Black Flagged (The Black Flagged Technothriller Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

former special operations soldier looked tense and ready to make a bad decision.
    "Parker, chill out and drink your coffee. You're making me nervous. I need a contact number in case I run into unforeseen circumstances," he said.
    "You'll find instructions for that in the file. I'll need to collect the dossier and the gun when you're finished," he replied.
    "I'll leave it all at the scene for you," Daniel said and slipped the file into the briefcase alongside the table. He collected his cell phone and picked up his coffee. "Don't bother getting up. Thanks for the coffee, by the way."
    "My pleasure," Parker said.
    Daniel left with the briefcase, checking over his shoulder once to make sure Parker stayed seated. As soon as he walked out the door, he was hit in the face by a cloud of cigarette smoke from a homeless man sitting at one of the coffee house's outdoor wrought iron tables. The tobacco smoke reminded him of a past he apparently couldn't escape.
    He walked back to his car, sipping coffee and firmly clutching the briefcase. Sanderson was a careful and thorough operator, so he felt considerably secure that he would not have to play the counter-surveillance game this afternoon. If he suspected any possibility that his plot had been detected, he would have given Daniel some warning. Not for Daniel's safety or wellbeing, but to give Daniel the best possible shot at accomplishing the mission.
    The outcome had always been the general's only true concern. He could be unfailingly loyal, as long as your usefulness outweighed your burden. Daniel had learned this early and leveraged it throughout his "stay" overseas. Unmarked graves scattered across the continents covered the remains of "graduates" that never quite grasped this concept.
    Daniel reached his car and deactivated the alarm system, which emitted two sharp chirps. Three low chirps would have indicated that someone or something had made contact with the car in his absence. The vibrational sensitivity of the system could detect someone leaning against the car, or even the slightest bump of an opening door. The alarm would only sound if someone tried to open one of the doors or forcefully hit the car.
    He started the car and moved it to an empty row in the back of the parking lot, where he opened the case and pulled out the file. He quickly thumbed through the documents, taking in all of the salient points. The general's operational files hadn't changed in years. Functional and easy to navigate, Daniel had a solid assessment of the job within minutes. A rough plan developed before he could shift gears and speed out of the parking lot. He had a lot to accomplish before soccer practice tonight.
     
     

 
    Chapter Two
     
     
     
    8:20 p.m.
    Portland, Maine
     
    Daniel checked his watch before opening the door to the house, determining that he was well within the range of returning from soccer practice. He pressed the garage door button and stepped inside as the door motor hummed behind him.
    "That you, Danny?" he heard from deep inside the house.
    "Were you expecting someone else?" he yelled back, kicking off his running shoes onto the gray tile floor.
    He placed a dark blue gym bag down on a small white bench in the crowded mudroom and turned to the closet to pretend to hang his work clothes. He opened and shut the closet, spying the work outfit that he'd stuffed between jackets earlier in the day. He just wanted to make sure it was still there. He had visited the house during the late afternoon to change clothes and pick up a few items. He was long gone by the time Jess returned home from work.
    Jessica appeared under the soft glow of the kitchen's pendant lighting and placed a book on the butcher-block island.
    "Yeah, I keep bringing Thai food home for Antonio Banderas, but to no avail. You want some Thai food?" she said and ran both hands through long, dark brown hair, tying it with a black scrunchie she had kept hidden on one of her wrists.
    "Now how do you think that