Pre-release excerpt for Goin’ the Extra Mile (Mary Jo Melendez #3)…
Yes, the Mary Jo Melendez Mysteries series is now a trilogy…just as soon as I publish #3, that is (hopefully before 2018 ends). My muses (banshees with Tasers) listened to Mary Jo and the MECHs (“Mechanically Enhances Cybernetic Humans”) and hounded me to resolve everything that readers might consider unresolved at the end of the second book: What’s the future of the MECHs? Do Mary Jo and Mario ride off into the Silicon Valley sunset? Do the American and Russian governments leave things be? This excerpt doesn’t answer any of those questions (no spoilers here, but there are some hints); you’ll have to read the novel to answer them (the answers might not be what you expect). This excerpt just gives you a taste of the action.
Goin’ the Extra Mile
Copyright 2018, Steven M. Moore
Chapter Eleven
I felt like an undercover cop, but was getting more focused; wanted to find out where Mario and the kids were. Maybe I was walking into a trap. Thought the Chinese wanted me for the same reason those Russian and U.S. teams had wanted me—they wanted to know where the M.E.C.H.s were. They thought I knew.
You might wonder why everyone wanted the M.E.C.H.s. After all, there’s nothing special about fancy prosthetics anymore. But my cyborg friends had enhanced capabilities, namely interchangeable parts and super strength. The special technology also involved many direct connections to the human brain that made everything work so well together. Put some smart armor on a M.E.C.H. and you have your super soldier. Of course, M.E.C.H. tech would be good for a lot of other more benign applications too, but superpowers didn’t seem to care about them.
A.C.V.E. East, the East Coast branch of my current employer, and a Pentagon general hadn’t wanted to leave it at that either. They wanted to do a partial frontal lobotomy and install a chip in my M.E.C.H. friends to see if they could eliminate all the M.E.C.H.’s moral scruples and allow them to program their super soldier for each battlefield assignment. As far as I know, we’d closed down that last U.S. effort too. Guessed the Chinese had heard about it, though.
The triad’s Seattle shakedown game was about the same as you’d expect with old East Coast mafia families. They targeted any small businessperson they could. Cops moved in, they moved out…temporarily. Or they bribed cops, I suppose. Good old-fashioned thuggish entrepreneurship.
I spent five days riding around with a bunch of clowns whose only job was collecting protection money, about as old-fashioned as you can get. The clowns were a diverse lot, but they were all thugs. Heard that the insurance Weh Li offered sometimes worked too—when a street gang hit a drugstore for prescription opioids, that gang was erased. Zap! Zap! Food for the fish in the harbor! The thought made me yearn for steak. Wondered if my cop friends who had pointed out where to find Weh Li appreciated that. Probably. They’d warned me.
Knew I was in way over my head. Undercover cops often live on borrowed time. Figured they also had training on how to survive in their assignments and to know when to bail. They were collecting evidence against criminals. I didn’t care about putting Weh Li and his triad minions away; I did care about finding my family. That was my only concern. If something happened to me, that was O.K., as long as I somehow saved them.
Saw a Nature episode on P.B.S. once where the she-wolf leads three mangy wolves from another pack away from her cubs, willing to sacrifice herself to save them. I empathized with that she-wolf. Decided human beings have a lot in common with wolves. We kill our enemies’ young, we defend our tribes, our equivalent of packs, and we can be vicious animals. Not all human beings, of course, but enough to make many people’s lives miserable. That’s how I felt in my current situation.
Also knew I’d have to graduate to some more serious crime. Didn’t want to do that. Didn’t have to. Learned where my family was located but not in a good way.
***
One of Li’s thugs and I were heading to shakedown owners of a laundry who were delinquent on payments when the thug’s cellphone rang. Good citizen that he was, he pulled over to the side of the road to take the call. Wouldn’t do to have cops stop him on the way to do the boss’ bidding, would it?
The thug wasn’t skilled in hiding his body language. Asians aren’t inscrutable, or maybe life in America makes them scrutable? Don’t know, but knew I was in trouble. Wanted to question him, so didn’t put him under. Let him gasp for some air in my chokehold.
“Who were you talking to and what did he say?” I said.
He gurgled a bit. I let up a bit more. “Stan. He says you’re Mary Jo Melendez.”
“Does Weh Li know?” Couldn’t nod so said shi de—knew that meant yes. “Where are my husband and kids?” Made like a vise and then let up again.
“Elliott Bay warehouse.”
