Brothers of Different Mothers

By C. L. Jones

Pops, a U.S. Army combat veteran, has been an agent for a mysterious branch of the government called the organization. Through the years he’s become one of the best at what he does which is taking down the bad guys for his country. His anchor in this nasty business has been his wonderful wife and family who by rights should be upset due to the number of times he’s made them move to accommodate his work. He’s developed self-contempt for the way he treats his family plus he’s questioned the rationale behind some of his assignments. So he’s decided it’s time to quit and announces his retirement to his handler at the organization.

However things are never simple in this business. You never know when the organization could decide that it’s time for you to take a no benefit, no breathing, retirement package. Against his better judgment Pops decides to do one last mission. He finds himself somewhere in the northwest US wilderness with thirty or so other men some of whom are advertised to be agents just like him. The organization seems to be running the show when they announce a competition between the men with a prize of several thousand dollars for the winners. Pops has always been a lone wolf on his assignments so he didn’t count on finding a group of like-minded agents, or brothers. Neither did the organization.

The challenge is to find a way to win the competition and at the same time avoid being the subject of an organization takedown. Success means walking away with enough money to comfortably retire. Failure is unacceptable.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C. L. Jones
• Release date: Feb 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370861569

C. L. Jones

C.L. Jones grew up in a large Midwestern family, a military family who served for many generations, where he learned the art of storytelling. Back in his early days he would sit around the fire pit and share his tales with friends and family. C.L. Jones experienced the depth of brotherhood through out his military career, having received the Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star, 2 Purple Hearts, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Humanitarian Service medal. The first three books that he's published are part of a series that he fondly calls "Brotherhood Holds the Line". Brothers of Different Mothers, the first book, is a story about how Pops and the Crew grew to become brothers while trying to survive the organization's efforts to thin the ranks. Book #2, Home Front, shows how the strong bonds that formed in Brothers of Different Mothers continued to grow as the Crew helped Surfer through trying times. Book #3, Second Chance, takes the close knit team on a mission to Central America to find a CEO of a large company who was kidnapped by a rebel faction to extort money for their cause. These three stories are good examples of the kinds of stories that he would share.Jones has completed work on the Farm Boy Series. You will recognize some characters from Pops and his crew but the squad is the younger generation of agents working through modern technology with the same bad elements that survive time. Good against evil with some twists. Book #1, Farm Boy, book #2 Farm Boy's Wisdom and book #3 Enough is Enough is now available. An early release has shown that Enough is Enough is an exciting read and was well received. What is coming next, we now look forward to the saga wrapping up with a final conclusion for the Pop's Team and Farm Boy's squad, just wait till you read what happens next!!

Book preview

Brothers

Of

Different Mothers

By C. L. Jones

Copyright 2002 C. L. Jones

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

My Brothers and Me

Chapter 1: The Pit Man

Chapter 2: The Solo Mission

Chapter 3: The Compound

Chapter 4: Going to Church

Chapter 5: Blonde

Chapter 6: The Pot of Gold

Chapter 7: The Game Begins

Chapter 8: The Triplets

Chapter 9: Trimming a Little Fat

Chapter 10: The Crew

Chapter 11: The Real Leader is Born

Chapter 12: Too Easy

Chapter 13: Corporal Punishment

Chapter 14: The New Arrivals

Epilogue

Note from the Author

My Brothers and Me

When you look at me I am not what you think you see,

A ghost of a man that I use to be,

A ghost of a man, the one that hides deep inside of me,

A young man who thought this kind of a world he would never see,

Would he in a place that in their worst dreams most could never be?

For years he ran from the ghost at night,

The ones that awake him in a warrior’s fright,

By day he looks into your face, are you a warrior or one who spat in our face?

If you were there you know the look, a thousand-meter stare with nothing anyone else can see,

Remembering my brothers and what is only between them and me,

My brothers and me may haunt the world,

Some may hate us and some may judge,

Remember we never held up two fingers and pretended to love,

I just took a lifelong oath to my People, my Country and my God Above.

