As commander of the nation's most elite FBI counterterrorism unit, agent Max Bhagat leads by hard-driving example: pushing himself to the limit and beyond, taking no excuses, and putting absolutely nothing ahead of his work. That includes his deep feelings for Gina Vitagliano, the woman who won his admiration and his heart with her courage under fire. But when the shocking news reaches him that Gina has been killed in a terrorist bombing, nothing can keep Max from making a full investigation-and retribution-his top priority.
At the scene of the attack, however, Max gets an even bigger shock. Gina is still very much alive-but facing a fate even worse than death. Along with Molly Anderson, a fellow overseas relief worker, Gina has fallen into the hands of a killer who is bent on using both women to bait a deadly trap. His quarry? Grady Morant, a.k.a "Jones," a notorious ex-Special Forces operative turned smuggler who made some very deadly enemies in the jungles of Southeast Asia . . . and has been running ever since. But with Molly's life on the line, Jones is willing to forfeit his own to save the woman he loves.
Together with Max's top agent Jules Cassidy as their only backup, the unlikely allies plunge into a global hot zone of violence and corruption to make a deal with the devil. Not even Jones knows which ghosts from his past want him dead. But there's one thing he's sure of-there's very little his bloodthirsty enemies aren't willing to do.
Settings Washington, D. C. (1986, 2005) Arlington, Virginia (2004) Nairobi, Kenya (2005) Sarasota, Florida (2003) Pulau Meda, Indonesia (Present day)
Prologue 26 Chapters
Character List (view spoiler)[ Recurring Characters Max Bhagat: Head of the FBI Counterterrorism Unit. Gina Vitagliano: College student/drummer on a European trip with her school band mates who was assaulted during the hijacking of her plane home from Greece. Max was the negotiator who created a strong bond with her. Jules Cassidy: FBI agent in the Counterterrorism Unit. Alyssa Locke's partner. Laronda: Max's assistant. George Faulkner: FBI Agent and the son of Rose’s friend. Molly Anderson: Works in a religious mission in Indonesia. Dave Jones/Grady Morant: American expatriate who lives alone in Indonesia near Molly's mission. He owns a plane and is a former Special Forces member and prisoner of war, now on the FBI most wanted list. Robin Chadwick: Actor, Jane’s brother. Thomas (Tom) Paoletti: Head of Troubleshooters, Inc., a security consulting company. Former Lieutenant Commander, SEAL Team 16. Married to Kelly. Kelly Ashton: Tom's wife, a pediatrician. She’s pregnant. Alyssa Locke: Executive Officer, Troubleshooters, Inc. Former Navy sniper and FBI agent in the Counterterrorism Unit. She and Sam are married. Roger (Sam) Starrett: Team Leader, Troubleshooters, Inc. Former Lieutenant(jg), SEAL Team 16 leader. He’s now married to Alyssa. Divorced from Mary Lou and father of their daughter, Haley. Mary Lou Starrett: Sam's ex-wife and mother of their daughter, Haley. Haley Starrett: Sam's two-year old daughter. Cosmo Richter: Chief and Navy SEAL, Team Sixteen. He’s 6’4” with pale blue eyes. Jane (Janey) Mercedes Chadwick: Hollywood screenwriter and producer. Robin's sister. James (Jimmy) Nash: aka Diego. Troubleshooters operative. Former agent with the Agency. Tess Bailey: Troubleshooters operative. Lawrence Decker: Team Leader, Troubleshooters, Inc. Former Navy SEAL, Team One. Sophia Ghaffari: Woman captured by Decker in Kazbekistan. Vinh Murphy: Troubleshooters operative, former Marine. He’s part African American, part Vietnamese. Angelina Murphy: Murphy's wife. Dave Malkoff: Troubleshooters operative, former CIA agent. Lindsey Fontaine: Troubleshooters, Inc. team member. PJ Prescott: Troubleshooters, Inc. team member. Former Air Force Para-Rescue Jumper (helo pilot). Kenny (WildCard) Karmody: Petty Officer Third Class, SEAL Team 16. He’s a computer specialist. Savannah (Van) von Hopf: Lawyer from New York whose uncle has been abducted in Indonesia. She has blond hair and blue eyes. Her grandmother Rose is a WWII hero. Casper (Jazz) Jacquette: Executive Officer, SEAL Team 16. Danny Gillman: aka Gilligan. Petty Officer, SEAL Team 16. Mark (Jenks) Jenkins: Petty Officer, 2nd Class, SEAL Team 16. Jay Lopez: Medic SEAL Team 16. Mike Muldoon: Ensign, SEAL Team 16. Joan DaCosta: White House public relations assistant. John (Nils) Nilsson: Lieutenant, SEAL Team 16. Language expert. Married to Meg. Frank O'Leary: Chief, SEAL Team 16 sniper. Wayne Jefferson: SEAL Team 16 sniper. Stanley Wolchonok: Senior Chief, SEAL Team 16. He’s married to Teri. Teri Howe: Navy reserves, Lieutenant (jg),helicopter pilot. She’s married to Stan. Kate Takamoto: Navy Lieutenant. Larry Tucker: Rear admiral and base commander. Laurel Tucker: Tucker’s wife. Morton (Chip) Crowley: Admiral and commander of Navy Special Warfare Command. Ihbraham Rahman: Gardener and Mary Lou's friend. Ric Alvarado: Tampa police detective. Manuel Conseco: FBI special agent in charge of the Sarasota office. Will Schroeder: Reporter. Adam Wyndham: Aspiring actor, ex-lover of Jules Cassidy. Deb Erlanger: FBI agent and Jules' teammate. Joe (Yashi) Hirabayashi: FBI agent and Deb's partner. Peggy Ryan: FBI agent and team leader.
