Jack the Reaper Read online

  JACK THE REAPER

  BY

  DIANE CAPRI

  Presented By:

  AugustBooks

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  http://www.dianecapri.com

  Praise for

  New York Times and USA Today

  Bestselling Author

  Diane Capri

  “Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too. Kim Otto is a great, great character. I love her.”

  Lee Child, #1 World Wide Bestselling Author of Jack Reacher Thrillers

  “[A] welcome surprise… [W]orks from the first page to ‘The End’.”

  Larry King

  “Swift pacing and ongoing suspense are always present… [L]ikable protagonist who uses her political connections for a good cause…Readers should eagerly anticipate the next [book].”

  Top Pick, Romantic Times

  “…offers tense legal drama with courtroom overtones, twisty plot, and loads of Florida atmosphere. Recommended.”

  Library Journal

  “[A] fast-paced legal thriller…energetic prose…an appealing heroine…clever and capable supporting cast…[that will] keep readers waiting for the next [book].”

  Publishers Weekly

  “Expertise shines on every page.”

  Margaret Maron, Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Award-Winning MWA Grand Master

  Copyright © 2017 Diane Capri, LLC

  All Rights Reserved

  Published by: AugustBooks

  http://www.AugustBooks.com

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  DianeCapri.com

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  Jack the Reaper is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  License Notes:

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Publisher’s Note:

  The publisher and author do not have any control over and do not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

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  eISBN: 978-1-940768-94-6

  Original cover design by: CoryClubb.com

  Digital formatting by: Author E.M.S.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Reviews

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Dear Friends

  Cast of Primary Characters

  THE HARD WAY by Lee Child

  JACK THE REAPER

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  More from Diane Capri

  About the Author

  Lee Child: The Reacher Report

  DEDICATION

  Perpetually, for Lee Child, with unrelenting gratitude.

  Dear Friends,

  Thank you for buying this copy of Jack the Reaper: A Hunt for Jack Reacher Thriller. No one loves Jack Reacher more than I do and I’m very excited to share this new novel in my runaway bestseller series, Hunt for Jack Reacher with you. More than a million readers have already enjoyed the Hunt for Jack Reacher Series books—including Jack Reacher’s creator, thank heavens! Whew!

  The first question new readers usually ask me is how I’m allowed to write about Jack Reacher. The short answer is that Lee Child and I are friends, and he’s a big fan of my work. I write these books with his full support, for which I’m eternally and unrelentingly grateful. I’ve included his Reacher Report at the end of this book in case you’re not signed up to receive email from Lee directly (and you can sign up to hear from him on his website, if you’d like to).

  I hope you’ll see right away why #1 worldwide publishing phenomenon Lee Child calls my work, “Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too.” And why Lee gave the series an enthusiastic two thumbs up when he said, “Kim Otto is a great, great character. I love her!”

  The second question I often hear is about the source books. As many of you already know, every Hunt for Jack Reacher Series novel uses one of Lee Child’s Reacher novels as its source book. Jack the Reaper’s source book is The Hard Way. The source books are fun to read either before or after my Hunt for Jack Reacher Series books, and readers tell me they love both. Each of my books is a complete story and they do not need to be read in any particular order.

  The third most frequent question I get is when the next Hunt for Jack Reacher book will be published. Jack the Reaper is the eighth book in my series (three short reads and five novels). You can find a complete list here: http://dianecapri.com/books/

  And I’m always working on a new book. Please sign up for my mailing list to receive advance notice of new releases and lots of other exclusive stuff for members only. You can do that here: http://dianecapri.com/get-involved/get-my-newsletter/

  While you’re waiting for a new Hunt for Jack Reacher Series book, please give my other books a try. I believe you’ll enjoy them just as much. And either way, let me know what you think. You can write to me anytime, and I hope you will. I’d love to get to know you better. You can always reach me here: http://dianecapri.com/get-involved/message/

  Meanwhile,
thanks so much for reading. It’s an honor and a privilege to write for readers like you.

  Caffeinate & Carry On!

  CAST OF PRIMARY CHARACTERS

  Kim L. Otto

  Carlos M. Gaspar

  Charles Cooper

  Lamont Finlay

  Nitro Mack Parnell

  Lauren Pauling

  Greg Brewer

  Nick Scavo

  John Lawton

  and

  Jack Reacher

  The Hard Way

  by Lee Child

  2006

  “[Reacher] was calm. Just another night of business as usual in his long and spectacularly violent life. He was used to it, literally. And the remorse gene was missing from his DNA. Entirely. It just wasn’t there. Where some men might have retrospectively agonized over justification, he spent his energy figuring out where best to hide the bodies.”

  JACK THE REAPER

  BY

  DIANE CAPRI

  CHAPTER ONE

  September 17, 2011

  Baghdad, Iraq

  General MacKenzie Parnell watched the three private military contractors enter the noisy Baghdad bar and thread through the crowd to the back-corner table. Locals and military personnel saw them enter and would see them leave under their own steam.

  All a part of the plan.

  Through iron will alone, Nitro Mack controlled himself.

  He had earned the nickname decades ago when his quick temper and disproportionate response to everything that blocked his path had landed him in trouble.

  Every day.

  The years had not mellowed him. Parnell was as volatile at fifty-seven as he had been at age seven.

  Both the moniker and the trait were essential elements of his DNA as well as his success.

