Chain Reaction
by Richard Hacker
by Richard Hacker
Publisher:
Pages: 232
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle
Purchase at: AMAZON
When Nick and his partner in love and
business, Theresa, take a client caught in a grudge between competitive bass
fisherman, they soon discover he has unknowingly entangled himself in a plot by
healthcare magnate, Bruce Reynolds, to take over Texas and secede from the
Union. Hoping to pass the case to the Texas Rangers, Nick is instead recruited
to head the Governor’s special task force. He learns Governor Fran Adamson’s
major campaign contributor and secret lover, Reynolds, has a plan to resurrect
the Republic of Texas. Faced with
Reynolds’ hit woman killing enemies of the Republic and a remotely controlled
drone air force destroying strategic targets across the state, Nick and Theresa
make a desperate attempt to prevent civil war, the destruction of the
Governor’s political career, and Dillon’s murder, while keeping their love
intact. In his scheme for glory, Bruce Reynolds didn’t plan on Nick Sibelius,
who wants the wannabe secessionist to know, when he says don’t screw with
Texas, he damned well means it.
************
Leaning back in
the cockpit of a rental sailboat, admiring a very fine, bikini clad ass, death
wasn't on Nick's mind. Theresa, his partner in business and, over the last few
months, in life, made her way across their boat's sparse deck. With line in one
hand, she fed loops until only a few feet remained, then twirled it around the
center of her coil to make a neat package. Nick kept them sailing generally on
course, but he found the small gold bracelet on her left ankle, the tuck of
white bikini panties between those round, muscular butt cheeks and her dark,
straight hair tumbling down her back, to be quite distracting. When a wake from
a bass boat, racing past at high speed, slammed into their sloop, he initially
admired Theresa's athletic form flipping gracefully overboard. Then she hit the
warm water of Lake
Travis with a ferocious
smack.
Nick yelled over
the roar of three hundred Evinrude horses. "WHAT THE HELL! SLOW
DOWN!" The boat, lost in its own engine spray, sped away like some giant
buzzing water insect.
"Theresa!"
Having focused on
the offending boat, Nick had kept sailing on, which meant Theresa was somewhere
behind him. He searched the water, making out her head fifty yards away.
"I'm coming
around!"
Nick tacked, and
the sails fell limp then gathered air, flapping loudly. Theresa, who learned to
sail as a young girl, had talked him into going out today. Nick's entire
sailing career consisted of a single outing on a twelve foot Sunfish at camp in
high school. Sailing a twenty-eight foot sloop with a mainsail and whatever
they call that triangular sail in the front, left him with a steep learning
curve. Not the optimum conditions for saving your girlfriend from drowning.
As he turned, he
kept an eye on Theresa, and then watched in disbelief as another bass boat
raced toward her. Frantically waving, he yelled at the boat. "Stop. Turn
away. STOP. STOP!" It missed her by only a few feet, then passed Nick, its
wake leaving him grasping for a firm hold.
"Theresa!"
I can't see her. Did he hit her? Oh, god. "Theresa!" He saw a
flash of white. Her bikini. Screw this. Nick dropped the sails, and then
dove in, swimming in the direction he last saw her. He stopped, treading water
to scan the lake.
"Theresa!"
A splatter of
water.
He raced toward
it, each stroke an explosive splash. Pausing, he looked, seeing part of her
head rise above the surface and her arm attempt a weak stroke. He closed the
fifteen feet between them, slipping an arm around her chest, and then rested
her back on his hip.
"You're
okay. I've got you."
"Nick."
She gasped, coughing. "What…happened?"
"Let's get
back first."
He got them to
the boat's stern, slipped a life preserver on her and with some effort, hauled
her onboard. Blood dribbled down her forehead.
"Goddamn
fishermen. Jesus." Nick pressed a cloth to her head, already imagining the
looks of terror and anguish those fishermen would experience from his
vengeance.
Theresa smiled,
placing a hand on Nick's. "My own fault."
"Your fault?
You've got to be kidding me. Those assholes came through here at a hundred
miles an hour."
"Yeah, but I
should have been wearing a life vest. Anyway, I think I hit my head on the boat
as I went overboard."
"Maybe you
should be in a life vest, but those guys shouldn't be racing through here like
hell on a hydroplane either. When we get back to the marina, I'm going find
those bastards."
"Nick."
"What?"
She smiled, then
winced. "Thanks."
