The Wrong Side of Paradise

By Mike Shellenbergar

The Wrong Side of Paradise: A Top Secret Presidential Novel by Mike Shellenbergar is an exhilarating ride for fans of thrillers and covert military activities. It begins when Captain Jack contacts Diego Black Hawk, a half Ute Indian and half Mexican American, a guy with no phone, no address, and no friends

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike Shellenbergar
• Release date: Oct 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781088014196

Book preview

13:30

02 FEBRUARY

TIME ZONE TANGO

Diego Black Hawk drove his old Ford pickup into the snow-packed parking lot of the Three Bear saloon. He had finished the final exam and flight check earlier, and received his temporary ticket as a private pilot. He had always wanted to be a pilot, since he was a kid growing up in the mountains of Colorado. The Three Bear was a local watering hole from way back when. The county judge could be found there from time to time, along with every sort of ski bum in Summit County. Hawk figured he would celebrate passing his check ride and have a drink on his way to the new camper he lived in. His old one was torn up badly when he broke out its largest window to flank a sniper who was trying to kill him, several months earlier.

He opened the door and blinked several times, getting his eyes used to the dark inside the bar. He stood to the side of the door, six feet tall, half Ute Indian and half Mexican American. His hair was black and his eyes black as coal. He was in his late twenties with an athletic build. He spoke both Spanish and English from his parents, and the army taught him to speak Vietnamese. There were a couple of men seated at opposite ends of the bar. The bartender watched as Hawk walked through the cloud of smoke in the room and took a stool in the middle of the not-so-long bar. The bar and stools were worn to a high polish from years of use, like the tables and chairs spread around the saloon in a haphazard way.

What can I get yah, mister, said the bartender.

I’ll have a Chivas rocks, said Hawk.

The cute brunette turned to the bottles lining the back wall and grabbed the scotch bottle, and poured three fingers into a short glass filled with ice. Hawk decided she looked as good from the back as she did from the front. She stirred the scotch once and put the drink on a coaster in front of Hawk and said, You from around here?

From time to time, said Hawk.

I take that as a mind your own business answer. Am I right? asked the bartender.

Didn’t mean to be rude, said Hawk. I’m not used to answering questions, I guess. I have a place here, but travel a lot. I always wanted to travel, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to make it. The bartender frowned as she went down the bar to get another drink for a customer. She turned partway to the other customer and said, My name’s Jodi.

I’m called Hawk.

Jodi smiled a knowing smile and said, Nice tah meet yah, Hawk.

Hawk nodded his head in the way he always did for the affirmative and said softly to himself, Sometimes it isn’t any fun traveling.

Hawk finished his drink and stood to leave. He put a tip down and turned to go. The bartender called over to him, Don’t be a stranger, Hawk, and my name’s Jodi!

Jodi watched him leave and thought, Good looking, with black hair and eyes, handsome, about six feet tall, strong shoulders, narrow waist, mid-twenties. No wedding ring, hope he comes in again.

15:10

02 FEB

TZ TANGO

Hawk pulled into the dirt-and-rock drive that led to his camper on the side of a mountain, above the town of Frisco. He had rebuilt the front steps and the small deck in back of his camper that overlooked a small lake. He grabbed his backpack that had all his flight gear and charts in it and went inside the camper where Eliot, his Maine coon cat, did a double bump on his leg, which either meant, Feed me, or Let me outside. Eliot didn’t go out much in the cold and snow, so now that it was starting to warm up, he became a pain, always wanting to go out.

Hawk dropped his gear, grabbed a can of tuna in water and a cold beer, and went outside and around to the small deck. Eliot followed the tuna in the can. Hawk sat in his deck chair and put the tuna down. He leaned back, took a sip of the cold beer, and relaxed for the first time. He had been tense, all through the test, and the check ride for his private pilot’s license. It was something he wanted to accomplish. It was on his list, and he could now check it off. Next, he would get his instrument rating, then a complex, and then a high-performance endorsement later.

He walked around the camper and got another beer. He was feeling more relaxed now, so he picked up the rest of the six-pack from the fridge and a tray of ice to keep it cool and went around to the deck, again. He kept a small metal tray by the chair to hold the ice and the beer. Eliot had finished his tuna and laid down next to the beer tray. He liked beer almost as much as canned tuna.

