Our new book, tentatively titled Treasure Hunt, is going to beta readers today! Just for fun I have decided to post the Prologue. Keep checking this site as I will add more chapters as we get closer to releasing! Thanks everyone and enjoy!
Just a side note: Please read the prologue below and the first Chapter posted here. This book is not exactly what it seems from the prologue. In fact, Maren and I are having a little trouble placing it in a category. It is an adventure/mystery/chick lit style book.
Three days later
Just a side note: Please read the prologue below and the first Chapter posted here. This book is not exactly what it seems from the prologue. In fact, Maren and I are having a little trouble placing it in a category. It is an adventure/mystery/chick lit style book.
Rahim dropped his cigarette into the small metal toilet and pushed the button. Technically, flight attendants weren’t allowed to smoke, but since this private jet was filled with chain-smoking British officials, he knew no one would notice. Besides, he needed something to help calm his nerves. This was the most dangerous job yet.
One week earlier, Cadi had given him the instructions. Rahim had laughed in his face. “Cadi, I think you are trying to get rid of me.” But Cadi’s face was unchanged. He explained how Rahim was the only man alive that he trusted. And that the British diplomat, who had been so generous with his country’s weapons, was almost certainly double crossing them. “Who knows what he’s already revealed,” Cadi had said. “None of us are safe.” Rahim was never interested in politics or any of the crazy ideas Cadi was always ranting about. But he could never say no to Cadi, his boyhood friend. They were closer than brothers.
This is a nasty little concoction, he thought as he checked the spring-loaded syringe he had tucked up the sleeve of his stolen uniform. It was a potent dosage, not like the weaker version he used last time to blackmail the head of a rival organization. This one was for keeps.
“Failed biotech drugs are all the rage these days,” Cadi had said when he saw the confused look from Rahim as he handed him the syringe.
“Failed drugs?”
“Yes, my friend. You see, they’re untraceable because they’re not out on the open market. No one knows about them. And with all the competition to be the first out with a new drug, the security at a bio-pharmaceutical is as tight as it gets. You’ve gotta love capitalism,” he chortled, not bothering to hide the disdain on his face.
Rahim checked his watch. It was almost time. He left the tiny restroom and positioned himself at his designated post organizing trays in the galley, and waited for the signal.
“Gentlemen,” Cadi’s voice boomed over the speakers causing Rahim to jump slightly. “Please take your seats and buckle yourselves in as we prepare for landing.”
From the corner of his eye, Rahim could see his target down a cocktail and pull away from the table where he had been enjoying a lively conversation with several other colleagues. Two of the four security guards moved ahead toward the passenger seating area, the other two waiting to follow. As the target stood, Rahim casually walked toward him. As he walked, he pushed a button on a small device taped to the side of his thigh, signaling to Cadi that it was time for action. I’ve practiced this a hundred times, he told himself as he worked to maintain a placid expression. When he was just inches from the diplomat, the plane suddenly shook violently and dropped a hundred feet. Rahim grabbed the man’s shoulder as if to help steady him. But with more violent jerking from the plane, both men tumbled to the floor.
In one quick move, the syringe fell from his sleeve and he administered the drug into the man’s thigh as he reached down to help him. The plane continued to gyrate for another thirty seconds before leveling off.
“Are you all right?” he asked discretely dropping the empty syringe into his front pocket. “Here, let’s take it slowly.”
“I’m very sorry for the turbulence, gentlemen,” Cadi boomed over the loudspeaker. “All flight attendants please attend to the passengers.”
“I’m fine,” the diplomat said after righting himself. He rubbed his hip where the drug had been injected. “I think I might have pulled a muscle, though.”
“Let’s get you to your seat and I’ll bring you an ice pack,” he offered in a nurturing tone. The man smiled and thanked him but insisted he was fine, just fine.
Rahim smiled warmly and said, “I’m so grateful to hear that.”
Three days later
“British barrister and foreign diplomat, Ethan Toulson, has died from prostate cancer at the age of 53. The diagnosis came as a shock to his family and friends. According to his wife, Amelia Toulson, he had no symptoms and was a staunch believer in regular medical exams. The cancer spread so quickly, he had only a few hours to get his affairs in order before he passed away.
“Here with us now is Dr. Westin Black, a specialist with the Prostate Cancer Research Center. Dr. Black, isn’t prostate cancer usually a slow process? What can you tell us about this particular case?”
“The tests for screening prostate cancer are almost always accurate, but I’m afraid not one hundred percent. Rarely, as in this case, the tests can show a false negative— ”
Rahim turned off the TV. Then he slept like a baby.