Thought a moment. In the vicinity of the port. Made sense. They could either put my family or me, or all of us, on a convenient ship bound for China. Planes were problematic with all the terrorist checks, but a slow freighter to Hong Kong wouldn’t be checked too closely, if at all—there weren’t enough customs officials, and they were more worried about what was coming into the U.S., not what was leaving. “Address?” Had a hard time understanding what he said. Put him under, ejected him from the car, took the wheel, and drove off.
I’d left my car in a parking lot with good daily rates not far from the dive where I was sleeping. It was a bit out of the way but en route to the port. Parked the thug’s wheels far away from mine, sticking a knife into all four tires and jerking out cables for good measure, changed cars, and continued my journey.
Had hoped to learn on the sly where my family was. Soon as that thug regained consciousness and found a phone, Mario and kids would be in danger. The thug’s cellphone lay beside me on the seat, smashed with the gizmo I had for escaping when your car goes underwater with the windows closed (previous bad experience off Big Sur)—so he’d be delayed a bit.
Once I arrived at the warehouse, my emotions had calmed enough that I decided to take time to arm myself. Put on the vest, chose an automatic, shotgun, and Taser, and grabbed some flash-bangs. My last action before starting my assault was to send Jackson a text message. ‘Course, he might only arrive to pick up bloody pieces, hopefully not mine.
The warehouse had two guards outside. Decided they weren’t rent-a-cops—who wants to kill a hard-working family man? Still didn’t kill these guards. Shot each one in the knee, walked over, and Tased them. Peeked through the window. Saw three more thugs, looking bored and playing mahjong. No liquor, only drugs. Meth? Coke? Whatever it was might turn them into savage beasts when I confronted them. Their table was in front of the door to an interior room of the warehouse. Guessed that was where Mario and kids could be found.
Hadn’t used flash-bangs that much. Thought one might be enough but used two. Stupid me. Also had to wait until I could see. That gave two of them time enough to see me. Shotgun took them both out. Tased the third who’d been too groggy to confront me.
Went to the door. It was locked. Didn’t hear anything. Are there more guards inside? Didn’t make sense, considering the locked door. Not being Rambo, decided I couldn’t crash through it. Thought of blowing off the lock with a shot gun, but didn’t want to take the chance of hitting any of my family inside.
Kneeled to search one corpse. No keys. Searched the other. Keys.
That was when someone hit me from behind.
***
When I came to, I found myself alone in the little room with a pounding headache. Heard voices outside. Peered through the keyhole. Saw my family. Mario was bandaged and had a duct-tape gag along with our two kids. The three also had zip-ties on their wrists and ankles. They’d been tossed to the floor. Mario was twitching a bit, so maybe he’d been Tased…with my Taser! My heart went out to our kids—they looked super-scared and so fragile. Damn!
Also saw Weh Li standing and talking to two others. They seemed agitated. One was a slender woman dressed in black. Knew the type—a martial arts expert and wannabe Bruce Lee. I’d never heard her behind me. So much for the fairer sex. I hadn’t had a chance.
Now that they had me, would they release my family? Thought not. Wasn’t certain, though. M.E.C.H.s or my family? Would it come to that choice? Were they going to force me to make it? Decided that giving up the M.E.C.H.s wouldn’t save Mario and kids. They’d just kill all of us! Not that I could turn over my cyborg friends. I didn’t know where they were. But maybe I could come up with a believable story?
Heard someone outside yell something in Chinese that agitated Weh Li and his cronies some more. He gave some orders. Lost sight of him and his two minions as they hoisted up my family and disappeared around a corner. Mario’s last desperate glance at my room told me he knew I was in there. Knew I’d failed. Why didn’t they take me?
I was crying when F.B.I. agents broke down the door. Had this she-wolf lost her cubs?
***
[Note from Steve: Due to circumstances beyond my control, there’s been a problem for readers wishing to make comments on articles in this blog. That problem has now been solved, so comment away! I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused.]
Great Spring Thaw Sale. Every two weeks, with one week overlap, starting April 1, one of my books will be on sale at Smashwords (the overlap means that there are usually two books on sale). (Yes, it’s been going on…sorry about that, but it was announced on my Home page and elsewhere.) Take advantage of this to download some entertaining spring reading. Each ebook will be on sale for $1.99, regardless of the normal retail price. Access my author page for the entire list of ebooks. (Remember, Smashwords offers ALL ebook formats, including mobi format for Kindles.) Use the coupon code for the ebook on checkout. Note: MJM#1 has a week left on sale!
