just for fun

Keeping Above Ground

Don Easton followed up Jack Taggart’s debut case in Loose Ends, with the gripping action of Above Ground. In this story we see Jack Taggart once again coming face to face with the Satan’s Wrath biker gang, but this time in a much more unexpected way. Is Jack joining forces with the Wrath? Has he finally gone rogue? Or is it all just part of his plan?

Enjoy this excerpt from Jack Taggart’s second case.

ABOVE GROUND
Chapter Ten

“We’re gonna jump him in the alley. Could maybe use a man. Want in? We’ll split it three ways.”

Jack shook his head and said, “Thanks. Appreciate the offer but I don’t need any cash at the moment.”

It didn’t appear to bother anyone that the girl was about twelve years old … but it bothered Jack. He had seen child prostitutes before, but it still didn’t make it any easier. He watched her head straight to the fat man and bend over and whisper in his ear. Then she knelt beside him and ran her hand slowly up the inside of his thigh. Moments later, the girl walked out the back door.

The fat man leaned forward and said something to his two friends. They all laughed and then the fat man stood up and made his way toward the back door.

Should I bump into him and pick a fight? Deck him and save him from being another victim in the alley? Jack felt his frustration grow. Who is the real victim here? Him …or the girl?

“To hell with you, asshole,” said Jack under his breath as the man staggered past him.

Jack watched as he opened the rear door, blinking his eyes and staring into the darkness.

Immediately a tire iron smashed his face. The sound of his skull crunching above his eye and upper cheekbone was slightly audible. Before he could collapse, a hand appeared out of the darkness, grabbing his collar and jerking him off the back step. The door swung shut. 

****

Don Easton, author of the Jack Taggart Mystery series, worked as an undercover RCMP officer over a span of twenty years. He worked in foreign countries and assumed numerous false identities and witnessed horrific crimes. He survived several contracts on his life and was often targeted by both sides of the law. Past reviews by the media note that Easton is clearly writing from experience. He takes us into a world that few would dare to enter.

© 2010 Defining Canada.