CHAPTER ONE:

THE PIT MAN

Present Day

Except for him the original team had all faded away long ago. As far as he knew the members of this very well hidden group had now expanded to an unbelievable secret underground army, a group that if called on could make the CIA look like child’s play. In fact, sometimes he wondered if the CIA or NSA were really involved or maybe even running the show. He knew it would be a powerful tool for any governmental agency to use.

Standing there with his heart in his throat and with that dreaded phone in hand he knew it was not going to be easy. This was something he hadn’t done before. He knew making this call would make him sick in the very pit of his soul. This would be the call that every man before him had dreaded when it came their time, and this one wasn’t going to be any easier.

In this business he couldn’t just pick up the phone and make a normal call. He would have to go to a pay phone and even then the super secret spy games didn’t end there. He would usually hide what he was doing from family and friends by saying he had to go somewhere; it was usually easier to say it was job related. He tried to cover his tracks by traveling to a different area each time to make the call or using the organization’s international phone relay bank, although he never really knew if he was hiding his whereabouts from the people who spent their lives looking for him and others like him. In this business you never know when someone may decide it’s time for you to take that no benefit, no breathing, retirement. He knew all the cloak and dagger drama was a little weird but over the years he’d heard stories about unhappy ending events that had happened to agents who either weren’t pulling their load or had became visible to the outside world or even were believed to be on the edge of turning. He’d heard that in some cases, when agents said they wanted out they were considered a danger to the organization and were put into that eternal retirement plan.

Everyone in the organization had a code name and no one ever knew another agent’s real name. To repeat your code name outside an official use was nothing less than a death wish. Every agent had a contact and in this case for him, it was someone called Pit Man. The agent would call and leave a message number and would only wait there for thirty minutes to hear back from the Pit Man. A thirty-minute wait had always been this agent’s rule but in recent years he had been cutting it down. He never knew just why he started cutting the time but now it was becoming clearer in his mind.

He would find, clean-up and pay a homeless man who had not been drinking to make the call. Usually he would dress this man in a new set of casual clothing and offer him a roll of money to sit by the phone and answer it when it rang. A recording device would be attached to the receiver and he would give the homeless man a list of things to say that would only make sense to the person on the other end of the phone. When the homeless man finished reading the list to the person on the other end he would hand the phone over to the agent. The homeless man would be paid and sent on his way. The agent would recover the list and while starting the phone conversation he would burn the list right there. He would just say one word, his code name, Pops.

That was all that was required, and then the man answering would reply, Pit Man. That would start a strange dialog between the two men.

While standing there he couldn’t help but think of all the water that had gone under the bridge as his mind went back to when he had returned from combat and was assigned to a military unit in Texas. He remembered how excited he and his young beautiful wife Mary were about being together and starting their lives. He’d always loved Texas and its people ever since he’d been a small boy visiting his Texas relatives. Everyone who knew him then had heard him say, If he could have picked his birth place it would have been Texas. So this assignment had seemed to be a dream come true for him. Going to Texas would have given him and his wife a chance to start a new life together, a life that had been interrupted by war. When he’d left for war they had only been married for about nine months and in that time they’d only spent two months of married life together.

Twenty Years Earlier

When he arrived in Texas and reported to his new unit, he was totally shocked by the way he was met by people in the company office. They greeted him like a long lost brother. After being introduced all around he was taken to the commander’s office. This was unlike any military outfit he had ever heard of or seen. Once he made his official report, he was offered a beer by the commander, while on duty, in the commander’s office. What the hell was this?

