Deadly Encounters

By Thomas Zegray

Deadly Encounters is a thriller based in Murrells Inlet,  SC.  It's based on the stressful times of dealing with the shutdown of the economy causing people to lose their jobs and struggling to deal with the many issues that came with it. 
The characters vary from a WWII veteran,  a happy go lucky widow to an alcoholic psychopath who lives with his widowed mother. 
There are others and some sensitive issues like child porn all intertwined into a riveting story in the marsh walk town just south of Myrtle beach. I compiled the story in my mind walking the beach every morning with Brownie while watching the sunrise.....

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Zegray
• Release date: Jul 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393904434

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Deadly Encounters

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My name is Tom Zegray, I am the author of Deadly Encounters. I’m a retired transplant from New Jersey here in Murrells Inlet SC.  My book is fiction and all characters are fictional.  It’s my second book but my first one in the world of murder mystery. I have many favorite authors and recognized early in life the many wonderful different styles in writing there are. My book is a flowing river of my thoughts about current events and situations but should only be interpreted as my sole opinion. The people in the book are totally made up and I used some names from family and friends to be humorous. Enjoy the wonderful thrill that reading brings us in difficult times and remember, it’s only fiction. Enjoy...

I am writing this book during a very complex and difficult time in our country. ‘Vulnerable’ may be the most used word when asking people how they felt when this whole ordeal is over. If it ever does end completely.  Life is meant to be lived one day at a time.  Ironically, many people may be hearing those words a lot if they fall into the rabbit hole called alcoholism or addiction.

Stay positive,  stay safe always...

I am dedicating this book to all my deceased dogs, departed best friends, and my current pet, Brownie. She was badly abused and had a very rough time during her first year and a half of life.

I’m going to make the rest of her life the best of her life.

She is also my ESA, emotional support animal. It’s a two-way street.

It was a beautiful sunrise as I stood on the beach watching the waves crash ashore. It was just after the March daylight savings so it was still a bit chilly in this early morning hour. The beach is empty now but later will be filled with locals and tourists. I come early daily to meditate and enjoy the peace, quiet and alone time. This is a tourist area which has exploded over the years. This is Murrells Inlet South Carolina, just south of the big city Myrtle beach.

Murrells Inlet is mostly retired locals living off social security and their northern pensions.  The claim to fame for Murrells Inlet is the famous Marsh Walk with many popular restaurants known for its exceptional local seafood. Actually, you can get anything you can think of here. Along business 17 on the Marsh Walk, it is called Restaurant Row, with the best food, drinks, and the most magnificent view on this planet. I’m a transplant from New Jersey, right outside Manhattan, and ate at all the best restaurants there during my career. I am easy when it comes to food, I'll eat pretty much anything so my opinion of food would never match up to a qualified food critic. Everyone says the pizza down south doesn't come close to the Northeast pizza parlors but I feel they are close enough.  It’s funny, the places I call commercial pizza, like Dominos and Pizza Hut, taste exactly the same everywhere, so why would hand-tossed homemade pizza be different? I actually heard and found out it was true that a pizza place here imports water from Jersey to make their pizza taste like the Northeast. There are so many restaurants here struggling to survive, I guess they'll do or say anything to keep the people happy and business doors open. Yes, Murrells Inlet South Carolina, a quaint little fishing village with a drinking problem. 

They even have tee-shirts saying this and people wear them proudly.  This is a bonafide peaceful little town with very few incidents. The funny part about Murrells Inlet is it’s split between two counties which opens up interesting conversations at times. Two police departments, two tax offices, and two different worlds at times. I’ve lived in both counties and will openly say I prefer the south end Georgetown county. The nicknames ‘Grand Strand’ and ‘South Strand’ are used describing the two counties.  The spring of 2019 proved to be an interesting turning point for our quaint little village.  March was typical March weather, warm one day cold the next, inconsistent but the better days are starting to outnumber the bad ones. You can read the people's facial expressions and body language showing satisfaction with the coming warm weather.  But I could sense tension and concern also with the current events and recent situations. We are reaching a breaking point in this country and the inevitable is about to happen. It’s no wonder it hasn't happened sooner, but the proverbial pot is about to boil over. I've had my gut feeling for a while, but I never gave it much attention.  Figuring things will work themselves out like they usually do. The storm is on the horizon, the dog is the first to let you know, then you go outside and see the clouds rolling in and the wind picking up immensely.  The inevitable storm is minutes away and you just go back inside to ride it out. Sometimes in life, a storm will appear that causes so much damage, it will be talked about for many years ahead. And this storm is going to change the entire foundation of our great country.

