Thin Blood Thick Water (Clueless Resolutions Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

met, stepped out.
    “Sorry if we’re late,” Chip said, “we were seeing Dannie off upstairs.”
    “No apologies needed, it’s only 10:03,” Max responded. “I heard the chopper. When I met her a few minutes ago she told me that she had to leave, so I gave her a recap of the status quo. I think she picked up on it.”
    “Now that’s what I call efficiency!”  Chip exclaimed, turning to the other men. “Now, didn’t I tell you that our new Partner was a spark plug?” he said, joking.  The men chuckled and the two Partners that Max hadn’t met introduced themselves.
    First, Lamar Brooks, an African American who stood around 6ft. 4inches extended a large hand. He was a physically fit middle-aged former professional athlete.  He was followed by Mario Ianozzi, a youngish looking man of Italian lineage, who spoke with a slight European accent. Max noticed that, like Ezra they were armed with holstered automatic pistols under their jackets.
    The group sat around the meeting table while Chip explained that arrangements had been finalized with Ernest Bickford’s estate.  The settlement had been negotiated over thirteen months with the attorneys representing his wife. His retired share of the Partnership would allow her to maintain a good life for many years.
    Next on the agenda was Max’s report on the real estate holdings, both in the US and outside the country. Max recommended a wait and see stance regarding the falling market values since an economic correction phase was underway around the globe. He indicated that most economy-savvy financial experts were indicating that it would take some time to play-out, after years of over-heated appreciation.
    Brad Charles updated the group on his most recent work with drones. This fascinated the listeners. It was understandable, given the anticipated benefits which would help them in investigations. On the other hand, awareness of the invasive perception of eavesdropping drones would be an extremely sensitive factor, from a security perspective, as development of drones expanded.  Brad also indicated that he had been experimenting with remote-controlled full sized airplanes using auto pilot functions controlled by his flight simulator. Cockpit cameras served as the ‘eyes’ while radar served as visual sensors and radio served as the ‘ears’.  Further refinement of Satellite GPS would open the doors to this possibility and he wanted USAP to be ready to invest in the technology when the time was right.
    Max made a note to himself to check back on the progress.  He was amazed at the seriousness displayed by his fellow Partners toward these high-tech ideas.  Sitting in this hybrid industrial building with all the secret features and mysterious comings and goings, he was beginning to feel like he was in a spy movie, with Brad playing the part of the eccentric professor/inventor in his laboratory, explaining to the spies how to use the latest gizmo.  This bizarre scenario drifted even further out in space when Ezra Carrol gave his presentation on how he was working with Brad to install hidden grenade launchers in the pontoons of both float planes in the USAP fleet. This included the Cessna Caravan Amphibian which Ezra flew-in with on Saturday and the De Havilland ‘Beaver’ DHC2, which was moored in the boathouse on the lake at the end of runway.  Brad had purchased four of the surplus military anti-tank weapons through the black market in Canada. They were lightweight, hand-held, shoulder-mounted bazooka-type weapons that launched rocket-propelled explosive missiles. Ezra and Brad were going to mount them inside the pontoon floats so that, when the trigger mechanism was activated electronically by the pilot, they would fire through specially-fabricated nose covers of the floats, or on activated mounts above the pontoons. A portable aiming apparatus would be mounted on the sunshades inside the cockpits.
    The floatplanes could be ‘armed’ and capable of fire