The commander started with military small talk then slowly the conversation changed to Pop’s time in combat and how he felt about it. The commander was reading from a brownish folder when he asked the question no one was ever supposed to ask, Good kill record. Did you like killing, did you enjoy it? Pops felt his mouth drop open. Then out of nowhere this dumb ass commander started telling him of his new assignment. Pops sat there thinking he had just walked into some lunatic’s office. It was as if he was in some kind of nightmare and not able to respond because of his military training and respect for an officer. The commander continued the nightmare by telling him that he would receive a briefing, some training, and would be sent to a different unit, a unit having nothing thing to do with his real assignment. He was told that this assignment was one he could never reveal to anyone, I mean no one, repeated the commander, for the rest of your life. Then like some little tough guy wannabe, the commander struck a pose that made Pops want to punch the guy’s lights out. The commander then said in a boastful manner, Ok my friend, from here on there is no backing out. Just when Pops thought this guy couldn’t get any dumber he had to add, You no longer have any choice in this matter. You have been chosen because of your combat kill record. The Commander then asked him, Do you have a problem with anything I’ve told you? No doubt about it, this damn meeting was weird to say the least.

Without a second or two passing and knowing that he really didn’t have a choice and most likely never did, he replied, NO SIR.

The commander smiled and smugly said, I didn’t think you would.

Pops was told to go home and wait for them to call with his first assignment. He was given a sealed envelope by the commander and told he could open it now or later, and that it contained all the info he would need. His orders were to memorize everything then burn the info and never reveal his code name to anyone or any part of the contents to anyone, other than when he was in contact with his field handler.

He left the jerk’s office. Not knowing what to think, he walked back into the outer work office area where all the other soldiers worked. He didn’t know what to say or think or do.

The people in the office area surrounded him and like any good group of military personal, and any group of soldiers, the bull session started. He spent the next hour listening and telling war stories knowing he was new and not sure if any of this was a test. So he quietly held back on some of his war history with this bunch of guys. During the bull session he kept thinking that he was only about hundred feet or so away from his new bright yellow sports car with the black vinyl top, his dream car, the one he’d bought when he got home. That car always made him feel like a kid with a big boy toy. Now he just wanted to get in and escape down a road anywhere in the country.

Pops, hmm, that was his recently acquired name and should be easy to remember. Pops drove back to his and Mary’s cozy little apartment off post, thinking while he drove about what to tell his wife, or even if he should tell her anything. Taking a leisurely way back to the apartment he considered everything that had happened in the last few hours and what kind of stories he could tell her that would not be a lie but as far from the truth as it could be.

Mary met him at the door overflowing with happiness and joy. She wanted to know all about his new job and what was he doing home so early. She knew that if he was working at his job then he shouldn’t be home for another few hours. After he was guided to the living room with his hand in her hand, they sat together on the sofa. He hadn’t thought of anything to tell her so it just came out the way it came out.

He just decided to tell her that there had been some kind of dumb mistake and he was to wait for new orders.

Three weeks passed since he’d left the commander’s office, three weeks of hanging out with Mary. It was just what they needed, three weeks of exploring the area, three weeks of making up for lost time and getting reacquainted, three weeks of love making.

Then one afternoon while they were laying in bed together mindlessly watching whatever was on TV, the call came. It was a short call and he didn’t do any talking except for a few yes and no’s. He was to report the next day at 05:30 to the commander’s office. When he got off the phone the attitude in the bedroom was very somber, because he knew this perfect little life was about to change in ways neither of them could ever imagine.

After parking his car in the company parking area he walked towards the orderly room, while somewhere deep inside him was one of those nagging feelings that’s like an itch you can’t reach. An itch that was telling him to just turn and run. Inch by inch and foot by foot he managed to finally walk through the office door. After reporting to the Sergeant on Duty he shortly found himself standing in front of the commander’s big oak desk at attention. He knew as he stood in front of the same dick-head that the nightmare was about to begin. His salute was returned and he looked down at the commander wondering what the hell was going to come out of this desk jockey’s mouth now. The commander hadn’t even given him the courtesy of looking up during his half ass return of the salute. After the commander waved his hand in a kind of civilian style salute he started talking like some used car salesman, Hey buddy, here’s your new assignment. You’re going to the great northwest to a real primo job. You’re going to be the NCOIC (non commission officer in charge) of a final stage rifle proficiency range. Don’t worry, there are no new recruits, but you will be training NCOs and Officers, getting them ready for combat. The commander’s face showed that same dumb ass smile he’d been sporting the last time they met when he said, Just go there and play, have fun and wait for us to call you. Remember don’t kill anyone and everything will be all good until you hear from us. When he laughed, Pops knew for real that this guy was a dumb ass.

