LEGACY Book 1: Forgotten Son Read online

  “VIGIL disappeared over two hundred years ago.”

  “You asked and that’s what the documents say. I’m sending them over as we speak.”

  The files transferred in a matter of moments.

  “How did you come by these documents?”

  “The first time he contacted me, he took me by surprise. I did a little digging into the network security on my unit and discovered…”

  “That it is controlled by my FORtab,” Smith said, completing Ben’s sentence.

  “Yes, and before you wonder, I didn’t try to change that. I don’t even think it’s possible, the way you have it set up. But the device Helmut has doesn’t have any sort of security protocol on it, almost like he wasn’t expecting me to connect to his device. The second time he contacted me, it was easy to copy most of his files.”

  “There isn’t much data here.”

  The man on the other side of the screen was silent for a few minutes as he scanned the files. Ben knew to wait. He had no other choice.

  “What else did he say?” Smith asked.

  “He said that if I repeat what he told me, you’ll pull the plug on me. I need to know if that’s true.”

  The other side of the connection was silent.

  “I’ll take that as a yes. And I can even understand why. But if even part of what Helmut told me is true, then we both know what we must do. I love this country just as much as you do. It gave me a new life when mine was over. America alone holds the promise of a better world. That is, if we can hold it together.”

  For some reason, Ben began thinking about Sara. “Look, if my life is the price to keep your secret and help hold this country together, so be it, but I think I deserve a chance to tell you why I should live. Why we should both live and fight this enemy together.”

  There was no reply except the sound of fingers softly tapping a keyboard.

  “You will board a 7:15 AM flight to La Guardia,” Smith said and the connection was dropped.

  Ben’s screen filled with an itinerary, which ended at a small building seven miles away from the New York City airport. He opened the drawer next to him and looked at the bottle of vodka. Then he shut the drawer. He waited ten full minutes before leaving his office, just to make sure that the building wasn’t going to blow up around him.

  He retired to his room, but found it difficult to sleep. He had escaped death. But how would this CURE agency of Smith’s go after VIGIL? Would Stone and Freya be his permanent weapons or did Smith already have other resources in CURE?

  The answers would be interesting. One way or another, Ben Cole thought, things are going to change tomorrow.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Stone stared out into the cool desert evening. The moon tinted the sands a slight blue, giving the horizon an almost alien feel. He took a deep drag from his cigarette and held in the smoke. It processed its way into his lungs, spreading nicotine into his system. He knew he should stop smoking. If he had stopped when he first started training, his body would probably already be functioning at full capacity and he wouldn’t have to worry about peaks.

  But, like most things in his life, it just was not that easy.

  Stone took a glance back toward Sunny Joe’s house. The lights were on in all four rooms. Everyone was inside celebrating Freya’s sixteenth birthday. He had handed her a present and told her he would be back after a walk, which was his code for getting a smoke. Normally, Freya would ask for a sixty second delay so she could try to talk him out of smoking, but whatever had happened to her on the Mexico mission had spooked her to the point that she had avoided talking to him.

  It was hard for Stone to think about. He had never seen eyes become like hers did during the slaughter. And the way she tore through those guys…it would have been hard for someone to understand unless they actually saw it. She ripped through a heavily-reinforced steel door.

  Not even Sunny Joe could do something like that.

  When they had returned, she made him promise not to tell anyone. He only agreed to the promise if she would talk about it later. She nodded and then put on a smile for her party, but he could see the worry behind her eyes.

  He glanced to his side and Sunny Joe was sitting next to him. He had not heard him sit down, but then again, when Sunny Joe wanted to be quiet, no one could hear him.

  “You should be inside, celebrating with your sister,” Sunny Joe said, keeping upwind of Stone’s cigarette.

  “She doesn’t need me,” Stone said, stomping the cigarette into the sand.

  “How are your hands?”

  Stone looked at his hands. The feeling was back in his fingers, but they were still dark from blood loss.

  “Your sister’s hands look better,” Sunny Joe said with a knowing look. “I never heard of that happening to someone who could center themselves.”

  “She won’t talk about it,” Stone said truthfully.

  Sunny Joe looked down at his own hands for a moment.

