Charlie

By T M Nugent

Charlie is the granddaughter of the original Chameleon, Brooks McLaughlin, and the daughter of Lucky McLaughlin, the son of Brooks McLaughlin. Charlie is the ultimate crime fighter, a woman with great skill and intelligence who works at solving crimes that normal police cannot solve. It is a crime-fighting family, and you read and see the family

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Aug 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643456959

T M Nugent

My name is T M Nugent. I was born in Chicago Illinois in 1949. I had a normal childhood and served in the military. I work in the hospitality business for fifty some years and owned my own restaurants for fifteen years. I married a wonderful woman and we were together until her death of brain cancer. We were together for forty-two years. After her death I quit working and traveled the western United States writing poetry. I rode a full dress Harley and bought an I-pad to write my poetry and stories. I met a wonderful woman, Corina and we traveled the country together. We ended our travels in San Luis, Costa Rica where we live today. I have written ten poetry books and one short story book which I published with Xlibris Self-Publishing Inc. I have written six novels to this publishing. Two are published with Amelia Publishing and four with Stratton Press. I like to write and spend every day writing something in my I-Pad. I hope you enjoy my writing.

Book preview

Introduction

Charlie is the third in a series about the Family McLaughlin Saga. Charlie is the daughter of Lucky McLaughlin. Forced to retire because of age, Lucky trains her to follow in his footsteps, and we watch as Lucky hands over the reins to Charlie, who as the next Chameleon, must learn to combat the forces of evil. We see Lucky’s friends begin to pass away from old age or villainous treachery. Lucky begins to realize life is short and wishes to enjoy life’s adventures to fullest. No longer the adrenaline junkie but a worried father, Lucky looks with pride toward his daughters and sons.

With the death of his lover and adventurer Carla, Lucky strives for new adventure by helping Charlie from a distance. Soon Lucky realizes Charlie is a copy of himself and is great at the role of the Chameleon.

Enjoy the adventures of the McLaughlin Family: The Man with the Limp, The Chameleon Returns, and now Charlie. Soon Brooks McLaughlin will arrive in the saga series.

Chapter One

The FBI Caper

Charlie and Claire meet Abe at the Tavern in Washington, DC. It is a sweltering June day, and Abe looks anxious. Charlie and Claire are sitting in the corner drinking a frosty margarita.

Hi, Abe, What can Claire and I do for you?

Two men tried to kill me last night! I do not know who they are. My facial recognition cannot find them. My bosses said to get you to help me because my bosses believe the men are foreign hitmen.

Abe, do you have any girlfriends who are not Americans? asks Claire.

No, I am investigating a small prostitution ring from an Albanian mob, says Abe.

If that is true, why aren’t your bosses looking into it? asks Charlie.

Derrick says there is no connection proving the Albanians are running a prostitution ring. I am not getting support from my new boss, Derrick Summers, says Abe.

Watch your back. I believe Summers is knee-deep in this. He may put you in jeopardy in your effort to gain control of your mission. Keep constant communication with Claire. Charlie hands him a throwaway phone.

It is against FBI protocol to have a throwaway phone, says Abe.

Better that than dead! exclaims Claire.

They order dinner and another margarita as the two men walk in the door. Claire sneaks a picture with her phone. As they leave the Tavern, Charlie accidentally slips and falls into one of the men at the bar and puts a tracking device under the collar of his suit jacket.

How can he stand wearing a suit in this weather? thinks Charlie. She apologizes and looks at the man in the face.

No problem, he says. You should be more careful. Someone else may not be so generous.

Charlie smiles and walks away. Charlie walks out of the Tavern, and the men follow Abe around the corner. Abe stops and turns. What do you want?

A black van pulls up. Ping! Ping! The two men fall unconscious as Claire and Charlie jump out of the truck,

I love those tranquilizers. It is much quieter than shooting bad guys, says Charlie.

Claire finishes handcuffing their hands behind their backs and shackling their legs; Harry drives to a warehouse in the busy city. The warehouse opens as Lucky stands in the middle of the warehouse. Abe was told to keep working at his office. The two men are handcuffed, shackled to the concrete, and blindfolded. Lucky opens his satchel and takes out a syringe needle and injects the first man and waits. It is a syringe of Sodium Pentothal.

How did you get that? It has not been produced since 2011, asks Claire.

I know a smart doctor, says Lucky.

The man falls asleep, and Lucky slaps the back of his head to awaken him.

What’s your name? asked Lucky.

Jock Davidson.

Why are you following the FBI agent? asks Lucky.

My boss—

Shut up, Jock! says his partner as Charlie duct-tapes his mouth.

Who’s your boss? asks Lucky.

Carlo Belushi wants him dead because he is interfering with the prostitutes, says Jock.

Is anyone working for the FBI helping Carlo? asks Lucky.

Yes, Carlo’s son, Derrick Summers, says Jock as he falls back to sleep.

Lucky shoots up the next man, and he says, That shit won’t work on me!

Lucky breaks a finger, and he yelps like a dog and falls asleep.

Lucky slaps him hard, and he wakes up. Where am I?

What is your name? asks Lucky.

Michael Chan.

Why is a man like Michael Chan working for the Albanians? asks Lucky.

I am on loan from the Triad. We want to buy his business or kill him to get it, says Michael.