Going home and telling Mary that she could expect another move wasn’t what he wanted to do but he knew at this point he didn’t have much choice. Once he was home and they were sitting on their small apartment patio, the story seemed to just ooze out. He told her how the mix-up had been fixed and that the job they wanted him to do wasn’t on the Texas post. He then broke the news that they had another move coming up. To his pleasure Mary took it right in stride, with a smarty grin on her face, she just laughed it off and said, Well that’s the army for you and I guess I better get accustomed to it. I am an Army wife.

Orders or no orders he took two extra weeks traveling to the large military post in the great northwest. When he arrived on post, they were given nice family housing without the normal waiting period. After a couple of days of settling in he checked in with the new unit. While reporting in, it struck him as odd that no one said a word to him. It was like an office full of robots each doing whatever they were doing and going about their business even when he walked right through their midst. Nothing was said. It was as if nobody noticed that anything was different or maybe they didn’t care about a new face among them

For the next year he did his make-believe military duty, doing his best to hide the truth from Mary while they made friends on and off post. Pops, Mary and their new friends would get together on weekends and barbeque while he kept up normal appearances. Then one day the call came during a weekend barbeque. Mary took the call and handed it to Pops while she returned to the back yard and their guests.

After finishing the call, Pops returned and said he’d been called to the company commander’s office. When asked by one of his civilian friends about his job he just passed it off with an off-colored comment and nothing more was said.

On his way to the post and the commander’s office, he made jokes in his mind about his situation, about being some super spy in a secret unit and whether this was a big super spy assignment. Pops found it a bit strange that there were very few vehicles in the unit parking area, even for a weekend. When he reported to the commander’s office, he was greeted by an older man who looked to be in his forties. He was in a military work uniform with no rank or name tags showing. Looking around the office Pops noticed that there wasn’t anyone else but the two of them there. The older guy walked Pops to one of the desks where he handed him a phone that was already off the hook with someone clearly waiting for him to take the call. He looked at the older man then placed the phone to his ear and said, Yes.

With no delay the voice in the phone started to speak and the pitch of the voice felt like it was being carved into Pops’ brain. As the man was speaking, it became clear and confirmed what Pops had thought earlier about this line of work. The work was something way outside of the norm. The man said, This is the Pit Man, I’ll be giving you your assignments.

The Pit Man gave him the code letter and the message. Still being fairly new at this, it wasn’t easy but Pops copied it all down. He was still writing when the Pit Man just hung the phone up. It was as exciting as doing the dishes. After the call Pops took the time to decipher the message. When he finally finished he took the first full reading of what he’d just written. He’d been given the name of a person which he took to be the target, the target’s country and location, and the date when the mission needed to be completed.

Knowing that Mary understood the way the military worked he decided to tell her that he had a temporary school assignment and would be back in a few days.

CHAPTER TWO:

THE SOLO MISSION

They had arranged for a plane ticket which was waiting for him at the post’s airport. With every step he took he tried to be aware of everyone around him, making a conscious effort to remember everyone he met so far that was connected to the new assignment. He prided himself on his ability to never forget a face or a voice. From the time he walked into the spotless military airport he had been greeted, escorted and taken care of like he was the kid brother. Once he took his seat on the plane he noticed that the shades were closed on all passenger windows. When he asked he was told that they didn’t open and please don’t mess with them. After takeoff he was served drinks and shortly after that a meal that was not the usual in-flight fare but as good as any restaurant meal. The plane landed at a small airstrip that looked to be out in the countryside somewhere. There certainly wasn’t any pomp or ceremony.

