Wandering Dagger

By C.K. Carlton

Book 2 in The Cal O'Connor Series, Wandering Dagger begins where Saving Chase left off. Only days removed from dismantling one of the world's largest online pedophile networks, Cal O'Connor is offered a covert position on the presidentially-backed task force to lock away child predators.

His first assignment takes him to Old Town, Alexandria, where a ten-year-old boy's body is pulled from the Potomac River showing signs of sexual abuse. What seems like a straightforward abuse and murder case takes a dramatic turn when they find the body has two spider bites from the Brazilian Wandering Spider, the rarest and most venomous spider in the world.

Cal is faced with piecing together the clues, and uncovering the monster behind the murder, but before he can get anywhere, the suspect is killed.

After convincing the task force not to close the case, Cal takes whatever evidence he can find and follows the trail of clues to the inner circles of Washington politics, only to find himself hunted by the same man he's hunting.

Wandering Dagger is a heart-stopping ride through the dark world of political cover-ups and public service entitlement, that will leave you wondering if your elected officials might be the next to wander into the sights of a determined and skilled operative like Cal O'Connor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C.K. Carlton
• Release date: Jun 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9780989085335

C.K. Carlton

I began my professional career as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer. I spent six years in the Navy, making three tours, including a tour to the middle east in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.I left the Navy at the culmination of that tour, and after a few years in business school, I landed at The Martin Agency, an advertising agency in Richmond, Virginia.It all seemed like the right trajectory, but, as the story so often goes, the stress of hiding what I went through as a boy eventually caught up with me. So, one day, I walked away from my career and decided to focus on me. (quitting your career is never recommended)I got a low-stress job and began my recovery, and as I did, I journaled. That work became my first book, Nice To Meet Me, an often humorous and relatable book for anyone who struggles with their past.So, after a few decades of searching, here I am enjoying a career doing what comes naturally, writing fiction.I live and write in Richmond, Virginia with my wonderful wife and newborn son.

Book preview

Wandering Dagger

By C.K. Carlton

Books by C.K. Carlton

Returning Harm (The Cal O’Connor Series: #4)

The Cal O’Connor Series: Season One (Books 1-3, Boxed Set)

Guarding Harm (The Cal O’Connor Series: #3)

Wandering Dagger (The Cal O’Connor Series: #2)

Saving Chase (The Cal O’Connor Series: #1)

Nice To Meet Me (A Memoir)

Wandering Dagger

Copyright: C.K. Carlton 2013

Smashwords Edition

Published: June 2013

ISBN: 978-0-9890853-2-8

Publisher: Mugwump Publishing

The right of C.K. Carlton to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

For my wife, Ellen, who always believes in what I’m doing, even when I don’t.

Introduction

What readers are saying about The Cal O’Connor Series:

"Absolutely hooked!"

"Great thrillers that really suck you in. I read all 3 stories in just a couple of days and I can’t wait for the next book. I also love the short format which makes for a very quick read but packs more punch than a lot of full length novels I have read."

"I love these books! Saving Chase has a great hook, backed up with rich characters and really incredible detail. Cal O'Connor is a fantastic hero; C.K. Carlton is my new favorite!"

Thanks for downloading Wandering Dagger, the second book in The Cal O’Connor Series!

I want to quickly remind you to sign up for my email newsletter at http://ckcarlton.com/contact-c-k-carlton/email-list/. All you need to do is enter your email and you’ll be kept up to date on new book releases and special offers. It’ll take ten seconds. You can trust that your email will be kept confidential and never sold or shared with another party.

Also, I’d love to hear from you when you’re done with the book. My email: [e-mail].

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy Wandering Dagger!

C.K. Carlton

Chapter 1

Andre always wondered if objects had feelings. It was a question his mother never had time for, but his creative mind ran wild with thoughts of couches being terrified of heavy men with sweaty bottoms, and trees smiling in exhilaration when the first real day of spring doused their branches with plentiful sunshine. As he stood in the dark room, waiting for the man to achieve his inevitable erection, he wondered if the door was feeling shame for what it was about to hide from the outside world.

Andre counted the seconds down as his mind transitioned to a euphoric numbness, a gift he had honed for the last several years, temporarily pushing away the horror that had blanketed his body every Tuesday afternoon between three and four o’clock.