Since the beginning of time, the battle between good and evil has surfaced numerous times leaving devastation and despair in its path. The storm has again arrived,  it’s brewing and making its way to another civil war or revolution, whichever term fits for the upcoming revolt that has been a long time coming. Everyone figured the next civil war would be racial,  white against black, but no one anticipated that people's  political views would escalate to the point of total chaos and violence. The political machine in this country has blatantly treated the voters in this country like fools, the corruption and lying is reaching the breaking point for millions of Americans. ‘Enough is enough’ is a term I keep hearing, but didn't realize the seriousness of it. The people are pissed and we are armed despite the million attempts to take away our 2nd amendment rights and our guns. The shit is going to hit the proverbial fan and when the dust settles the millions of lives lost and the destruction of our country will be a new chapter in the history books. I guess no war was ever started over one reason, but hardly anyone remembers how it started to begin with.  The destruction and devastation caused over the years of fighting is the only thing people remember or talk about. Will good prevail over evil again or did we go so far down that even God doesn't want to rebuild us and give us a new beginning?  The next few years are going to have people questioning God's intentions and have them wondering if it’s another Sodom and Gomorrah. The sins are just too numerous this time to salvage our current society, and it should be no surprise to anyone. Satan will be rearing his ugly head laughing hysterically, and collecting souls along the way.  He set this stage over the years whispering in the politicians’ ears, that hoarding millions of taxpayer’s money is good, everyone does it. So it became the standard for the congressmen and senators, etc. And the best part is, everyone knows they're doing it and it is acceptable behavior,  even accepted now. Well, the end of that road has finally arrived. Besides stealing or hoarding money, as I call it, they vote themselves massive pensions with a medical plan for life for them and their entire family. This is unavailable to anyone else. Satan does great work but the line has been drawn between liberals and conservatives,  Democrats and Republicans.  But mostly, many millions of armed Americans who are fed up will all of them.

How exactly do you sit fat, dumb, and happy living the life of a politician and make threats to millions of Americans that their social security is being cut or going away completely?  They use terms like ‘entitlement’ to make you feel like it’s not really yours anyway. The saddest part of this is we are a laughing stock to the rest of the world. I’ve talked to people from other countries who look you square in the eyes and ask if you're too stupid to realize what going on in your own backyard. It’s actually impossible to come up with a reply because you damn well know how you're being screwed but stand there and accept it. But I guess the days of looking the other way are over and the inevitable ramifications are coming full force. The next battle of good and evil is here and it’s not going away for quite some time. It's like a summer afternoon storm, coming out of nowhere and dumping inches of rain in a short period of time but the heat and humidity afterwards last much longer. To say the country is divided is an understatement. I just saw a meme about our president dividing our country. It said yes, he divided the smart from the stupid and corrupt.  Basically that's it in a nutshell.  We found out the hard way in 2001 how fat, dumb, and happy we were when terrorists killed thousands in the World Trade Center attack. To hijack multiple planes and use them as weapons proved we had our pants down and we weren't aware of our surroundings. Yes, many countries hate us and we knew it but the `it will never happen to us syndrome` gave this country a major black-eye. A lot has happened since 2001, we now have millions of enemies within our own borders. To let these people in is nothing less than treason. Liberal Democrats, hiding behind massive walls to protect themselves from their own actions of letting millions of Muslims in the US and ensuring their comfort with our taxpayers’ money. Yes, the country is divided and the pot is boiling over.

