Whiskey

Contents Families Animals A note to my readers 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 Acknowledgments A look at what’s to come… Human Trafficking Hotline About the Author Suggested Reading Order WHISKEY DARK WATER SERIES Copyright 2023 © J.L. Drake All rights reserved The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to, or downloaded from file sharing sites or distributed in any other way via the internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. This 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 locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons— living or dead—is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of J.L. Drake. Cover Design by Deranged Doctor Design Editing by Lori Whitwam Formatting by RedDoor Author Services Dedication To all of you who needed to go “home” again. This is for us. Families Cole: Owner of the Shadows safe house. Leader of the Blackstone special ops team. Married to Savannah. They have two kids, Olivia and Easton. John: Blackstone member. Married to Sloane. Mike: Blackstone member. Married to Catalina. Daughter Gabriella. Keith: Member of Blackstone. Married to Lexi. They have two kids, Brandon and Reagan. Mark: Blackstone member. Married to Mia. They have a set of twins, Liam and Ethan, and a daughter Tabby. Paul: Blackstone member. Deceased. Dell: North Rock member. Dusk Safehouse in North Carolina. Davie: North Rock member. Dusk Safehouse in North Carolina. Steve Chamness: North Rock member. Dusk Safehouse in North Carolina. Denton Barlow: The American. Deceased. Animals Goats: Friendly reminders of home Chickens: Annoying and always in the way. Scoot: A-hole house cat Butters: Mark and Mia’s husky Tripper: John and Sloane’s German shepherd A note to my readers Welcome back to the Montana mountains where I left you after I told the story about Shadows and how it came to be. It was told through Daniel’s and Edison’s points of view while following a new cartel member, Eric Noah. He gave us glimpses into the inside workings of the darker side of the story. I also let you know that a storm brews back at Shadows. I promise you won’t want to miss what’s coming. Whiskey introduces you to Major Ty Beckett and Dr. Ivy Knight. Their stories are shared while you follow Eric Noah and all that’s happening south of the border. While deeply immersed in all that’s happening at Shadows and the people who live there, I bring you some fresh new characters just to spice things up. I highly recommend you read my Broken Trilogy and Blackstone Series to refresh your memory on all the characters, because you’ll want to be ready for what’s to come. That is to say, if you want the 4D max taste, feel, hear, and see experience of this series, you’ll need to know the “past.” If not, then by all means, keep reading. You’ll still get a great story! All right, let’s go home. Location: Afghanistan Coordinates: Classified Ty “Move, move, move,” I screamed at Moore as I knocked Brown in the head to wake him from a dead sleep. Fire licked the side wall and traveled up to the roof like a lit matchstick. “Grab your shit, Hill!” I dove outside and drew my gun into position to scan the perimeter. I rested my cheek on the butt of the stock of my M4 and tuned out the crackle of flames as they consumed the hut. I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath to focus. My sixth sense had never let me down before, and it had surfaced just in time. I rolled quickly to one side and zip! zip! I sent two bullets to my eleven and heard a groan. I sent another three to my twelve and caught sight of a man as he twisted and fell, blood sprayed high in the air. I felt the heat of the flames on my back and knew it was time to move. Moore’s hand landed on my shoulder as he low crawled up next to me. We moved as one away from the burning structure and out into the night. There had been a time when this terrain made it difficult to move about, but now it was second nature to us. The rocky mountainside still made us work hard as we picked our way up. Thank God for the military issued kneepads. Zip! Zip! Zip! Bullets nipped at our heels as we scaled the side. We kept low to use whatever cover we could find. “I thought we lost these fuckers thirteen miles ago,” Brown hissed. “They’re like friggin’ bloodhounds!” The last word was cut off as bullet hit right above him. “I seriously hate this place. I need a desk job.” “You wouldn’t last five minutes in a cubicle,” Moore barked as I covered him, and he made his move. More bullets rained all around us. “They look at us the same way we look at them.” I motioned for Brown to move up behind Moore. “Kill or be killed.” Hill took Brown’s place and glared at me. We’d had tension between us ever since we made