It all started because of his love for animals. Had he not been so inquisitive, so willing to learn the similarities — both in personality and in looks — between him and the creatures that crawled around his Alexandria, Virginia apartment complex, he never would have been convinced to enter the man’s apartment. He never would have ended up staring at the man’s door, wondering if it realized the terrible mistake it was making.

Andre wouldn’t hold his breath for an answer. He’d been let down by nearly all of the objects and non-objects in the man’s apartment. The creatures — five snakes, a scorpion, that was two scorpions until one of them zapped the other with his tail, a ferret, six gerbils, a parakeet, who Andre was absolutely certain was holding out for just the right moment to share everything with the proper people, and Andre’s favorite, the spiders — all preferred to live their lives in silence. It was all right. He’d forgive them. They probably knew something he didn’t.

Dre, I’ve got something special to show you today, the man said with an unusual amount of excitement.

Typically, they began right when the door closed, so Andre was relieved to find he had a few more minutes to prepare his mind for the escape.

The man continued.

Of all of the secrets we have, this one is going to be the most important. But this one could get you in even more trouble than the others. You’d probably not see your mom for years if you were to talk about this one.

Andre flinched as he listened. He couldn’t be responsible for any more secrets. He was already responsible for the man bringing the pets he had into the building. Andre had said he liked spiders. So then, the man got twenty spiders. Expensive spiders. Then he said he liked ferrets, and so on. It was Andre’s fault. Between feeling responsible for the pets and spending time alone with the man in the apartment, there were too many things he didn’t want.

I don’t want any more secrets, Andre told the man, his brown eyes beginning to well with tears. I don’t want to be bad.

You’re not bad at all, Dre. You’re actually the only thing keeping these pets alive, and you’re going to like this one more than any of the others. It’s your favorite, the man said convincingly, walking Andre over to the bed and patting his hand on the mattress, indicating for him to sit down.

Andre complied, reluctantly.

Now, before I show you the surprise, you have to lie down and get in your special outfit, the man said, instructing him to remove his clothes.

Andre began his countdown. His mind drifted to a make-believe afterlife where the parakeets wore shoes and played hopscotch inside the house while the humans were confined to cages dangling from the ceiling fans, spinning in circles. It was a funny thought.

The man pulled out a small, crinkled, brown paper bag and held it above the boy. Andre lay on the bed, motionless, desperately clinging to his magical world where birds wearing shoes set the rules and humans were kept from the innocent.

Without warning, the man slapped his hand over Andre’s mouth, pushing the back of his head into the pillow. This was the first time the man had been aggressive with him, and it caught him off-guard, snapping him from his conceived Elysium.

The man turned the bag upside down and dropped a dark brown, hair-covered spider, four inches in diameter onto Andre’s chest. The man threw the empty bag against the wall and placed his free hand on Andre’s ankles before the boy had a chance to react to the famous spider standing on his bare chest.

It’s alright, Dre, I have the antidote. It will make us closer, the man whispered over Andre’s muted screams, his body bucking like a caged animal in an attempt to remove the venomous arachnid from his stomach.

Andre bucked just enough for the spider to slide off to the side, where he lost sight of the creature. And then, he felt it. The first bite felt like a clothespin snapping shut on the skin above his ribs. The second bite was more painful, the venom now pulsing through his bloodstream.

Andre knew this spider better than any other. His recent school project was about this exact one. He’d read online in gory detail about the effects. Just as his mind went through the checklist of physical reactions to the Brazilian Wandering Spider bite, he felt his heartbeat elevate and his face become flush. His eyes swelled and felt as though they’d pop from their sockets.

He lifted his head enough to make eye contact with the man. To his surprise, the man wasn’t preparing the antidote. He was just standing over him, a perverse excitement on his face.

Andre resigned himself to the circumstances. He counted to ten, and then, just as he had done dozens of Tuesdays before, began to slide into a very peaceful place. This one was white, a very soft white, like a valley of a zillion cotton balls with the gentlest music playing and the happiest voices ever heard. The white trees were rejoicing. The white birds were gliding above the white grass. The white clouds welcomed him to a place where all of the objects had feelings. Andre couldn’t wait to tell his mom. He was at peace.

Chapter 2

Cal had spent months working alongside CIA operatives throughout his six years in U.S. Naval Intelligence, but this was his first time inside the Langley, Virginia headquarters. It was exactly what he’d seen