Goliath's Breath

By R.A. Ballard

Goliath is an oddity in his surroundings and his entire life. He now has embarked on a plan to enhance his financial prospects. But he must do harm to anyone who gets in his way, man, woman, or the forces of nature. He is looking for easy money and an abduction is his way forward and to be in the human trafficking business.
Lansing Police Detective Lockhart receives a mysterious phone call, “I’ve got them”. They get reports of a large man scaring those who meet up with him.

Other LPD Detectives are investigating a drug related murder on the Southside with many anti-police observers of the crime.
Across town the other “too tall” LPD detectives are assigned to a robbery at a local jewelry store. The suspects are smart and ruthless.
In Washington, D.C., a meeting of the National Defense Intelligence Service (NDIS) is taking place. They are discussing what to do about Chinese aggression. An NIDS agent explains a plan on how to deal with this situation.

Goliath invites human traffickers from all parts of the world to view his “merchandise” and decides on a more desirable plan.
LPD is tracking down Goliath and it leads to two detectives becoming hostages with abducted victims.

The Chinese decide to make a strong move on Taiwan with all their forces zeroing in capture the island nation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664186293

R.A. Ballard

R.A. Ballard is a Vietnam Veteran and graduate of Michigan State University (MSU). He worked in the auto industry, Driver Education, Public Transportation, and with the Michigan State Police/Homeland Security.

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Goliath’s Breath

by

R.A. Ballard

Copyright © 2021 by R.A. Ballard.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/02/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

Author’s Note

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This novel is dedicated to those in law enforcement and the military

who protect us on a daily basis, risking their lives,

their way of life, and without enough support from us.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

G oliath’s Breath is a work of fiction. Names and some locations were changed or provided for enhancing the novel.

It is the fourth novel in a series by R.A. Ballard. (Lottery=The Plan, Highwires, and the follow-up to The Retalis Web, which has a cliff hanger ending)

1

Monday afternoon, 2:00 p.m.

D etective Lieutenant Lockhart suddenly sat back down in his chair. That phone call shook him up.

Detective DiLoggia noticed. Lockhart, are you okay?

Lockhart stood up and his color came back.

The caller said I’ve got them. See if you can find out where that call came from. Where is Detective Leo?

He is over at Eastern High School. They reported someone got into the principal’s office and torn it up.

Call Eddie (Leo) now, as I need to talk to him. I have to check something.

Lockhart went over to the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) and checks the reports for the last two weeks.

DiLoggia walked over to where Lockhart was standing, with her cell phone in her hand.

Eddie, what have you found out at the high school? Lockhart was still stewing but held up the cell phone, put the call on speaker phone, so DiLoggia could hear the conversation.

Lieutenant, someone broke into the school. The outside doors were padlocked, which is done every evening, unless there is a sporting event. But what is peculiar….

What, Eddie, what is peculiar?

The doors were ripped off at the hinges. No breaking the chain or lock but torn off.

So, what are you and Sharp thinking of how this happened?

Detective Leo tried to explain. Well, my first thought is someone yanked the doors off using a vehicle. But there are no tire tracks, as the wheels would have spun momentarily, leaving burn marks. But no tracks or burnt rubber residue on the pavement.

DiLoggia told me that they broke into the Principal’s Office. What did they take?

I checked with Principal Delilah Gratton and she said it was hard to tell, but it appeared that some student and teacher files were missing.

Files missing after a break-in?

DiLoggia asked Leo a question. How did the office look when you arrived?

It was a mess, as if someone were looking for something. And another oddity, the file cabinet was turned on its head. Leo was shaky in his response, as he could not believe it.

Turned on its head? What do you mean? Now Lockhart was curious.

I am guessing but I think the burglars, more than likely, picked it up and sat it down a few feet from where was located, according to the principal.

Now, why would they do that?

The files were not locked, so they all came out and were scattered all over the floor. The principal said her desk was broken into. A cash box with a couple hundred dollars and four rolls of coins were taken. She had to admit she had a .357 six shot handgun in her desk drawer. She said it was for protection and possible intervention if a school shooting occurred.