Hawk was into his third beer and enjoying the sound of the small mountain stream that ran down from a sheer rock face, higher on the mountain. There was a mound of cut branches and mud in the middle of the pond where a beaver stayed. It had put up the log, mud, and grass dam that made the small lake that Hawk enjoyed. Hawk had the parks and wildlife officer for the area stock it with rainbow trout. He was thinking of fresh trout for dinner when Eliot’s ears started to do direction finding. Both ears ended up pointed, tuned to the corner of the camper. The one Hawk had recently gone around to get more beer. Eliot put his nose up in the air and twitched it back and forth. Suddenly Eliot stood up and freaked out. When he did, all his hair went on end, so he looked more like a big porcupine than a cat. He jumped up, turned in the air, and was off like a streak of light, headed for the far side of the camper and the woods beyond.

Hawk grabbed his M1911 that was at the small of his back and ran to the side of the camper. When Eliot acted like a streak of light and disappeared in a cloud of dust, Hawk knew something was bad wrong. He thumbed the hammer back and pushed the safety off. He moved in a crouch to the corner of the camper and waited. Shortly, a shadow edged up to the corner from the other side, and stopped. Hawk remained still and quiet in his crouch. A leg came past the corner in khaki pants. The shoe was highly polished, like it was spit shined. An arm then part of a torso appeared, all in khaki. The hand nearest the corner of the camper caught the corner, and the other leg and the rest of the man came into view. He was carrying a pistol in his off hand and walked looking at the deck and the pond. Hawk powered up and out from his crouch and knocked the khaki dressed shadow off his feet. Then he reached across to take the pistol from the unknown khaki man. Hawk stood to the side of the man lying flat out like a two-legged pancake. He looked down at the man and said, What in the hell are you doin’ here, and how did you find me?

Captain Jack looked up from the ground at Hawk and said, The sheriff’s office.

Why’re you packing a gun, Captain Jack?

I didn’t know if you would recognize me in time, or shoot first and ask questions later.

Count yourself lucky! I came close to just shooting you from under the camper.

Can I get up now? asked Captain Jack.

Get up slowly, and give me your pistol before you start.

Captain Jack gave his pistol to Hawk and stood up slowly. You have another chair out here? I’d like to sit down, asked Captain Jack.

There’s one in the camper; I’ll get it, said Hawk as he walked around the corner of the camper.

Hawk came back around the camper carrying a fold-up deck chair and stopped short of the tiny deck. Captain Jack was sitting in Hawk’s chair with a cold beer in his hand. Hawk shook his head like why didn’t he figure Captain Jack would take a beer and his seat without asking him.

Hawk asked, What in the hell is the deputy sheriff and his car doing out in the driveway?

I flew in to the county airport and called the sheriff’s office for a ride to your location. Wasn’t any other way to find you. No phone, no address, no friends, what do you expect me to do? The reason I came to find you is that the president has another assignment for you and Cowboy.

Hawk put the chair flat on the deck and stood over Captain Jack. What about Liz? She’s part of the team now.

Don’t worry about Liz. She’s been contacted.

Don’t waste my time, Captain Jack. If you were a friend, I’d have a beer and shoot the shit. Since you’re not, get to the point!

Captain Jack put the beer down and stood up. The president has information that Alexi Vasily Volkov, the Russian that was involved in the assassination plan in France, has shown up in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It looks like the Russians are helping North Vietnam and the Vietcong to ship food and equipment from Sihanoukville Port in the west of Cambodia, across the country to the Ho Chi Minh Trail in South Vietnam to supply the war. The president wants your team to kidnap him and transport him to a location suitable for his interrogation.

When is this to happen, and how do we insert?

I don’t want to repeat myself. I’ll do the briefing at Oakland Army Terminal when you and Cowboy are both together, said Captain Jack. You are to fly commercial from Denver and meet up with Cowboy in San Francisco, and then to Travis Air Force Base for transport to Vietnam.

Hawk asked, What did you fly into Summit County airport on?

A Ute-21. Why are you asking?