  Nobody messed with Nitro Mack and lived to brag about it.

  He smiled. The three men approaching him now would learn that lesson soon enough.

  He recognized them instantly.

  One looked like an accountant, except his flat dead eyes resembled a shark’s.

  One was black.

  The third was taller than the others.

  The three walked well enough, but Parnell watched their arms. He’d acquired their medical records before he contacted them. All three had suffered severe breaks to their dominant upper limbs.

  The first guy’s shattered right humerus had been bolted together with titanium hardware and healed into an arm of limited use.

  The second’s crushed right wrist was now fused and stabilized, resulting in an immobile joint and limited function of the hand.

  A compound fracture of the third man’s left arm caused it to hang shorter than the right and bend oddly at the elbow.

  Over time, Parnell had perfected the art of impulse control. Yet, this situation, as such things were euphemistically known in security circles, had stretched his skills to the breaking point.

  He was more than angry.

  He was enraged.

  The slow burn had started almost a year ago and stoked hotter with every dead end he’d reached, searching for the bastard who had double-crossed him and disappeared.

  Worse, his former colleague had also absconded with Parnell’s retirement fund. Money he had worked hard to steal from the Army’s dwindling budgets.

  Whenever he thought about his missing cash, his temper flared. Only by sheer force of will had he shoved his rage to a temporary smolder. He tapped his finger on the table rhythmically, reminding himself to keep his powder dry for another hour. Maybe not even that long.

  The three contractors approached, seated themselves, ordered drinks, and settled in to receive last-minute changes to their mission from the General. It pleased him to recall that all three would be dead within the hour.

  Parnell almost smiled.

  He knew their names, but he thought of them as Moe, Larry, and Curly.

  Not because they were clueless or funny.

  Far from it. Each was a well-trained killing machine.

  Tagging them with the comedic handles was one of many tricks he’d devised to manage his fury.

  Moe was left-handed. Larry and Curly were right-handed.

  It was surely no coincidence that their injuries were inflicted to remove them from the battlefield.

  Parnell had enticed the three stooges here in the same way he had engaged their boss years ago. They were kindred spirits. Fighting men who expected violence to define their lives, which they lived without an ounce of remorse.

  The type of men Parnell knew well. Nitro Mack intended to exceed their expectations today.

  After the three stooges were served, Parnell said, “Did you park where I instructed? I’ve got a guy out there to watch your vehicle. This place is full of thieves. Fast ones.”

  “Yes, sir. Vehicle’s twenty yards to the north, in front of the empty field, just as you ordered.” Larry spoke first, marking himself as the leader of the group. “We’ve read the materials you sent, General. We have our gear with us. We’re good to go.”

  Moe and Curly nodded like bobbleheads.

  Parnell watched them through hooded eyes. They had never been the military’s best or brightest.

  Quite the opposite.

  The only thing that had kept them out of Leavenworth was lack of evidence.

  Charges couldn’t be proved against them back when they were discharged, so they were sent on their way with little more than a hard boot to the ass.

  But these three couldn’t let the military go. It was an almost pathological thing with some Special Forces guys. They never moved on. They couldn’t function in civilian life and had no desire to try. Naturally, they’d joined up with the only private paramilitary outfit willing to take them on.

  Parnell’s intel was solid.

  Their leader was gone, and their team had been reduced to five. These three, and two more he hadn’t located yet.

  He’d wondered how the five had survived when better men had died. First order of business was to find out.

  “Where’s your CO? I was expecting him to be with you.” Parnell was expecting nothing of the kind.

  His partner had been missing for several months, and Parnell had turned over every rock looking for him. No luck. Which was the only reason these three mouth breathers were still alive.

  Moe, Larry, and Curly shared quick glances.

  Larry cleared his throat and replied for them. “We believe the Colonel is, uh, dead, sir.”

  Parnell nodded. He believed so, too. Which meant nothing.

  He wanted proof. “What’s your evidence?”

  Larry lowered his gaze briefly before he squared his shoulders as if the information was embarrassing. “He did not return from his last mission, sir. We haven’t heard from him for twelve months. We’ve tried to locate him with no success.”

  “When and where did this happen?”

  Parnell had traced the Colonel and his team to London. They’d deplaned there a year ago and then vanished. As if Britain had swallowed him, his team, and even his vehicles, whole.

  “A small town outside of London called Bishops Pargeter. Eleven, twelve months ago. There were eight of us, sir. Our CO and the other five embarked on the mission. We were ordered to stay behind.” Briefly, Larry glanced down, and then raised his head to stare into Parnell’s eyes. “None of them returned.”

  “I see.” Parnell folded his hands in his lap and nodded slowly.

  He felt his rage burning hotter, but he replied with hard and deadly calm. “And you three turned and ran. You failed to exact justice on behalf of your team. You left their bodies behind.”

  Moe and Curly were looking down at the table, leaving Larry to extricate them from the truth of their cowardice.

  These three poor excuses for pond scum were not a team worthy of the army, and they never had been.

  Parnell’s decision to terminate them was justified. They should have died long ago.

  He felt not even a slight twinge of remorse for
his plan.

  Larry cleared his throat again. “We had been disabled by the enemy and could not pursue or recover, sir.”

  “Disabled how? Who was the enemy?” Parnell heard the anger in his voice and clamped his jaw before he demanded too much, too soon.