Bishop's War (Bishop Series Book 1) (35 page)

Chapter 42

Not Today

Moscow

Yakov Skobelev didn’t
try to hide his emotions and wept openly for his only son. His brother sat beside him and passed him a large glass of vodka. Yakov drank it greedily.

“So tell me brother. Who did this?” Yakov asked.

“It was the Valdez family in New York.”

“I have heard the name. Why did they massacre my Nicky and his wife?”

“A dispute over territory, Yakov. Nicky was pushing them out.”

“Territory?”

“Yes brother.”

“How many are they?”

“Perhaps eight hundred, with ten in their inner circle and one man at the top.”

“What is his name?”

“Gonzalo Valdez.”

“Does he have children?”

“Two adopted sons.”

“Kill the sons first and their wives if they have them. Then all of the soldiers.”

“Yes Yakov.”

“I want Gonzalo Valdez to be the last one to die. I will kill him myself, but first he must know he is responsible for the destruction of everyone and everything he has ever loved.”

“It will be done.”

“Nicky demands blood for his blood and so do I. Blood! I want great rivers of blood!”

The Northern Mountains of Pakistan

“You sent for me grandfather?” the young man asked.

“Yes, I need you.”

“I am yours to command grandfather.”

“My student Omar has failed.”

“No Tringa has ever failed.”

“She did and she must be dead or she would have sent word to me by now.”

“Who was her target?”

“This man,” said the old man. He held out a press clipping in his bony wrinkled fingers.

“John Bishop.”

“Yes.”

“A famous man. Easy to find him.”

“Easy to find, yes. Maybe not so easy to kill.”

“I will not fail.”

“You cannot. Our family honor is in your hands David.”

“Rest easy grandfather. I am a Tringa and you taught me well. I will find John Bishop and when I do he will be dead.”

Trapp, Maryland

“So now we just sit back and wait?” Caleb asked.

“Believe me, I know Yakov Skobelev. We won’t have to wait long.”

“This all started with Bishop. I want him dead! As much as I want his uncle for what he did to my Dad, if it wasn’t for Bishop none of this would have happened.”

“Yakov is an old school Rusky. His way is to kill your family first. I still have an open contract on John and Felix that I plan to close myself, but now with Yakov’s army hunting them there’s no place on earth where they can hide. That Russian would drop a nuke on New York just to take them out.”

“I can’t wait,” Caleb said, rubbing his hands together just like his father used to do. “Hey Connie?”

“Yeah Caleb.”

“Do you think you can get me another Valdez soldier to put on the wall?”

“Sure kid. I’ll get you another one.”

Blakesly, PA

The heavy slug had done a lot of damage, costing her a breast and a lung. She knew she had to be patient. She had to wait, rest, and let her body heal. But she couldn’t wait very long. Her teacher would send another to replace her. Tringa honor demanded it. Her own honor demanded that she complete the mission herself.

Omar knew she couldn’t travel yet so she lay on the bed, willing herself to recover. She lay there staring at a picture of the man with the jagged scar on his face.

It will be Omar that kills you.

It can only be
Omar.

I will see you soon John
Bishop
.

Khost mountains, Afghanistan

After the bombing raid and the Special Forces assault on Aziz’s headquarters, Tariq Hassan watched and listened from his hide until all the U.S. forces had cleared out. Already enraged by the assassination of his commander and father figure, he screamed in anguish when he discovered that the Americans taken Aziz’s body with them.

For what?
He asked himself.
To be displayed like some trophy at their base, or at the
Whitehouse?

He climbed through the mangled remains of his fellow soldiers and emerged from the demolished mountain stronghold with more focus and determination than he’d ever had. Other survivors of the attack sensed Tariq’s power and fell in line behind their new leader. He spoke silently to Aziz as he marched his fledgling force higher and higher into the mountains.

I will rebuild the army and my men will chant the name Aziz Khan as they charge into battle. We will avenge you here Aziz, and we will avenge you in America when we kill the infidel dog John
Bishop!

Unnamed Island
190 miles off the coast of Venezuela

They lay side by side on the white sandy beach while light waves lapped at their feet and a cool breeze took the edge off of the hot mid-morning sun. The crystal clear water looked too inviting to pass up. He reached for his homemade spear gun and sat up.

“I think I’ll go catch us some lunch.”

“Sounds good honey.”

He looked down at his wife. The sun had turned her complexion from creamy mocha to dark cocoa, making her somehow more beautiful. If that was even possible. He couldn’t tell whether her eyes were open or closed behind the dark shades.

“You going to be okay?”

“I’ve got you… and them,” she said, pointing her thumb behind her.

John turned to look back at Felix and Bunny. They were sitting upright in deck chairs on the bungalow porch. They both gave him a mock salute, which he returned crisply.

Amazing. When do they
sleep?

They were always on duty. Guarding them from a discreet distance against the terrible danger that might one day appear out of nowhere.

One day, but not today. Definitely not
today.

He bent over and kissed her, then stood up and put his goggles on top of his head. He strapped the spear gun across his back and carried the fins with him into the water.

“I’ll do a lap around and then bag us some fryers.”

“Hurry back honey. I miss you already.”

“Will do.”

He put on the flippers and stroked his way out past the surf to where the water was deeper. He began the short swim around the tiny island that was only three hundred feet across at its widest point. Their trip to Atlantis had been cancelled, but thanks to Gonzalo, John and Maria got a honeymoon after all. Two weeks alone on this very private and secluded island. Well, almost alone.

John swam hard across the surface. He pushed aside the sad memories of the past two weeks and his strong sense of foreboding about the future. He focused only on the present and what he had right now. A beautiful wife. A baby on the way. Felix, his cousin and brother by his side, and Bunny, his best friend in the world here to share it all. These people, these things, and this time were precious gifts. He wanted to keep them all for as long as he could.

He stopped and dove down into a pristine blue world of multi-colored fish, plants, and coral. He had never felt so at peace. No death, no killing, no sorrow. Just beauty all around him and the love he felt for his family and friends.

John wanted this moment to last forever, but he knew deep down in his heart of hearts that it never would. Once again there were dark forces on the horizon. Dark forces that were coming for him and those he loved most. That was his curse. They were coming and he would kill them all or die trying.

But not today.

Definitely not
today.

About the Author

Rafael Amadeus Hines i
s a native New Yorker with Panamanian, Jamaican, and Irish roots, who was born and raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Dipping into his early Alphabet City memories, he loosely based many of the characters in his first novel,
Bishop’s War
, on the people he grew up with, and adapted many of his own experiences into the book as well.

A former Jazz club owner and restaurateur, Rafael has worked in the financial and energy markets for over twenty years. On 9/11 he watched his office along with all the others in the Twin Towers come crashing down and, like many New Yorkers on that day, he anticipated follow up attacks to take place throughout the city. Years later he envisioned a lone citizen soldier preventing these attacks and the hero Sgt. John Bishop appeared on paper.

Rafael is the father of three and still lives in the New York neighborhood where he grew up. A voracious reader of suspense thrillers, his writing career was inspired by legendary artist-authors Elmore Leonard, John Sandford, Stephen Hunter, James Lee Burke, and Tom Clancy. He is currently working on the second novel in the Bishop series,
Bishop’s
Law.

Visit his website:
www.rafaelhines.com

Follow him on Twitter: 
@RafaelWrites

Like him on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/Rafaelhines.Author