Fly me to Cowboy’s ranch. There is a straight gravel stretch on the ranch road to land the King Air airplane. That way you can brief us on the way to Travis Airbase and save time. I can call Liz from Summit County FBO and have her drive up to the ranch. We can all go together.

Captain Jack said, The use of the Ute is not approved for what you want to do with it.

Captain Jack, my team and I work for the president of the United States, not you. Do what you need to do to fix it. I’ll get my go bag, and I will be ready to go. I’ll meet you at the deputy’s car in a few minutes.

Captain Jack stood in place and stared at Hawk like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Hawk walked to the corner of the camper, turned, and said, Get your ass in gear, troop. We’ve got places to be and people to see!

Captain Jack walked past Hawk, around the camper, and to the deputy’s car as Hawk went into the camper, grabbed a can of tuna in water, and sat it on the small front door porch. He went to the small bed raised over a storage area. He opened the door and pulled his to-go bag out, and grabbed Eliot’s travel box. He always had his M1911 on him or near him. He patted his back just to make sure it was there. He stepped out the door and turned to lock it. Eliot was busily scarfing down the tuna near the door. Hawk put what was left of the tuna in the carrier, and Eliot walked into the box, stretched out like a king, and continued to chow down.

Hawk smiled to himself as he walked to the car with his go bag and Eliot in his box. He was wondering what Captain Jack would do or say if he knew the only reason Hawk was making him go pick up Cowboy and Liz at Cowboy’s ranch was to get Eliot to Cowboy’s father, so he could take care of him while Hawk was on the new assignment. Hawk was laughing hard when he put the cat box next to Captain Jack in the back seat of the deputy’s car.

17:47

02 FEB

TIME ZONE SIERRA

Hawk watched through the little round passenger window as Cowboy’s truck kicked up gravel dust down the caliche road. Hawk thought, Cowboy drives like his tail’s on fire. The truck slid sideways as Cowboy hit the brakes and downshifted, doing a neat slide parallel to the King Air’s right wing. Hawk walked over to the exit door and swung it open, and extended the small ladder down to the ground. Cowboy was waiting for him when he reached the ground.

Before they could shake hands, Captain Jack appeared at the cabin door and said in a loud voice as the engines died, What the hell ya think you’re doing, Cowboy. You could have very easily taken off that wing with your wild driving, and sliding to a stop. Cowboy was Hawk’s best friend and his spotter from two tours in Vietnam. He stood five feet ten inches with a stocky bodybuilder’s physic at 180 pounds. He was a few years younger than Hawk, a Mexican American with black hair and eyes. He spoke Spanish and English and considered himself a ladies’ man.

Cowboy looked at Hawk, waited a minute, and said, Unlike you, Captain Jack, I know what I’m doing.

Cowboy asked Hawk, What’s he doin’ here?

We have an assignment. He’s going to brief us on the way to Travis Airforce Base. I made him bring me down so I could bring Eliot for your dad to look after. Is he goin’ tah be around?

For you, buddy, he’d blow the devil up and piss on the fire. He’ll always remember you saved my life in tha Nam.

We need to call Liz and get her up here for the briefing and ride to Travis, said Hawk, ignoring Cowboy’s mention that he had saved his life in Vietnam. They were a team and had each saved the other one, many times.

Captain Jack stood at the bottom of the stairs without greeting Cowboy and glared at him. Cowboy looked him in the eye and asked, Where yah sending us this time, Captain?

Cambodia, via Vietnam. Captain Jack smirked.

Hawk told Captain Jack, You better tell the guys in the front seat to put the covers on the engines. We’re here for the night.

Hawk went up the stairs and picked up Eliot’s box. Cowboy and Hawk walked off with Eliot screaming to get out of the box as Captain Jack climbed back up the stairs to talk with the pilot and copilot. The Double-D Ranch had plenty of rooms for the extra people.