Was the gun registered? DiLoggia inquired.

Yes, she showed me her permit and her training class card.

Okay, Eddie, do what you have to do and then hustle back here, as I have another issue that requires your high octane wisdom.

Roger, that. We will be there as soon as we can. Leo dropped the call.

So, what do you make of that, Detective? Lockhart was looking for anything.

Lockhart was still sifting through previous LEIN messages.

DiLoggia thought for moment. It is very strange that the entry into the school was suspicious and the principal’s office ransacked.

Lockhart stopped going through the messages and began to think. He had a bad feeling that a clue was overlooked and they did not see it.

DiLoggia, let’s go over the reports that came in today. They sat down at their desks and DiLoggia talked her way through the daily report, aloud.

Lockhart listened and did not pick up on any clues or incites. He needed Detective Leo, as he has a way of working through the wheat to get the chaff.

3:00 p.m.

Captain Michael Broadhower walked in from a meeting with response agencies planning a school exercise at Everett High School in six weeks.

I need an update, Detective DiLoggia.

Detective DiLoggia went through the report again, including Bigfoot sighting at the Groesbeck Golf Course woods, and Lockhart was listening.

DiLoggia, go through it slower. Lockhart listened closer.

DiLoggia continued and at the end looked at Lockhart.

Was that, okay? Lockhart nodded in agreement.

What is going on Lockhart?

Lockhart told the Captain about the phone call. Lockhart started to pace the floor, going one direction and then back again. All the while thumping his head with his finger, as if to ignite a thought.

The Captain, watching this had never seen Lockhart so intensely out of whack.

Lockhart stop that damn pacing!

Lockhart then told the Captain of Detectives Leo’s report from Eastern High School. He also told him he was going to confer with Detective Leo, when he returns from the scene.

Oh, no, not another message from the Twilight Zone? Did he get a message coming through?

I don’t know about that but he does have some great instincts.

DiLoggia got off the phone and related what she found out about the call.

Lockhart, the call did not come in on a land line but from a cell phone. The phone was not registered so it must have been a burner phone.

That actually made sense to Lockhart, as the caller obviously had some scruples.

He sat down at his desk and started scribbling on a legal pad. He wrote down"

• phone call

• burner phone

• lone wolf or collaboration

• no reports of missing persons, products, or materials

• high school break-in

• stolen files, cash, and a gun

• doors torn off hinges

• file cabinet upside down

• Bigfoot

__________________________________________________

He stood in front of a fireplace in the hunting cabin, south of Lansing, which he and his father used during deer season. The ceilings were over twelve feet high with a circulating fan in the middle of the line of rafters.

He was over seven feet tall, actually 7’4, long hair, and beard. What few friends he had called him Paul Bunyan". He was a hefty 300 lbs. and had trouble finding clothes that fit him. In the corner of the room, a large axe, a crosscut saw, a bundle of rope, and a Mossberg 12-gauge pump shotgun.

He decided to go for a walk. He put on a light jacket, as the temperature was cool for August and it had begun to rain. He walked slowly down a path that led to a series of small cabins. They were rented out to deer hunters from November to the end of December.

He opened the door of the first cabin. There was a dim light in the cabin and he could see two young girls and two female adults, all huddled in a corner. One of the adult females was tall and had a firm body, as he felt her arms, when tying her up. They had their eyes blocked with tape, bound by rope on their hands and feet. They could hear him coming and were squealing. He walked over to them and kicked their feet hard.

Stop it or I will feed you to the wolves! He meant it, but knew there were no wolves this far south in Michigan.

The victims got quiet. He explained that he would feed them, one at a time and let them use the bathroom. He warned them if they tried to leave, they would be shot. If they pulled off the tape over their eyes, then the others would pay dearly.

He untied them one at a time and kept the tape over their eyes intact. One by one he gently fed them, untied their hands, momentarily, and let them use the restroom. He then covered them in blankets and told them to sleep, as they had nowhere to go. He told them they were miles from any other people and would be eaten up by the critters that live in the woods, if they escaped.

He then told them about the sightings of Bigfoot in