Donovan's War: A Military Thriller (A Tommy Donovan Novel Book 1) by Lundy W.J

Author:Lundy, W.J. [Lundy, W.J.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Phalanx Press
Published: 2017-10-31T04:00:00+00:00

14

Jamal stood on the steps of a cement block building. Night was falling over the city. In the distance, he could hear the reports of gunfire and the rumble of explosions from the outer limits. There were always smaller battles being waged between the rebels and loyalists. If things carried on too long, the Russians would call in close-support sorties from their aircraft.

Jamal tried to keep out of those things. He was a business man, after all. He stepped into the street and looked to the left, spotting his two men standing watch in the back of a white technical—a large pickup truck with a mounted machine gun in the back. One man was resting, sitting on a side rail of the truck while the other leaned over the machine gun that overlooked the roadblock. The heavy machine gun gave them courage, and that was enough for Jamal.

The government troops rarely came by here. This old warehouse was outside of the patrolled safe zones, but still close enough to take advantage of the military presence. Jamal paid his bribes and those in charge willingly looked the other way while he existed, and that allowed Jamal the freedom to run his brothel any way he wanted, without being under their watchful eye. His guards here were good and he paid them well, but it was also known that this place was under the protection of the Badawi Brigade. The threat of reprisals from the Brigade is really what kept most people away.

His men were complacent and spoiled, knowing that the real fighting was still miles away to the north and nobody would dare mess with the property of the Badawi. And even those who had the courage to mess with Jamal, had the Russian military to contend with. The Russians didn’t play favorites and they policed the neighboring sectors with deadly efficiency. This worked for groups that were disciplined enough to color inside the lines, and the Badawi brigade was certainly one of them.

Jamal’s building was at the top of a T-shaped intersection in the old city center. Although once a prized industrial area, most people rarely ventured here now, the block just outside of the military patrolled sector. There were no homes in this district and what industry remained was now bombed out beyond recognition. Undesirable for most, but it made prime real estate for Jamal. The trading of flesh was unpopular with the state, and having the space to do it in the shadows was important. It put him in the white space on the page, a place where the governing institutions could easily deny his existence while remaining cooperative in what he was doing.

An old military bunker made of concrete and sandbags was at the bottom leg of the intersection directly in front of the building. Straining, he could see one of his armed men standing under the dim streetlight slowly walking the length of a chain-link fence. To his right was the only open road allowing access to the property, and the only avenue allowing vehicle traffic in or out of this small compound.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.