For hundreds of years, immigrants came joyfully to our country, learned our language, learned our ways, and we developed into the greatest nation on this planet. Now they either illegally enter, or are brought in and are demanding we cater to their language and want us to change our lifestyles to suit their religious beliefs. Hell, Americans can't even display our flag because it’s offensive to them. Some of these people even got themselves elected and are doing everything in their power to destroy our way of living. If you wear a hat that says ‘Make America Great Again’, you're subjected to assault or worse by the haters in this country. Never before has this country witnessed so much hate and racism for the elected president in this country. Fat, dumb, and happy are terms we can use for our elected officials in Congress and Senate. It’s never about doing the right thing for this country but what they can accumulate during their endless tenure. It’s frustrating how it’s become in this country during an election. Do I vote in pig shit, cow shit or horse shit, really what is the difference? They all lie and say they're not like the others and sure enough, people vote them in and the cash cow begins. Then 30 years later on a 150k salary, they are worth over 100 million dollars. Do the simple math, how exactly does that happen. Then if someone comes along who doesn't play their Satanic games, he’s the crook. Audit him they all scream while they are sitting on millions of unexplained dollars themselves. What a country...lol. There was a comedian many years ago named Yakov Smirnoff,  a Russian who said that as his trademark. I don't know whatever happened to him but it holds true today. Our country's situation has hit a point where people are saying it’s beyond fixing. The people running this country are so corrupt they don't even try to hide it, they absolutely believe the American people have to accept this situation or they will make them go away. It’s common knowledge that the Clintons killed numerous people and instead of doing the right thing and pulling the rug out from under them, jokes are made. Even Hilary makes comments to the press that if she goes down she's taking most of Washington with her. Blatant hoarding of money,  murder, and every day lying is what these politicians do. And somehow manage to get re-elected every four years as long as they kiss the political machines’ ass. Our forefathers have to be rolling in their graves.

They set up the perfect government for the people and by the people and Satan managed to show people the loopholes and how to corrupt a nation to the brink of bankruptcy.  These politicians even come right out and say that they have houses outside this country to escape to when they finally take this country completely down. With zero conscience, they will step over all the dead bodies they created and live happily-ever-after in a foreign country. Is this country divided?  Absolutely and it is at the point where people don't care anymore.  Our forefathers risked everything for a better life, realizing death was better than English tyranny.  Guess what is happening now? Fat, dumb, and happy is great but the consequences are inevitable as we found out on 9/11. I hear the rumbling of people.  Friends buying numerous guns and stockpiling ammunition and the fat, dumb and happy politicians half-assed attempt to ban guns, but know our forefathers put in place an amendment even they can't fuck with. If they don't see the writing on the wall, which I believe they do, then the consequences for their years of taking advantage of the American people will be their downfall. The talk on the street is getting serious,  people are mad and threatening vengeance. God-fearing people with everything to lose but not caring anymore.  They are bouncing grandbabies on their knee, waving a  9mm Glock. Just like our forefathers, the time has come for action.  The battle between good and evil is here again and it’s going to be a bloodbath. The line has been drawn between liberals and conservatives and the politicians are going to get the brunt of it. It is summertime now, so the tempers flare a lot easier, not that it matters. It’s long overdue and will continue until many thousands die, and hopefully God and righteousness prevails. The alternative is the end of the greatest nation under God.

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The day begins like any other day. Roll out of bed, shower, etc. and coffee. It’s too dark to see the new day yet, but our world of information let’s me know immediately what the weather forecast is going to be. The latest news events and of course, check out the sports and social media. We live in an era with total abundance of information, yet ignorance still prevails.  Social media proves this every day, between Facebook,  Twitter and the newbies Instagram and Snapchat. You can spew your half-assed informed opinions to thousands, if they choose to listen. ‘Stirring the pot’ is an old term but used often on the pages of social media.  Everyone has an opinion and forces it down everyone’s throats. The smart ones scroll on by and ignore the majority of posts while others bite like a fish and get reeled into the depths of their uninformed bullshit. ‘Hearsay’ is a very old term that many get confused about. Politicians are great at using hearsay on a daily basis. Watch candidates from the same party debate and see those skeletons