Non Recurring Characters Walter Frisk: FBI team leader. Jim Ulster: FBI agent in Germany. Vera (Goldie) Goldstein: FBI agent in Germany. Ben Webster: Marine dispatched to help Jules in Indonesia. Ajay Moseley: Young boy at Max’s rehabilitation center. Victor Vitagliano: Gina’s brother. Rita Henniman: Max and Gina's couples counselor. Leonard (Lenny) D'Angelo: Bank robber. Ronald Shaw: Max's first team leader. Paul Jimmo: Kenyan living near the mission who wants to marry Gina. Father Dieter: Priest heading a Kenyan volunteer group. Sister Maria-Margarit: Nun who volunteers at the Kenyan mission. Father Ben Soldano: Priest who heads the volunteer mission in Kenya where Gina is working. Leslie Pollard: Kevin: Max’s physical therapist at the Sheffield rehabilitation center. Debra: Max’s nurse at the rehabilitation center. Nang-Klao Chai: Grady Morant’s torturer when he was captured as a Special Forces operative. Greta Kraus: Manufacturer of black market passports. Emilio Testa: Former black marketeer living in Indonesia. Heru Nusantara: Politician running for office who had some nasty ties to Chai. Ram Subandrio: Chai’s former dungeon master. (hide spoiler)]
At the scene of the attack, however, Max gets an even bigger shock. Gina is still very much alive-but facing a fate even worse than death. Along with Molly Anderson, a fellow overseas relief worker, Gina has fallen into the hands of a killer who is bent on using both women to bait a deadly trap. His quarry? Grady Morant, a.k.a "Jones," a notorious ex-Special Forces operative turned smuggler who made some very deadly enemies in the jungles of Southeast Asia . . . and has been running ever since. But with Molly's life on the line, Jones is willing to forfeit his own to save the woman he loves.
Together with Max's top agent Jules Cassidy as their only backup, the unlikely allies plunge into a global hot zone of violence and corruption to make a deal with the devil. Not even Jones knows which ghosts from his past want him dead. But there's one thing he's sure of-there's very little his bloodthirsty enemies aren't willing to do.
Settings
Washington, D. C. (1986, 2005)
Arlington, Virginia (2004)
Nairobi, Kenya (2005)
Sarasota, Florida (2003)
Pulau Meda, Indonesia (Present day)
Prologue
26 Chapters
Character List
(view spoiler)[
Recurring Characters
Max Bhagat: Head of the FBI Counterterrorism Unit.
Gina Vitagliano: College student/drummer on a European trip with her school band mates who was assaulted during the hijacking of her plane home from Greece. Max was the negotiator who created a strong bond with her.
Jules Cassidy: FBI agent in the Counterterrorism Unit. Alyssa Locke's partner.
Laronda: Max's assistant.
George Faulkner: FBI Agent and the son of Rose’s friend.
Molly Anderson: Works in a religious mission in Indonesia.
Dave Jones/Grady Morant: American expatriate who lives alone in Indonesia near Molly's mission. He owns a plane and is a former Special Forces member and prisoner of war, now on the FBI most wanted list.
Robin Chadwick: Actor, Jane’s brother.
Thomas (Tom) Paoletti: Head of Troubleshooters, Inc., a security consulting company. Former Lieutenant Commander, SEAL Team 16. Married to Kelly.
Kelly Ashton: Tom's wife, a pediatrician. She’s pregnant.