Eliot stopped screaming when Hawk set the carrier down. The Double-D was his second home since Cowboy’s dad had taken over care of him when Cowboy and Hawk were on a mission. They walked around the low ranch-style home that was built of adobe bricks with a colorful tile roof, to the large, cool patio. It was shaded by ancient live oak trees. Hawk finally got around to opening the carrier, and Eliot zipped out and screeched to a halt as the patio door opened and Paco, Cowboy’s dad, came out with three bottles of Shiner beer with ice still covering most of the bottles. Eliot ran up to him and double bumped his leg while Paco was passing out the beer. Paco then leaned down and petted Eliot, just to have Eliot tear off to the nearest tree and disappear up the trunk, only to reappear on a branch that hung over the tile roof of the house. He jumped down and ran to the corner of the big fireplace chimney and laid down in wait for the first bird to land, nearby.

Captain Jack and the two pilots walked around the corner from the covered parking area and stopped. Hawk waved them over and started the introductions. Paco offered them cold beers, and all three accepted. Cowboy followed his dad saying that he needed to make a phone call. Hawk pointed out the ranch bunkhouse that was past the parking area on the other side of a large corral and barn where the horses were kept. The bunkhouse was set up more like military barracks with a bed and dressing area. A common bath and showers were at one end and a common lounge on the other. The cookhouse was between the bunkhouse and the foreman’s quarters.

Paco came out with three more beers and walked the three men over to the bunkhouse and showed them around. He told them the TV in the lounge worked but the signals left something to be desired.

Hawk walked into the large living room with a fireplace taking up a wall. The floor was polished Saltillo tile, there was antique ranch and western furniture, with colorful ranching paintings hung on the walls. It was a warm and comfortable place. Cowboy saw him through the double doors that opened into a large library and smoking room and another smaller fireplace, and waved him into the room. Cowboy hung the phone up and said to Hawk, She’s not answering. I’ll try again later. If she doesn’t pick up, are we leaving for Vietnam without her?

Hawk shook his head. Let’s keep trying, and if we can’t reach her, we’ll have to talk with Captain Jack about how urgent this thing really is.

Paco came into the study and said, Is there something goin’ on between those pilots and the man you call Captain Jack? Cowboy looked at his dad and asked what he meant by goin’ on.

It’s easy enough to tell by the looks they give each other when the captain can’t see them or by the way they answer him, and the gestures they make. The one that’s the pilot gave the finger to him when he had his back turned.

Well, Dad, Hawk and I aren’t as subtle as the pilots. We give him the finger to his face, said Cowboy.

He got to be an officer and now a government representative without having any ability to think for himself or make decisions that consider the possible consequences. He’s one of those men that thinks he’s smarter than anyone around him, and generally he isn’t. Just so you know, he’s the one that sent Cowboy and me on that mission that Cowboy and I got hit.

Basically, Dad, he’s an asshole. The pilots know it too. It doesn’t take long to figure him out. From that point on, you know to watch your back, said Cowboy.

Paco said, He’s a guest here and I’ll treat him a such, but if he gets out of line, I’ll lay down the law to him.

Hawk and Cowboy looked at each other and smiled. "We want to

be there when you do, Dad," said Cowboy.

17:10

03 FEB

TIME ZONE SIERRA

After a breakfast of chorizo and eggs, cowboy made one more call to Liz, figuring she would be home and still in bed, early as it was. He came back into the big dining area next to the ranch kitchen where the others were finishing up final cups of black, strong ranch coffee. He told Hawk that Liz was still not answering her phone.

Captain Jack overheard the remark and said, We can’t wait any longer. The target may not stay where he is.

Everyone told Paco goodbye, and Eliot gave everyone a leg bump, but Captain Jack. The Ute 21 took off without filing a flight plan and headed northwest to El Paso and then west to Travis Air Force Base, about fifty miles east of San Francisco.

After the plane passed over El Paso, Captain Jack let down a small table from the side of the aircraft and sat down facing Hawk and Cowboy. He told Hawk and Cowboy the details of the snatch mission. They would land at Tan Son Nhut air base and without checking in to the MACV compound there, they would be met at the plane and travel by chopper to Ban Me Thuot where the new MACV-SOG Command and Control South was located. They would pick up the rest of the mission plan there. The Russian’s name was Volkov, so the mission name would be Wolf’s Lair. Volkov was Wolf in English.

