The Chapman Project

By Bob Gabbert

Except for fast cars, boys, men, sex, drugs, drinking, and parties, Bree Huntington led a worthless life growing up on the family’s Southampton estate. Life was good. Life was everything she ever wanted or desired.
And then tragedy came like a thief in the night and took away her pampered, carefree life. Never again would she face a day that was not affected by the new direction her life had taken. She fought back. She wanted revenge. She wanted love, but didn’t know it.
When the CIA came calling, she was ready. “Can you teach me how to kill?” “Who do you want to kill?” “Everybody over there!”
She became fluent in Russian, expecting that she would work the streets of Moscow, Russia, but the CIA wanted her for the Chapman Project, which was far removed from Moscow. To them, she was the perfect agent for their needs. She was so rich that money couldn’t tempt her. She had committed every sin, so nothing they would ask her to do would be unreasonable, and she was very talented.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bob Gabbert
• Release date: Oct 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005865566

Bob Gabbert

Bob Gabbert has been writing novels about strong women for eleven years. Asked why his protagonist is always a woman, Bob said that generally speaking, women are physically smaller and weaker than men. Consequently, they must use their intelligence to solve important issues, and that's more interesting for a writer. Bob Gabbert is a world traveler who has lived or worked in many of the places he writes about. He graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle where he and his wife, Janet, make their home.

Book preview

By Bob Gabbert

Publisher: Bob Gabbert eBooks

Copyright

Copyright © 2020 by Bob Gabbert eBooks

All rights reserved, except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission by the publisher.

Publisher: Bob Gabbert eBooks

eBook Edition: October 2020

Characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

About the Book

Except for fast cars, boys, men, sex, drugs, drinking, and parties, Bree Huntington led a worthless life growing up on the family’s Southampton estate. Life was good. Life was everything she ever wanted or desired.

And then tragedy came like a thief in the night and took away her pampered, carefree life. Never again would she face a day that was not affected by the new direction her life had taken. She fought back. She wanted revenge. She wanted love, but didn’t know it.

When the CIA came calling, she was ready. Can you teach me how to kill? Who do you want to kill? "Everybody over there!"

She became fluent in Russian, expected that she would work the streets of Moscow, Russia, but the CIA wanted her for the Chapman Project, which was far removed from Moscow. To them, she was the perfect agent for their needs. She was so rich that money couldn’t tempt her. She had committed every sin, so nothing they would ask her to do would be unreasonable, and she was very talented.

OTHER NOVELS BY BOB GABBERT

Search eBook source by Author – Bob Gabbert – to view all novels.

Evergreen is Moving (in print only)

Flat Rock Salvation

Black Project 10

On Point

Tess Harper: The White House Conspiracy

Journey to Another Door

Where Tall Trees Grow

Both Sides Now

Stump Speech

Miles to Victoria

The Cornwall Conspiracy

Little Faith in the White House

The Jade Greenway Series:

Flight of the Messenger

The Persian Gulf Incident

Black Seas

The Joni Tish Series:

Code Purple Zulu

The Gabi Halsey Series:

The Cairo Rose is Chocolate Pink

Omaha Beach

DEDICATION

To my wife, Janet, who recently lost her long struggle with Alzheimer’s. She was my best friend and partner for almost 52 years.

Table of Contents

Title Page

About the Book

Other Novels by the Author

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

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Acknowledgement

About the Author

Chapter 1

There is a black sheep in every family, and Bree Huntington was the black sheep in the Huntington family. When she got pregnant at 14, the father was one of Charles Huntington’s law partners, but it could just as well have been any of several boys along Beach Drive with whom she partied. The pregnancy was quickly and professionally terminated, so it didn’t bother her. And, it certainly didn’t bother him, except for the few minutes it took to call a doctor who would perform the procedure and keep it quiet, especially from Charles Huntington. However, the man did move to the Philadelphia office just in case the old man ever found out, or perhaps it was to get away from the temptation that Bree presented.

Amanda Bree Malone Huntington grew up on the family estate on Cormorant Drive in Southampton, Long Island, New York. Her father, Charles Alexander Huntington IV, Charles Alexander Huntington III, and Charles Alexander Huntington Junior were all born in earlier versions of the same mansion.