  “I’ve killed twenty-six men with these hands. I understand the need for secrets, but you have to realize that in our line of work there are very few people to confide in and some secrets can be fatal.”

  Stone looked down at the sand again. He would not betray

  Freya’s trust. Who would believe him anyway? Stone had never seen anything like it. The way she just tore that guy in two like a ragdoll…it wasn’t human.

  “Your dad’s here,” Sunny Joe said, changing the subject. “He’s asking about you.”

  “I saw him and Master Chiun come in. That’s another reason not to go inside. You know, when I was growing up, I would have given anything to meet my father. But now? I don’t know. We just don’t see eye-to-eye.”

  “That’s funny, because that’s exactly what he said about me years ago. He always wanted to find me and then he did and then he didn’t come back because we just didn’t see eye-to-eye.”

  “But he’s not…”

  “I’m not through,” Sunny Joe said. “When you’re a child, your father is perfect. A titan. As you grow up, you begin to question his decisions. At one point, you start to realize that he’s just the guy who happened to marry your mother. That process normally takes years, but for you and your dad, the process went from superhero to mortal in two seconds flat. No man — and I mean no man — can withstand that kind of scrutiny, not even a Master of Sinanju. But don’t ever discount what your father is. His entire being is magic.”

  “You’re a better father than he is,” Stone protested.

  “Don’t put me on that pedestal. I was a selfish bastard when your dad was born, trying to make it big in Hollywood. My pop wanted me to come back to take charge of the tribe and then Dawn had Remo. It felt like everyone was trying to chain me down and drag me back to the reservation. It was just too much. But when I finally met your dad as a grown man, something inside of me changed. I went from being an unattached dad to doting father in two seconds flat. After realizing who he was, I imagined him growing up without me. I could see him learning to ride a bike by himself. See him picked on because I wasn’t there to teach him how to defend himself.”

  Sunny Joe’s voice trailed off and he cleared his throat. “When your dad told me about you and Freya, I agreed to keep you both to try and set things right with him. At first, I was just paying off a debt, taking care of you two like I had failed to take care of him. But then I realized that you were a part of my family, too. You’re my grandson. Freya’s my granddaughter.”

  Stone looked off into the distance, digesting Sunny Joe’s words. “I just need to find out where I belong.”

  “That’s just life,” Sunny Joe said. “I’m your grandfather and I have some skills. But Remo…your dad….is a Master of Sinanju. You may not know it yet, but that is some strong cheese. And Master Chiun….well, he is from a different world. And all of these things are part of you, part of your sister. If you have any questions about who you and your sister are, you could do worse than speak to your father.

&nb
sp; “And now since you want to know where you belong, I suggest you belong at your sister’s party, celebrating her birthday. So get in there before I kick your ass.”

  “If he doesn’t get in there soon, I’ll kick his ass myself,” Freya said from behind.

  For the first time in a long time, Stone smiled when he heard her voice.

  “I’m gonna see what Master Chiun is up to,” Sunny Joe said, excusing himself. “He’s probably bragging about his dragon soup recipe again.”

  Stone remained seated and Freya sat beside him. She waited a moment before she spoke.

  “Thank you,” she said. “For not telling grandfather.”

  “What was I supposed to tell him? That you turned into some kind of non-breathing killing machine?”

  “We’ll talk about it later, I promise,” Freya said. “It happened once before, some years ago. I just need time to think.”

  “We both do,” Stone said. “And…hey, thanks for saving my life back there.”

  “Aww, that’s the best birthday present you’ve ever given me,” Freya said, smiling. “You know that I’m not doing this just to get in your way, don’t you?”

  “That’s not what bothered me,” Stone admitted. “I felt like I had finally found my calling…my place in this world. I think the real reason I didn’t want you to come along is that maybe you were going to prove that I’m not even necessary there.”

  Freya paused a moment, then spoke quietly to Stone. “Without you, I’d be buried under rubble someplace south of the border with some mariachi band playing over my corpse. Don’t you ever forget it. I won’t.”

  Freya grinned, and Stone couldn’t help but grin back.

  “Yeah, maybe so.”

  The two stood and Freya placed her arm around Stone’s shoulder as they walked back to the house.

  “I know a couple of things that you don’t know yet…but you can learn,” she said. “And you know more than I’ll ever know about how the real world works. I think that makes us a team.”

