Chapter One
Adam Drake stood on the front porch of his old stone farmhouse, cooling down from a morning run. He was surveying forty acres of old vineyard that sloped down from the house to the road below, imagining the row upon row of grapes that would get a start this year. The land had finally been cleared for replanting after three years of his weekend manual labor.
“We’ll get it planted, old boy, just like we promised her,” he said, patting the shoulders of his German Shepherd, Lancer. “Then it’ll be your job to keep the deer from nibbling on the budding root stock we plant.”
Drake turned and walked inside to the kitchen, with Lancer following at his heel. A soft boiled egg should be ready to join some smoked salmon on a bagel, a favorite breakfast his wife used to fix for him.
Before he cracked the egg, he turned on the small flat screen TV on the wall to catch the morning news. He started to scoop out the egg with a small butter knife when the shell crushed in his hand. The talking head was reporting that the Taliban had just gunned down 132 students in a school in Pakistan.
He’d helped run the Taliban out of Afghanistan and now they were back, terrorizing their own countrymen just as they had before!
Drake turned off the TV and started picking eggshell out of the runny yoke of his egg. This wasn’t the way he wanted to start a Friday, being reminded of the lives and treasure lost in that godforsaken place.
Lancer nudged his leg and looked up with his soulful brown eyes.
“You know I’m angry, don’t you?” Drake asked and reached down to stroke his dog’s head. “Good thing you’re around to keep me company on mornings like this.”
When he finished eating and cleaning up the kitchen, he shaved, showered, and dressed casually for a short morning at his law office. Opposing counsel had called last night and waved a white flag. Oral argument was cancelled for the afternoon on the motion for summary judgment he’d filed. A German company had stolen the thermal targeting system his client had developed for the U.S. Navy. The sale of the stolen system was blocked and damages would be awarded, including a nice attorney fee. Time to take Friday afternoon off for a change.
After taking care of a few things in his office in downtown Portland, he intended to drive back to his farm outside Dundee, Oregon and spend a long weekend selecting root stock of pinot noir clones for replanting the first five acre block of the vineyard.
Drake told Lancer he’d be right back and was locking the back door when his cell rang.
“Good morning, Adam,” his father-in-law, U.S. Senator Robert Hazelton, said. “Hope I’m not calling you too early.”
“No, I was just leaving for the office.”
“Do you have a minute now, or shall I call you when you get to your office?”
Drake unlocked the door and went back in. He might as well find out what little favor he was going to be asked to do this time. “Now’s fine, fire away.”
He poured another cup of coffee from the pot that was still warm and sat down at the breakfast table.
“Are you still willing to do some troubleshooting for me? I’d rather not ask anyone here in Washington to get involved,” Senator Hazelton said.
“I made a trade, senator, when I asked you and Secretary Rallings to allow me to go after the terrorist Barak in Mexico. I said I’d help out whenever I could,” Drake reminded him.
“This time, it shouldn’t take too much of your time,” Senator Hazelton replied and explained his concern. “I don’t know if you’ve met our new first-term representative from Oregon’s second district, Congressman Rodecker. He’s one of our strong-minded young Turks in the House. He’s come to me with concerns about some pressure he’s getting.”
“What kind of pressure?”
“A lobbying group he received a campaign contribution from asked for his help with the purchase of a ranch near Klamath Falls,” the senator said. “He looked into it and refused to help. Muslim organizations and imams are getting the press involved and he asked for my advice.”
“Which lobbying group?” Drake asked.
“The campaign contribution came from a well-known charitable foundation here in D.C. It lobbies on Muslim issues, and works with Muslim youth in the inner cities.”
Drake resisted the urge to say something about lobbyists and politicians and asked, “What does a Muslim charitable foundation want with a ranch in southern Oregon? After al Qaeda tried to set up a terrorist training camp not far from Klamath Falls several years ago, you’d think the lobbying group would expect a lot of resistance.”
“Well, they’re getting it, but they’re still trying to buy the ranch. If you have a chance and know someone down there, see if our young congressman’s on the wrong side of this,” Senator Hazelton said. “I told him I’d look into it and get back to him Monday, as a favor to his dad who served with me in the Oregon legislature.”
“I’ll see what I can find out,” Drake said.
Great, Drake thought as he got up and threw the lukewarm coffee in his cup into the sink. This is not what I wanted to be doing this weekend.