Charles Alexander Huntington Senior, who built the mansion, was not a part of the Collis P Huntington clan; he was a distant cousin, and a poor one at that.

Collis Potter Huntington, who died in 1900, is known for the first transcontinental railroad, and along the way, he created the Central Pacific, the Southern Pacific, and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroads. He also created one of the most important shipyards in the world, Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, to provide jobs for his black mistress and her relatives.

Charles Alexander Huntington Senior capitalized on his cousin’s business accomplishments. He invested in coal mines that supplied coal the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad took to the huge coal terminal that Collis Huntington created on the Hampton Roads in Newport News, Virginia, not far from the shipyard.

Charles Senior was only mildly successful, but it did allow him to buy the property in Southampton that became the estate of following generations, and build the mansion.

The wealth of the Huntington family really began with Charles Junior, or Charles II as he became known. He invested not in coal, but in oil. His wealth allowed him to not only retain the 10-room mansion on Cormorant Drive, but to double the size to 20 rooms by adding a wing to the east, a guest house, a six-car garage with rooms above for chauffeurs and groundskeepers, tennis courts, and of course a large swimming pool. He also started the tradition of the second and third sons becoming military officers. The first son, of course, carried on the family business.

Charles Alexander Huntington III increased the family wealth considerably. Plastics and nylon were the products after World War II, and Huntington chemical factories worked overtime to meet the demand. He added another 10-room wing to the mansion on the west side. The new wing included an indoor swimming pool and an indoor tennis court, so that fun didn’t have to end with summer. His younger brothers, George and Harvey, were killed during the war. George was a Navy captain, and Harvey was an Army colonel. Harvey was killed during the Battle of the Bulge; George was killed when his destroyer was sunk in the battle of Leyte Gulf.

Charles Senior probably would have described Charles Huntington IV thusly: He’s a bum. He doesn’t create anything, he doesn’t manufacture anything, and he doesn’t build anything. That decline was the fact that by the time Charles Alexander Huntington IV became an adult, the United States economy was changing from a manufacturing base to a service economy, and Charles IV did as well. He became a very successful attorney with offices on Manhattan’s Park Avenue, and in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and Washington, DC. He also started the tradition of attending the Yale Law School. He was the first member of the family to join the secretive Skull and Bones Society.

When Charles IV took over the family business in 1979, it was estimated to be worth $1.8 billion dollars. By the time Bree Huntington graduated from Southampton High School in 2001 at the age of 17, the family fortune was estimated to be worth well in excess of $12 billion dollars. Some estimates put it as high as $20 billion.

Family tradition established the role of Huntington children. The oldest son took over the family business. His purpose in life was to increase the prestige and fortune of the family. The second son, and the third son if there was one, joined the military and served their country.

Huntington daughters married wealth and prestige. Any eligible, never-married, bachelor listed in the top 100 of the Social Register would do. Once married, she became a mother and managed her household, served various charities, and carried on family tradition.

Bree’s mother was the first Huntington woman to break with tradition. Amanda Malone Huntington was an intelligent and beautiful young woman of 24 when she married 35-year-old Charles Huntington IV. She was well on her way to earning a PhD in English Literature from Vassar when they met. Her family lived comfortably in Easthampton, Long Island, less than two miles from the Huntington estate. Although the Malone family was worth millions, Amanda was considered to have married up.

An English butler, Mr Shaw, managed the Huntington estate. In his charge were three cooks, five maids, two groundskeepers, and two chauffeurs. Consequently, there was very little to keep Amanda busy. Rather than joining social and charitable organizations the way previous Mrs Huntingtons had done, she became as Associate Professor of English Literature at Adelphi University located in nearby Garden City, Long Island. She was a full professor when Bree was born in 1984.

Bree inherited her mother’s intelligence, and her beauty. By the time she graduated from Southampton High School, she was a raving beauty with shoulder length blonde hair, blue eyes, five-feet seven-inches tall, and worthless. She drank, smoked pot, and took whatever designer drug was popular at the moment.

When she was 12 years old, she attended a teenage party and saw someone having sex. She wanted to try it. A 15-year-old boy was happy to comply. By the time she was 14 and pregnant, she was sleeping with any boy, or man, who promised to show her a good time.

