have issued an Islamic death warrant fatwa on
Biff, and those hoping to see it through are chasing him to the ends of the
Earth.
Things move closer to home when CIA intelligence discovers that Iran has
dispatched Mahmoud Abu Javari, the notorious IED bomb maker to the U.S. Biff
now faces a Homeland threat of 9/11 proportions and has to thwart a bomb plot
in San Francisco without knowing the target or timing for the planned act of
terror.
Excerpt
Chapter One
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY
New Year’s Day
New Year’s Day
The assassins hid
behind a huge boulder above the timberline, giving them an excellent view of
the ski slopes below.
“In the red parka at
the top of the Tofana piste,” the handler, Rashid, said, spotting the target
first. He spoke in Arabic with a distinctive French inflection, his calm voice
belying his excitement. “Look to the right side of the slope. He’s just inside
the tree line, leaning on his ski poles and talking with the woman and her children.
See him?”
Beside Rashid,
Mustapha frowned as he peered through the scope of his rifle. “Your binoculars
have a wider field of view,” he complained. His accent was foreign to Rashid,
an African version of Arabic that fell heavily on Rashid’s ears. In addition to
disliking his accent, Rashid found Mustapha’s facial tattoos - tribal markings
apparently - distasteful. But Mustapha had a reputation as a skilled shooter
and he seemed dedicated to their mission.
“Big guy, blond
hair,” Rashid said as he laid his Bushnell binoculars on the hood of their
snowmobile and pointed. “About six hundred meters down to the right. Use my
binoculars if you can’t spot him.”
“Okay, now I have
him,” Mustapha said, grinning. “He’s much bigger than I imagined, good target.
But there’s a tree branch in the way now. I’ll wait until he skis out to the
first mogul, then I’ll have him in my crosshairs.”
***
Biff Roberts stopped
at the top of the Tofana run, enjoying the rest and the magnificent early
morning view of Cortina below. The gondola had dropped them off at over ten
thousand feet, and after traversing over to the piste, they were even higher.
It was easy to get winded at this altitude.
“Let the youngsters
go first, Patricia,” Biff said. “I doubt we can match their pace.”
“Okay, Biff,”
Patricia said, smiling warmly. Patricia DeBartola was in her fifties, but Biff
thought she looked better than most women thirty years younger. Like him, she
kept herself in great shape, another reason they were a great match.
Biff was enjoying a
rare break from work before the next big step in his career. After four decades
in the CIA, he was about to take on his most challenging role yet - as the head
of Langley’s clandestine Counterterrorism Division. He was looking forward to
getting started, but first he wanted to spend time with Patricia and get to
know her kids better.
“Watch out for ice
on the downside of moguls at this hour,” Patricia told him. “It’s so easy to
catch an edge when you check and turn downhill. And although it’s a black
diamond run, it’s really not too difficult if you control your speed. That’s
essential. Rest if you start to tire.”
Patricia could see
from Biff’s smile that he didn’t mind her advice. But she realized she might be
overdoing it.
“Don’t do anything crazy
trying to impress me, okay?” She smiled to try and hide her concern. “I know
how you are sometimes.”
***
Less than a year
ago, Biff’s wife and childhood sweetheart, Mary Beth, had been gunned down by an assassin, in place
of Biff. Many years ago, Patricia’s husband, the Italian ambassador to Israel,
had been assassinated by Hamas while visiting Gaza on a peacekeeping mission.
It was that shared experience of traumatic grief that had brought Biff and
Patricia together so quickly and so intensely. His children, rather than
angered at his finding love again so soon, seemed to understand all the more
that life was short and precious, and should be lived to the fullest.
Patricia’s kids seemed to want the same happiness for their mother.
“We better catch up
with them,” Patricia said. “I see them waiting downhill for us, joking around.
Look, they’re waving to us to come on. Let’s go. Try and keep up.”
“Keep up with them?”
He grinned. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Well, let’s try and
not let them out of sight. You’re next, I’ll follow.” She smiled, thrilled at
the positive start to their vacation and family introductions. After her family
tragedy, she’d doubted if she’d ever be deeply happy again. Yet in Biff, she’d
found someone to spend the rest of her life with, someone who had experienced a
similar misfortune. Empathy drew them together, and the whole was greater than
the parts that bonded them.
“Be patient,” Biff
said. “It’s been a while since I last skied at Tahoe. And I’m not in your kids’
class, believe me. But it’s just like riding a bike,” he added, smiling. He
took off, bouncing off the first mogul, trying to imitate her kids’ skillful
execution of a check turn and hot-dogging it.
Despite Patricia’s
warning, he immediately caught an edge on the mogul’s icy downhill side. Biff
lost his balance and began to fall.
His fall was a
fortunate event as it turned out. Just as he began to slip, a .223 caliber
bullet ripped through his left shoulder, sending red fragments of his insulated
parka flying. Groaning in pain, he crashed head over heels downhill between the
steep moguls.
Patricia noted the
muffled sound of a gunshot fired through a suppressor from uphill an instant
before Biff fell. Despite the silencer, the rifle’s resonance followed
instantly through the clear mountain atmosphere. She had heard that
unforgettable “bap” sound before, and her years of association with Mossad conditioned her
response. She glanced furtively uphill at the ridge. She saw no one, but
suspected more incoming fire. Had the shot caused Biff’s awkward spill? It all
happened too quickly for her to tell.
“Biff!” she called
as she immediately skied to his assistance, not fearing exposing herself to
danger. He could be shot, and she had to help him.
About the Author
R. Lawson is a retired vascular surgeon and served as a captain in the
United States Air Force as a flight surgeon. With over 120 academic works under
his belt, he moved into the fiction genre and began writing thrillers with a
focus on terrorism, cyber spying and more.
He hopes that you enjoy his CIA
International Thriller Series featuring Biff Roberts, veteran CIA agent, as
he travels the globe thwarting threats to the United States and its allies.
Links