  “Stone and Freya, master assassin team,” her brother said whimsically. “We might be the first in the world.”

  “I think our father, Remo, and Master Chiun might have a different opinion about that,” Freya said.

  Stone chuckled. “We’ll just tell them that they’re yesterday. We’re tomorrow.”

  Freya giggled, a happy child sound, and Stone came to the sudden understanding that no matter what her skills were, she was still a sixteen-year-old girl. And the kid sister he would be responsible for.

  “You know I love you, big brother, but you’ve really got to stop smoking.” Freya said, waving the air before her. “Your breath smells like someone burning leaves.”

  “Tomorrow,” he said.

  The End

  (If you liked it, please review this e-book at the site where you purchased it. Thanks!)

  COMING SOON:

  Carnage is unleashed on an unsuspecting civilization to settle a score for VIGIL! Can Ben, Stone and Freya stop the ultimate killing machine before it takes out St. Louis?

  WARREN MURPHY

  Warren Murphy is able to write prolifically to a standard of excellence and able to work with many and varied collaborators (or without them) in any sub-genre of the mystery field yet maintain a distinctive voice…

  Murphy’s work ranges from classic locked room mysteries to taut thrillers to the satire and raucous humor of The Destroyer and the Trace series…

  "He has served as a mentor and teacher to a whole generation of crime and thriller writers.”

  His website is www.warrenmurphy.com

  GERALD WELCH

  Jerry is a dual-edged threat, both writer and graphic artist. A self-described literary bastard of Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir, Jerry is best known for the writing and artwork for his “Last Witness” series. www.thelastwitness.com

  Jerry prefers to be known as one of only four people on Earth ever to be granted the title “Honorary Master of Sinanju.”

  His personal website is www.jerrywelch.com where he’s always blogging about something or other.

  “I am created Shiva, the Destroyer; death, the shatterer of worlds. The DEAD night tiger made whole by the Master of Sinanju. Who is this dog meat that dares challenge me?”

  — Mantra of Remo Williams, reigning Master of the House of Sinanju.

  We hope you enjoyed this book. Look for more Legacy novels in the near future! In the meantime, visit the series’ official website to keep abreast of all the news and action...

  Official website: www.facebook.com/LegacyBookSeries

  Also available:

  Number Two: A Special Edition Destroyer Novella

  Savage Song: A Special Edition Destroyer Novella

  The Assassin’s Handbook: The original reader’s guide

  The Assassin’s Handbook 2: The second reader’s guide

  Destroyer World: The Way Of The Assassin: Quotes from Chiun!

  Destroyer World: New Blood: Short stories submitted by fans

  Destroyer World: The Movie That Never Was: Original Destroyer screenplay written by Sapir and Murphy

  Also, make sure to go to DestroyerBooks.com for more Destroyer information and downloads. DestroyerBooks.com is the site to get the inside scoop on things such as events, contests and new releases. Stay up to date on new release information, contests and other exciting Destroyer information at Brian’s Destroyer Blog at www.destroyerbooks.com/wp.

  For even more Destroyer news, don’t forget to “Like” Destroyer Books on Facebook and Twitter.

  Check out these sites too!

  www.DestroyerClub.com

  House Of Sinanju Yahoo! Group

  Presenting

  “Number Two”

  Accidents happen. The Vice President has seen enough of them: he’s seen the economy crash, foreign policy bungled, and civil liberties destroyed. When he gives speeches, he puts his foot in his mouth so often his tongue should have “welcome” printed on it. But when the accidents start turning deadly, a plot to assassinate the VP is discovered.

  There is no love lost between this administration and CURE, the secret government agency created decades ago to protect the United States. Recent events in the White House have caused Harold Smith, CURE’s director, to sever the ever-present hotline between himself and the President. But patriotic duty calls: Smith must keep the Vice President safe. Remo and Chiun are summoned to protect the Vice President and flush out the villains. Can they eliminate the bad guys before the Vice President takes a hit? The race is on…

  Now available at Amazon.com!

 

 

  Warren Murphy, LEGACY, Book 1: Forgotten Son

 

 

  Thank you for reading books on Archive.BookFrom.Net
Share this book with friends