Read Allegiance: A Jackson Quick Adventure Online
Authors: Tom Abrahams
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Allegiance: A Jackson Quick Adventure (36 page)
I reach for the mug on the table and grip the handle. It tastes warm. Not bitter. Over the rim of the glass, Sir Spencer smiles broadly. He’s definitely the Cheshire Cat.
“I think…” I have him hanging on my answer with that smile.
“Yes?” he says, almost too eagerly.
“I think I’ll take my chances.” I set the beer down on the table. “I’ve gotten this far on my own.”
His eyes study mine. Sir Spencer miscalculated, I can see it in the twitch of his brow, the almost imperceptible change in his smile.
I stand and sarcastically genuflect. This is where I climb back out of the hole.
“You know you won’t last long by yourself,” he warns. “I cannot protect you. There are too many who want you dead.”
I want to tell him where to get off. I want to tell him he’s wrong and I can handle this, that I’ll survive without his hellish arrangement. I don’t.
Instead, I smile a ridiculous grin, turn my back on Sir Spencer and walk out. Slipping in a pair of earbuds, I press play on my iPod. The music starts. I carefully adjust the 9mm tucked into my waistband underneath my untucked shirt.
I am alone. Again. As it should be.
First and foremost I must thank my beautiful wife and children for their support, encouragement, and unshakable belief in me.
My appreciation also extends to Michael, Anthony, and the team at Post Hill Press in New York and Nashville for their confidence in my work and their tireless efforts to put these stories into the hands of readers.
I have to give a big high-five to my editor, Felicia A. Sullivan. She took on this book despite an already difficult workload and improved both its content and flow. Her efforts were invaluable.
Equally priceless is the help I’ve received from so many wonderful authors: Steven Konkoly, Graham Brown, Bob Morris, Lisa Brackmann, Richard Stephenson, and others. They’ve provided a guiding light along an arduous path.
I could not have written the prologue without the expert help of the good folks at snipercentral.com. They provided wonderful technical assistance.
Dr. Scott Tinker and Dr. Matt Laudon were very patient in answering my questions about nano science. Their clear explanations of the complicated, wide-reaching field were critical to the book’s plot.
Thanks are due my trusty beta-readers: Tim Heller, Gina Graff, Curt Sullivant, and Steven Konkoly. They are fearless souls who waded through typos and omissions, continuity errors and redundancy, to give me outstanding constructive criticism.
My appreciation also extends to my parents, Sanders and Jeanne, my sister Penny and brother Steven, and my in-laws, Don and Linda Eaker, for their undying support and shameless promotion of my work.
Other works by Tom Abrahams:
Sedition
Allegiance
