The Truant Officer
Table of Contents
Title Page
Description
Chapter One
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Acknowledgments
Excerpt from The Trials of Max Q
The Truant Officer
Derek Ciccone
Copyright© 2011 Derek Ciccone
Published by Derek Ciccone Books
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This book is a work of fiction. Places, events, and situations in this book are purely fictional and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental
The Truant Officer
To have and to hold from this day forward...
Darren McLaughlin thinks he’s having a nightmare as he watches his wife, Lilly, being abducted from a gas station in Chandler, Arizona. Things then go from bad to worse, when it’s revealed that her captor is one of the students she taught at a local high school.
For better or worse...
In Manhattan, US Attorney Aaron Eicher cringes upon learning the identity of the man who abducted Lilly McLaughlin. Nick was the one thing holding his case together against the son of Russian crime boss, Viktor Sarvydas—but now his star witness was on the run, and in mortal danger. It is just the latest surprise in a case that went against everything he’d learned in school—when it came to the Russian Mafiya 1+1=3.
Seeking refuge in Israel, fleeing the fallout of his son’s arrest, Viktor Sarvydas smiles when he learns the news about Nick’s escape. He knows that it’s now just a matter of time before he comes face to face with the man who was going to testify against his son.
With the FBI, media, and dueling Russian assassins in a cross-country race to get to Nick and Lilly, it becomes clear that the only one who can truly save them is Darren. Will he get to them first, or will
...death do us part?
Chapter One
Jorge DeRosa was half watching the monotonous security feed when she pulled up to the pump.
He observed the woman step out of the pricey SUV, unable to take his eyes off the black mini-dress that hugged every curve of her toned body. All of a sudden his job didn’t seem so bad.
As the dark-haired beauty began to fill the tank, her body language suddenly turned flustered, and she headed in Jorge’s direction.
She entered the food mart, her heeled shoes clicking loudly on the linoleum floor. He recognized her as Mexican, like himself, but she sure didn’t look like she came from the same South Phoenix neighborhood as he did.
She approached the register
.
“My card didn’t work in the pump. A message said to see the attendant—is that what you people are calling yourselves these days?”
When Jorge looked closer, he noticed something that surprised him. She
did
come from the same neighborhood as him
.
He hadn’t seen her in at least ten years, but despite the fancy clothes and uppity tone, he was sure it was her. “Liliana?”
His words snapped her out of distraction. “Excuse me?”
“I’m Jorge DeRosa. Our families lived in the same apartment complex on South 40th Street. You went to school with my brother, Estaban.”
She smiled at the remembrance, but it seemed fake. It was obvious to Jorge that she wanted to leave her old life behind. He knew the feeling—the gang-infested section of South Phoenix was a hard place to escape, and once you got out there was no looking back. Jorge got as far as this night manager job in suburban Chandler, but by the looks of things, Liliana had gotten much further away.
As if reading his mind, she mentioned, “It’s been a long time since someone called me Liliana.”
She handed him her Visa card. He ran his fingers over the plastic as if he were reading Braille. The name had changed to
Lilly McLaughlin
.
She began impatiently tapping her manicured nails on the counter. People like Lilly McLaughlin always seemed to be in a hurry—perhaps by never stopping, they would never be forced to look back. Jorge didn’t bother to ask her about her mother Rosie, or her six brothers. The youngest, Manuel, was killed in the crossfire of a gang war. The thought reminded Jorge of the dangers of present day.