She spent money on clothes, jewelry, and fast cars as if it grew on trees, and as far as she was concerned, it did. She had the black or gold or platinum card from every important credit-card company and stores along Park and Fifth Avenues in Manhattan.

When she was 15, she flew to Paris without permission and lived there all summer. Her parents only found out where she was when the credit-card bills came in. What’s the big deal. I was just trying out my high school French. Jeez, Father, you’d think I killed somebody!

The following year, she flew to London at Christmas time without permission, and then flew on to Japan: Lighten up! I just wanted to see how they celebrated Christmas—I’m not a kid!

Except for her independence and extreme confidence in herself, Bree had only one real talent. She had bought enough jewelry that by the time she graduated from Southampton High School, she was something of an expert in jewelry.

The summer following high school graduation, Bree wanted to give her best friend, Wendy a gift. She flew Wendy to Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, without permission and of course, first class. After a few days on the beach, she took Wendy into a rather famous jewelry store. She intended to buy Wendy diamond earrings.

The owner of the shop could spot a rich tourist a mile away. He tried to sell her a $10,000-dollar emerald ring. He was surprised when she said, Let me see your jeweler’s loupe. The loupe is the eyepiece that gemologist use to inspect fine jewelry.

She studied the emerald ring for less than 30 seconds, and then threw it at him. This thing isn’t worth $500 dollars.

She took Wendy next door to Royal Caribbean Jewelers, and ended up spending almost $30,000 dollars on an emerald ring for her mother, diamond earrings for Wendy, and a diamond ring and earrings for herself. All charged to her card.

Outside of a few close friends, the only person that Bree really cared about was her younger brother, James. He was the least capable of the four siblings.

Amanda Malone Huntington had four children in two pairs. Charles V, 12 years older than Bree, was already an associate at the Huntington Associates law firm when Bree graduated Southampton High School. Naturally, he attended Yale Law School and was a member of Skull and Bones.

Her brother George Malone Huntington, 10 years older, had already graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and was a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy. George was much more of a brother to Bree than Charles V. George taught her how to ride a bicycle, and, more importantly, how delicious were street-vendor hot dogs in New York’s Central Park, where he took her to feed the ducks.

Bree led the second pair of siblings in 1984. Her brother James Malone Huntington was born three years later. Everything was easy for Bree, but not poor James. He was small and frail and had to struggle to accomplish anything. He had asthma so badly that he didn’t start school until he was seven.

In every way that counts, Bree was his mother. She took care of him when she was home. She taught him how to ride a bicycle. They went on long rides together in the fresh air, which helped him outgrow his asthma. She spent long hours with him, letting him play in the water of the swimming pool or on the sandy beach while she watched over him.

When he finally started to school, it was Bree who helped him learn his ABCs, how to write, how to speak clearly, and all of the things that parents normally do. Their parents were busy with their careers and left childrearing to nannies. All except James that is. Bree saw to that.

Their father expected James to pull his own weight just as all Huntington children had done through generations. When Bree went to Paris that summer without permission, her mother hit the ceiling, but her father swelled with pride, because she showed independence. He was not so kind with poor James.

No one, especially a child, ever disturbed their father when he was in his study, but one day when Bree was 13, she stormed into his study. Father, I want you to quit picking on Jimmy.

Bree, can’t you see I’m busy!

He thinks you don’t love him.

If he’s ever going to amount to anything, he has to learn to be a man. Now, get out of here!

Jimmy is just fine the way he is. I’ll take care of him.

How are you going to take of him? You’re on drugs half the time.

"I am not! You quit picking on him!"

Or what?

Even at 13 and already beautiful, Bree had a temper. The warning that her fierce temper was about to explode was a lifting of the chin and her blue eyes got steely. She was by far the most intelligent of the children, but even her father couldn’t control her—no one could.

He saw her temper was about to explode. Bree, you know what I’m trying to do with James.

That might work with Charley or George, but it won’t work with Jimmy. He’s too fragile. Pick on me if you have to, but leave him alone!

Listen! I’m the parent here. You—

Oh, really! Since when?!

Get out! I have work to do!

Father, you leave Jimmy alone! He’s mine!

It was a sad day for James when 17-year-old Bree left to enter Swarthmore College. He was 14 and felt that there was no one left to protect him from their father.