Neither Cowboy or Hawk had been to the new camp at Ban Me Thuot, where all the men that were special operators lived, ate, slept, kept their gear ready, and spent their downtime keeping up with family in the States. They practiced jumps and hand-to-hand combat as well as survival and escape techniques, and made their in-depth plans for insertions, extractions, and positive completion of the mission into Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and North Vietnam.

Hawk said, It’ll be good to see some of the guys again.

With this new compound, and the time we’ve been out of the country, there may not be any operators there that we know, mentioned Cowboy.

We’re all kinda like old bronc stompers. Yah can’t keep ‘em out of the saddle for long. Hawk smiled.

Fuckin’ A, swore Cowboy.

There was quiet between the three men the rest of the way into Travis. Both Hawk and Cowboy had their own thoughts about going back into the country. Captain Jack had nothing in common with either man, so he was in the front passenger seat next to the cabin wondering what the two men would say about his little secret when they found out. He decided to tell them the truth when they landed at Travis. Maybe it would keep them upset all the way to Phnom Penh. He hoped.

12:01

03 FEB

TIME ZONE UNIFORM

The Ute-21 pilot chirped his landing and rolled down the runway until he reached the taxiway that the controller had given him to the loading area, and the C-141A Starlifter that sat with the tail open and ready for boarding. The Ute-21 taxied to the rear of the huge plane and stopped. Captain Jack stood quickly and dropped the stairs. Hawk and Cowboy grabbed their gear and walked to the open door and descended the stairs.

Captain Jack yelled over the idling props of the U-21 and told them, You won’t be able to talk with Liz until you reach Phnom Penh. I sent her over three days ago. She was to locate Volkov before you arrived.

Cowboy looked at Hawk and shook his head. Hawk yelled at Captain Jack, You sent her to Cambodia with no backup? She’s over there by herself, you son of a bitch!

Hawk ran up the short steps as Captain Jack tried to close the plane’s door before Hawk got to him. Hawk dove shoulder first into the legs of Captain Jack. Captain Jack went over backward, yelling for the pilots to help him. The door to the cabin stayed closed. Hawk smashed a fist into Captain Jack’s face and stood up. Captain Jack had blood running out of his broken nose, and a split lip. Hawk grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him up and over to the stairs, and threw him out the door. Captain Jack hit the tarmac in a heap and rolled over on his side. Before Hawk could get down the stairs, Cowboy jerked Captain Jack up and hit him as hard as he could in the stomach, and when Jack doubled over he kneed him in the face. Hawk got to him while Jack lay on the ground, bloody and crying.

Listen up, you fuck. You never send any of MY team out for any kind of work without informing me first. If she’s dead, if she’s hurt, if she’s upset or lonely, I’ll come back and rip your suck-ass guts out. You understand me, CAPTAIN JACK?

Captain Jack moved his head back and forth slightly as the blood flowed from his face and head.

There was loud applause and whooping from the plane. Both the pilots were standing at the door, and one of them said, We’ve been wanting to do that since he first got on board.

Hawk and Cowboy did a fist bump and headed toward two sergeants at the loading ramp of the Starlifter and asked if they had time to get to the BX before the loading process started.

The loadmaster told them, You just made my day. Take all the time you want. This plane doesn’t leave until I tell it to. I hope that guy was an officer of some type!

Cowboy looked at him with a satisfied grin on his face and said, He was our commanding officer in the Nam. Both the sergeants saluted Hawk and Cowboy as they walked over to the base exchange.

Cowboy walked into the military gear section of the BX and asked the clerk if he had a case of .357 magnum ammunition. The clerk went through a door into what Cowboy thought was the storage area and returned in a moment with a cardboard box marked Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum Ammunition. The clerk smiled and asked if there would be anything else. Hawk had been standing next to Cowboy and said, I’d like a case of .45 caliber, also. The clerk repeated the process and soon came back with another cardboard box with .45 caliber ammunition. They paid and walked back outside with the boxes under their arms. The U-21 was gone, along with Captain Jack.

They walked up the loading ramp of the C-141A Starlifter and asked where to sit. The rest of the troops were just lining up at the ramp. The loadmaster took them up to webbed seats next to the cabin and told them they could sit with him and the other loadmaster. They were the best seats on the plane. Cowboy told him thanks and asked how