When the aircraft door was opened from the outside, he stepped out and was greeted by a very polite man dressed in a blue jumpsuit. The man escorted him to a building on the other side of the runway with a wave of his hand where a car and a driver were awaiting him. Blackened glass divided the front driving compartment from the back passenger compartment. Laying on the backseat was a large envelope which contained only a photo of a man and a key taped to the envelope’s top edge.

As the driver took him into the business area of town, Pops noted that it looked like any other town and the signs were in English. The car pulled up, stopped in front of an older red brick building, and Pops leaned close to the window looking up and counting six stories. There was a single light on what looked like the third floor of the building, probably his target. For a few minutes he sat there at curbside wondering if he could pull it off, sitting and wondering, wondering and thinking about what he knew was about to happen. Just then he heard the car door unlatch and like magic it swung open on its own. Not being a stupid man he knew this was his cue, so he slowly stepped out.

Walking up to the front door of the building he wondered if the key he had was for the front door or was it like some master key that would allow him access to the entire building. Doing his best to look and act normally he walked up the steps to the landing, reached into his pocket, and slipped on his black leather gloves. Then standing in front of the door he reached out and grasped the handle, turning it slowly trying not to make any noise while he waited to hear that click. Bingo there it was, the door eased open without hardly a sound. Standing in a small dark entry, he leaned to his left he and saw a hallway with a lot of office doors while right in front of him was a stairwell leading up to the next floor. Taking it easy and doing everything he could not to put his full weight on a step until he tested it, he started up the stairs. In the back of his mind he was worried that this could just be a test and one mishap meant someone would jump out and announce that he had failed.

He watched for trip wires or even the good old fashion creaky step. He remembered staying at his Grandmother’s place as a kid playing hide and seek with his cousins with stairs being part of the playground. Like back then, he spread his feet wide apart so they touched the ends of the steps where the steps were nailed to the supporting stair frame. He knew at the edges they would make the least noise. After a few sweat filled moments of climbing the stairs he finally reached the second floor landing, and with a quick glance down the hall he started up the next flight of stairs using the same technique he’d used on the first set of stairs. He had no more than stepped onto the third floor landing when he saw the light on the hallway floor coming through a frosted glass window. He stood there thinking about what he was going to do, going over every movement while staring at the lit glass window in the door. He pictured the next few upcoming events in his mind. Amazingly he knew just what he needed to do. He slipped off his shoes, put them on top of a fire hose box located near the stairwell and placed one foot in front of the other as he started his slow walk down the hall.

The name on the door would be burnt into his mind forever. The gold print looked to be mostly black with the only light coming from behind the glass. His concentration on the name was broken as he reached down with his black leather gloved hand to try turn the door knob. Finding the door locked, it suddenly occurred to him that through everything he was still carrying the key that had been attached to the photo. With his one hundred percent focus on the noise of the rickety steps and avoiding any obstacles in the hall he hadn’t even thought about the key once he entered the building. Pops took out the key and locking his eye on the keyhole slid the key in a fraction at a time not wanting to make any noise with the key scratching against the metal lock. Pops stood back up, taking a deep breath and gave it a try by turning the key to the right. There was hardly a sound but he felt the tumblers click as the door unlocked. He quietly pulled the key back out. With the key still in one hand and his pocket 380 pistol with a compact silencer in the other, he pushed the door open with his shoulder.

He quietly entered an outer office area that looked to be a secretary’s office and a waiting room. Across the room there was an open door which led to an inner office where a light was on. Pops moved slowly across the room with his weapon in the ready position and as he moved he could hear the sound of someone typing on a keyboard. He moved to where he could see into the inner office, and there with his back to him was a man working on an old fashion electric typewriter. The man was so involved in his work that he wouldn’t have heard a bull elephant rampaging through the room. Pops pulled both arms up and took aim. He braced his shooting and took a small breath and held it.

This was one of those war-time moments in the heat of the battle, where time slowed down. In less than a second he thought here he was, a little boy from a good midwestern Christian family about to shoot some unsuspecting man in the back that he didn’t know and had no idea why the man was a target. Pops was depending on the word of the people who were supposed