He wept when they said goodbye. What will I do without you, Bree?

She tried desperately not to cry, but her eyes filled with tears. You’ll do fine, Jimmy. Look, I bought you your own phone. It’s a Nokia; it’s made in Sweden, and you can even talk on it when you’re outside. It has a speed dial. I’ve set my number in it. See, I have one just like it. When you want to call me, just press this button. Don’t call me during the day, because I’ll be in class, but any time after 4:00 is okay.

But, when will I see you again?

I’ll see you at Thanksgiving. I have a week off then. You’ll be so busy with school that you won’t even miss me.

Chapter 2

Swarthmore College is located 11 miles from Philadelphia. It was founded in 1864 by Quakers, but the association ended in 1906, and the college became non-sectarian. In 1873, Helen Magill, the daughter of the first president of the college, was in the first graduating class at Swarthmore. In 1877, she became the first woman in America to earn a PhD degree, doctor of philosophy.

Swarthmore has an undergraduate enrollment of 1,600 students with a student to faculty ratio of eight to one. Ninety percent of students eventually attend graduate or professional schools. Rare for a liberal arts college, Swarthmore offers a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering.

It has been ranked the best liberal arts college in America six times, and shares a library system with Bryn Mawr and Haverford colleges. A semester-based academic calendar is used. The 425-acre campus is considered to be one of the most beautiful in America.

When Bree Huntington entered Swarthmore College, she intended to major in English literature. Her father, Charles IV, was pleased, because she would learn the power of words, and then she would, hopefully, attend the Yale Law School after she graduated.

The last thing Bree wanted to do was please her father, so she switched her major to French literature. Actually, she was like most first-year students, she didn’t have a clue what she wanted to do with her life, except have fun.

She drove her powder-blue Porsche Boxster to college, pulling a small rental trailer behind it with her clothes and personal affects inside. On the way, she was only stopped once for speeding. She talked her way out of the ticket. She knew she was a beautiful blonde, and she knew the affect her beauty had on people. Talking her way out of a speeding ticket was a well-practiced talent, unless the cop was a woman, and even then, sometimes it worked.

She had been stopped for speeding 17 times since she bought the Boxster three years ago, and only once did they actually get a speeding ticket. That was in Jersey City. She hated that town.

When she got the speeding ticket, her father took her car keys away for two weeks, and she had to suffer the indignity of being chauffeured around in a white stretch-limousine like she was in elementary school. It was embarrassing.

Her mother got angry when Charles put Bree in the white stretch-limo that she used to commute to Adelphi College where she taught. Consequently, she took Charles IV’s black-stretch limo, but she didn’t like the black-stretch, because she thought it made her look like some mobster’s moll. So, she had her chauffer trade the black-stretch in on another white-stretch limo, and she was happy again.

Charles IV got angry when Amanda took his black-stretch limo, so he bought a helicopter. It allowed him to fly directly to the roof of the MetLife Building. An elevator ride down to the street, and then a short walk to his law office on Park Avenue reduced his commute from Long Island to less than 30 minutes. He never used a limo again to drive into the city.

By the time Amanda Huntington had her white-stretch limo, and Charles IV had his helicopter, Bree was driving her blue Porsche Boxster again. Such solutions to these problems might seem odd to ordinary people, but to people of their economic strata, they were completely normal.

And the Huntington estate added new features, a concrete helo pad and a hangar for the helicopter.

The day Bree got the keys back, she was stopped for speeding along Meadow Lane which locals called Beach Road. All of the police on Long Island knew her, and she knew all of them. Police Officer Brad Temple came up to the side of the Boxster. He was one of the few people who grew up in Southampton and went bad, meaning he became a policeman rather than an attorney or hedge fund manager.

I see you got your car back, Bree.

Yeah. I’m in a hurry. What do you want?

Don’t you think 78 is a little fast for Beach Road?

She swished her blonde hair back and said, I was just celebrating getting my keys back.

Are you going to the Hamilton Party on Saturday?

Maybe.

Can I have a dance?

Are you going to give me a ticket?

Not, if you’ll dance with me.

I’ll see you Saturday. And with that, she put the Boxster in gear and sped off in the direction of Dune Beach, where a party was in progress.

Brad Temple got his dance at the party. He was kind