Alyssa Locke: Executive Officer, Troubleshooters, Inc. Former Navy sniper and FBI agent in the Counterterrorism Unit. She and Sam are married.
Roger (Sam) Starrett: Team Leader, Troubleshooters, Inc. Former Lieutenant(jg), SEAL Team 16 leader. He’s now married to Alyssa. Divorced from Mary Lou and father of their daughter, Haley.
Mary Lou Starrett: Sam's ex-wife and mother of their daughter, Haley.
Haley Starrett: Sam's two-year old daughter.
Cosmo Richter: Chief and Navy SEAL, Team Sixteen. He’s 6’4” with pale blue eyes.
Jane (Janey) Mercedes Chadwick: Hollywood screenwriter and producer. Robin's sister.
James (Jimmy) Nash: aka Diego. Troubleshooters operative. Former agent with the Agency.
Tess Bailey: Troubleshooters operative.
Lawrence Decker: Team Leader, Troubleshooters, Inc. Former Navy SEAL, Team One.
Sophia Ghaffari: Woman captured by Decker in Kazbekistan.
Vinh Murphy: Troubleshooters operative, former Marine. He’s part African American, part Vietnamese.
Angelina Murphy: Murphy's wife.
Dave Malkoff: Troubleshooters operative, former CIA agent.
Lindsey Fontaine: Troubleshooters, Inc. team member.
PJ Prescott: Troubleshooters, Inc. team member. Former Air Force Para-Rescue Jumper (helo pilot).
Kenny (WildCard) Karmody: Petty Officer Third Class, SEAL Team 16. He’s a computer specialist.
Savannah (Van) von Hopf: Lawyer from New York whose uncle has been abducted in Indonesia. She has blond hair and blue eyes. Her grandmother Rose is a WWII hero.
Casper (Jazz) Jacquette: Executive Officer, SEAL Team 16.
Danny Gillman: aka Gilligan. Petty Officer, SEAL Team 16.
Mark (Jenks) Jenkins: Petty Officer, 2nd Class, SEAL Team 16.
Jay Lopez: Medic SEAL Team 16.
Mike Muldoon: Ensign, SEAL Team 16.
Joan DaCosta: White House public relations assistant.
John (Nils) Nilsson: Lieutenant, SEAL Team 16. Language expert. Married to Meg.
Frank O'Leary: Chief, SEAL Team 16 sniper.
Wayne Jefferson: SEAL Team 16 sniper.
Stanley Wolchonok: Senior Chief, SEAL Team 16. He’s married to Teri.
Teri Howe: Navy reserves, Lieutenant (jg),helicopter pilot. She’s married to Stan.
Kate Takamoto: Navy Lieutenant.
Larry Tucker: Rear admiral and base commander.
Laurel Tucker: Tucker’s wife.
Morton (Chip) Crowley: Admiral and commander of Navy Special Warfare Command.
Ihbraham Rahman: Gardener and Mary Lou's friend.
Ric Alvarado: Tampa police detective.
Manuel Conseco: FBI special agent in charge of the Sarasota office.
Will Schroeder: Reporter.
Adam Wyndham: Aspiring actor, ex-lover of Jules Cassidy.
Deb Erlanger: FBI agent and Jules' teammate.
Joe (Yashi) Hirabayashi: FBI agent and Deb's partner.
Peggy Ryan: FBI agent and team leader.
Non Recurring Characters
Walter Frisk: FBI team leader.
Jim Ulster: FBI agent in Germany.
Vera (Goldie) Goldstein: FBI agent in Germany.
Ben Webster: Marine dispatched to help Jules in Indonesia.
Ajay Moseley: Young boy at Max’s rehabilitation center.
Victor Vitagliano: Gina’s brother.
Rita Henniman: Max and Gina's couples counselor.
Leonard (Lenny) D'Angelo: Bank robber.
Ronald Shaw: Max's first team leader.
Paul Jimmo: Kenyan living near the mission who wants to marry Gina.
Father Dieter: Priest heading a Kenyan volunteer group.
Sister Maria-Margarit: Nun who volunteers at the Kenyan mission.
Father Ben Soldano: Priest who heads the volunteer mission in Kenya where Gina is working.
Leslie Pollard:
Kevin: Max’s physical therapist at the Sheffield rehabilitation center.
Debra: Max’s nurse at the rehabilitation center.
Nang-Klao Chai: Grady Morant’s torturer when he was captured as a Special Forces operative.
Greta Kraus: Manufacturer of black market passports.
Emilio Testa: Former black marketeer living in Indonesia.
Heru Nusantara: Politician running for office who had some nasty ties to Chai.
Ram Subandrio: Chai’s former dungeon master.
(hide spoiler)]