Action Adventure / Enemy of The People

Doug Hammer and company are back as a team of government assassins hell-bent on eradicating the world of Islamic terrorists… until the United States as they know it, ceases to exist.

“Enemy of the People” Coming in the Summer of 2008

Chapter 1.
December 15, 2008

The bright green moss cushioned his left arm as he rested it on the boulder overlooking the tree-lined valley. A bead of sweat formed on his brow and trickled ever so slowly towards the hard edge of his tanned athletic jaw. In one, swift, practiced motion, Hammer brushed his sleeve along his face for the umpteenth time that afternoon; erasing any remnants of perspiration that might affect his vision and concentration. The strips of fabric that made up  his earth-tone gillie suit captured the beads of sweat and therefore his DNA. He knew this of course but couldn’t have cared less. He long ago stopped giving a shit if someone caught him.

Doug Hammer, former Navy SEAL Officer and now in the employ of a non-descript quasi government agency, checked his Luminox watch and smiled briefly. Shouldn’t be long now. He looked through the lens of his Leopold scope, attached with great care to a Mark 25 Military issue Sniper Rifle. His brain automatically calculated distance, wind velocity, temperature, humidity and a host of other details that might render his next shot useless. He made an adjustment; the click, sounded to him, like a sledge hitting an anvil in the quiet mountain air.

Hammer was a “hit man” of sorts, a professional assassin paid by the US Government for the last year or so to track down Islamic terrorists all over the globe and either capture them for questioning or dispatch them without remorse to a waiting Allah. He was part of a team of former Navy SEALS, Delta Force and assorted other military misfits who for one reason or another found themselves in this morbid, albeit well-paid, occupation. Like they did in the military only a tad bit more covert, they were fighting terrorism for mom, apple pie and the all American politicians who didn’t have the balls to enter the battle themselves.

This assignment though was personal, He thought about his beautiful sister. Her funny laugh, gorgeous smile and her long flowing blond hair cascading across her shoulders as she lie in the casket; dead at twenty-six. All because of this man… this worthless piece of shit.
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Today, in the next few minutes, it would be payback time. The radio crackled to life in his left ear.

“Stingray this is Fluke” the tinny voice said. “ Target has arrived. Will be at your “20” in approximately sixty seconds…he’ll be alone.”

Doug clicked the throat mic twice to acknowledge and took several deep breaths to calm his nerves.

The breeze had picked up just a bit. Another adjustment. The tall pine trees that dotted the trail were bristling near the top but not moving one iota in the target zone. His mark would be coming around the bend in the trail any second…and there he was.
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The “mark” took his walk everyday at this time, presumably to clear his head from all the pressures of international diplomacy.  Habits can be a bitch as they say and this one will become this assholes undoing.

A flash higher up the opposite mountainside caught Doug’s attention. He quickly placed the scope on the area but saw nothing….then movement and another flash.

A Mylar balloon, inscribed with a now faded “Happy Birthday” was caught in the boughs of a huge evergreen tree, occasionally catching the late afternoon light. It reminded him of his sister’s 16th birthday party when he found her in the closet with that skinny redheaded kid Brian “whatshisname”. She had lost… or won, depending on your perspective he guessed, in a game of “spin the bottle”. She was holding a balloon just like that one, giggling; when her big brother yanked open the door and “ruined her life”. What a beautiful life. Over. Snuffed out in a quest for power and for no other apparent reason.

He turned his attention back to the scum-sucking maggot that stole his sister from him and countless other sisters ad brothers on that fateful September day.

“Time to pay the piper you prick.” He whispered under his breath.

He wiped his brow one last time and settled into his position on the rock; his elbow now, cutting a form into the moss… Ten more seconds.

The red crosshairs of the scope found their mark. He took a deep breath and slowly let it back out again as he gently squeezed the trigger without an ounce of remorse.  He felt the recoil of the rifle, saw the head of his target explode like a watermelon and then heard the report of the weapon.

Senator William “Bull” Durham never knew what hit him. It would be days before they were able to piece together all the fragments of his brains and skull.  It’s been said that revenge is a dish best served cold….sometimes.  Just not today.  Hammer collected up his spent bullet casing and quickly broke the weapon down to fit in his backpack. He slipped out of the suit, tucked it into a rock crevice and covered it with pre-cut branches of Douglas fir. He used the limbs first to brush away his tracks and then set them carefully in place over the rock opening, just like he was taught.

He glanced again to the trail some 300 yards away. A man this important should have a bodyguard. He did of course, but always insisted on walking alone in this place of serenity and solitude. He no doubt instructed Manuel, his long time aid and personal bullet sponge to stay with the car. He would have heard the shot and would be running like a maniac down the trail looking frantically for his charge.

It would take the ballistic forensics folks a few days to locate his hiding spot and by then whatever information they gleaned from it would be of little value. He was outside the normal “hit range” of a your average run of the mill sniper so this is one of the last places they will look. It was not even close to his furthest successful termination which even today was a record on his team. He whacked Omar Machmooud Muhamed, a Wahaabbi Mullah in Egypt a few months back from almost 600 yards. Omar had a flair for the dramatic from his pulpit and Doug put a flair in right eye socket for all time. A skill he could thank dear old Uncle Sam for. Distance aside, the angle of the shot alone would be virtually impossible to tell as there was not much left of the target and the impact spun the body around several times before being unceremoniously deposited into the ditch beside the trail.  The bullet was a “glazer” type round which exploded into hundreds of tiny fragments on impact making it difficult at best to match the projectile with a specific weapon.

The tinny voice of god spoke once again to him in his left earpiece. “Stingray this is fluke. You’ve got company coming and he is royally pissed. Recommend you “diddimao” to “rendezvous four” ASAP. Copy?”

“Roger that. Romeo Four. On my way.”  Doug responded.

He never bothered to look over his shoulder to see Manuel crouching behind the rock outcropping next to his boss’s corpse. A buzzard began circling overhead. Hammer snickered at nature’s efficiency. The round wasn’t half way to its target and the dinner bell had been rung somewhere. That’s nature all right. Cold, cruel and goddamned efficient. Just like him. What can happen to a man in a few short months can sometimes alter history; just like it did here this afternoon. Scratch one prick. Doug thought. One less asshole in the world.

He saw the tan SUV crawling up the adjacent trail and angled towards it. By now Manuel would have discovered his cell phone wouldn’t work in that valley and would be heading towards his bulletproofed limo to call in the troops. The buzzard just might get a bit of dinner after all.  

Doug wondered what “traitor” must taste like.

Washington DC –Reuters. The US Congress passed sweeping legislation today accepting the jurisdiction of North American Law over the 50 states. With the signing of this bill expected by the President of the North American Union, the self governance of the United States of America will now be in the hands of the new governmental entity ending speculation that the NAU would adopt US law. The Presidents of the United States, Canada and Mexico will formally sign this landmark bill in a ceremony at the Western White House  in Los Angeles.

Chapter 2

Florida Everglades
July 4, 2007

The black Escalade turned right on to the Sunshine Highway. Doug stared out the window looking aimlessly at the miles of marsh ahead of him. His mind played the events of the last few months over and over again like an endless loop on a VHS tape; always coming up with the same result. He fucked up. Big time.

Two months ago he was a Lieutenant in the US Navy SEALS with a promising career. He remembered the Friday night well that he met RP and Slip, his two best friends in the world, for a couple of beers at McPees in Coronado.  

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