He touched her
cheek, leaning in to kiss her. "I believe rescue is part of my job
description with you." They never talked about Izzy Zydeco impaling her
with spikes to a wall or Nick fighting a blood match against a huge adversary
to free her, while Izzy made his escape, but the pain of those experiences left
an imprint on both of them.
She pulled
herself up, pausing as if to realign her senses, then stepped down into the
hold.
"What are
you doing?"
"Ice."
"Let me get
it for you."
She turned, only
her head visible. Swollen and bruised skin surrounded the gash on her forehead,
still seeping blood. "I've got it Nick. Just make sure we don't get run
over by a cigarette boat or something."
A mixture of
relief and anger swirled inside Nick's gut. If she'd been killed… How could he
let his guard down, after all she'd been through? And the jerks on those boats.
Clearly they didn't care about anyone but themselves. Well, he'd make sure they
remembered this day.
"Hey, move
over."
Nick, lost in his
thoughts, hadn't noticed Theresa back on deck.
"You doing
okay? Maybe you should let me get us back to the marina."
She pressed a
plastic bag wrapped in a towel to her head, taking the tiller from him.
"I'm fine, Nick. How about if I steer and you follow my every
command."
Given he didn't
know what to do with the sails, her plan did make sense. However. "Or I
could fire up the outboard and you could kick back with your ice pack."
"We came out
here to sail. I'll be damned if I'm going to let a couple of fishermen mess up
my day. Now get ready to come about."
They sailed up
the lake, then tacked their way back to the marina. Theresa expertly maneuvered
the boat into a slip. The marina office, a small wood building on a floating dock,
held an assortment of fishing, boating, and skiing gear. Stuffed striped bass,
blue gill and crappie hung on walls, each posed to celebrate the epic struggle
of man versus fish. A grey haired man in his late sixties, wearing a green
gimme cap emblazoned with a large mouth bass leaping out of blue water, sat
behind a glass counter filled with reels.
"How can I
help you young man?"
Nick laid the
boat keys down on the counter. "Just turning in our boat. By the way, we
had bass fishermen flying around us like they were at NASCAR. Knocked my
girlfriend right out of the boat and then almost ran her down."
He let out a
sigh. "Yeah. Striped bass."
"What do you
mean?"
"We've got a
big striped bass tournament goin' on this weekend." He laughed, shaking
his head. "Some of these folks will kill their kin to get a lunker. So I'm
not surprised. Those ol' boys put some big engines on the back of them bass
boats. Crazy fast, tryin' to beat each other to the best spots." He
paused, concern etched on his face. "They didn't damage my boat, did
they?"
"Well, no,
but like I said, my girlfriend took quite a fall."
He relaxed,
leaning back in his chair. "That's good. Not good about your girlfriend,
mind you. But good about the boat."
"They were
moving so fast I didn't get a registration number, otherwise I'd call it
in."
The man took the
keys chained to a bright yellow float, and turned to hang them on a board
crowded with other boat keys.
"Well, the
tournament's being held at the Mansfield
Dam Park .
I'll bet if you remember what the boat looked like, then you'll find the guy
there. He's got to bring his catch in if he wants to win."
"I tell you
what. If I find 'em, that will be the last damned fish he'll catch for years to
come."
************
About the Author
Richard
Hacker is the author of CHAIN
REACTION, the third installment in the Nick Sibelius crime series.
Champagne Books released DIRTY WATER, the next novel in the Nick Sibelius
series after TOXIC RELATIONSHIP, in June, 2013. His first novel, TOXIC
RELATIONSHIP, released August, 2012 by Champagne Books was a 2011 Writer’s
League of Texas (WLT) finalist, where in addition, SHAPER EMERGENCE
won best novel in the Science Fiction category.
He is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association.
After
living many years in Austin ,
Texas where he worked as a
leadership coach, public speaker and management trainer, he moved with his high
school sweetheart to Seattle . While he misses the big skies of Texas , Richard has grown
fond of the Pacific Northwest . His writing partner, a springer spaniel named
Jazz, helps with proofreading and ball fetching.
You
can visit Richard’s website at www.richardhacker.com.
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************
BOOK GIVEAWAY!
Richard Hacker is giving away (2) 3
ebook sets of his Nick Sibelius series!
- By entering
the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
- Two winners
will be chosen via Rafflecopter.
- This
giveaway begins May 5 and ends May 31.
- Winner will
be contacted via email on Monday, June 2.
- Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!
ENTER TO WIN!
Chain Reaction
Tour Page:
Thanks for hosting this stop on the Chain Reaction tour. Most appreciated!!
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