What does Carlo have on Derrick Summers?

His sister Irene Belushi is being held so an investigation will fall away. I am to kill the agent named Abe so the investigation will look like the Italian mob did the killing, says Michael.

Where is Irene? asks Lucky.

I do not know. Michael falls asleep.

Lucky slaps Michael, and he wakes up.

Where is Irene Belushi? Why are Derrick and Irene brother and sister? asks Lucky.

Different fathers, same mother, who fell in love with Carlo Baluchi, my boss. Carlo is estranged from his daughter and is using her to make the FBI boss listen to him because Derrick is close to his sister, says Michael.

We do not know where she is, says a tired Jock.

Lucky calls Abe to come to pick up the two men and question them further. Claire is busy looking for properties, corporations owned by Belushi. Hoping to find where the sister is. Claire and Charlie visit the FBI boss to get his side of the story. He is surprised that the girls know he is in trouble.

Why did you not tell Abe your difficulty? asks Claire.

What difficulty? says Derrick.

Cut the crap! You put your agent in jeopardy, and we are here to help, says Charlie.

I do not know you or Abe that well that I am willing to get my sister killed! exclaims Derrick.

Let Abe continue, and we will watch his back. We have the location of your sister down to three possible locations. The locations are on Abe’s list also, and we will narrow it down, says Claire.

You and Abe need to go crack down on this location. It is an active prostitution house. Girls are shipped in from a location by the docks where I believe your sister is. Claire and I will go in after her while you bust the ring. Carlo Belushi is at the whorehouse as we speak. Trust us, my father, Lucky McLaughlin, is waiting for us at the docks, says Charlie.

It is important to take down the prostitution house when I call, so your sister is safe, explains Charlie.

The reluctant agent agrees as Charlie and Claire leave and head to the docks. Lucky is standing on three sea containers as Charlie pulls into the lot. He calls on the phone, Charlie, there are ten guards located around three containers. You will need to start at the first one numbered 103 and be quiet in clearing out the three guards. I will cover you from here if guards come from another location. Be careful. A worried farther watches his daughter and Claire in action.

Claire stays behind a cargo container and works her imaging machine and sees three men and a woman in a sea container. Two guards are standing in front of the door.

Whoosh, plop, whoosh, plop. Charlie uses a blowgun to inject a knockout serum to their necks.

Lucky thinks, Where did Charlie get that weapon?

Charlie opens the container slightly, and ping! Out goes the lights as she rushes in the dark wearing night glasses.

Whoosh-ping, whoosh-ping!

Two more men down and out. A woman comes around the corner and kicks Charlie in her kidney as Charlie rolls on the ground. The woman tries to kick Charlie’s head, and Charlie blocks her kick and twirls, kicking the assailant in the ankle, causing her to fall next to Charlie, who drives an elbow to the assailant’s head, knocking her out. Claire runs in with a flashlight and says, Wrong container! One-oh-eight is the one we want. Lock down this container, Charlie.

Charlie locks the container, and they walk cautiously to 108 as two men come running at them.

Ping! Ping! Lucky shoots them from his perch high up the containers.

One-oh-eight is around the corner, and they are taking out prostitutes. Let them go by, and I will call Derrick about the next group of women heading his way. I believe this is the office. Enter after the group clears you, says Lucky.

Clair scans the container and signals Charlie four fingers, one finger as Charlie shoots out the two lights and walks in. Charlie attacks the first man in the dark by kicking his legs out from under him as another attacks toward the light. She kicks him in the chest, knocking him back and dropping him to the floor with a devastating elbow that pounds the man on the floor into unconsciousness. The other man responds, running toward Charlie, who is lying in the darkness. As he walks by, Charlie trips him hard. He falls forward when Claire walks in, and she clobbers him with the flashlight, breaking it. There are three more men who begin to fire hand machine guns. Claire dives to the floor behind some crates and fires one shot, hitting a man in the chest as a barrage of machine gun fire ricochet of the iron cargo container.

Charlie crawls in the dark, looking for the woman who is tied to a chair, as Claire returns fire. Two men are advancing on Claire, one on each side of her. Charlie sits up in the dark and whoosh-plop! Whoosh-plop! There is silence, and one man left.

Leave now, or she is dead! I have a knife at her throat, and I will kill her!

Ping! Charlie put a bullet in his head. The man falls dead to the ground.

My name is Charlie, Irene. Your brother Derrick sent us to find you. Are you okay?

Charlie unties Irene and walks her outside. Charlie takes off her night vision glasses, and Irene hugs her as she cries in relief. Lucky is standing outside the containers near the cars as Claire and Charlie walk to him, passing six more soldiers lying on the ground, unconscious or dead. The FBI shows up to clean up the area and check more containers, where they find fifty more women, all Asian. Irene is taken to the FBI offices to meet her brother, who successfully raided the prostitution house and arrested Carlo Belushi, Irene’s father.

How could he use me as a pawn? Irene asks Derrick.

I guess he is angry at Mom for leaving him thirty years ago. Mom must be rolling in her grave, says Derrick.

Abe calls Charlie and thanks her for her help. It is a big win for Abe as he raids the Triad headquarters and finds more prostitutes. Derrick compliments Abe on a great job and says, Thank your friends for me! They are true professionals, and what is this note, and who is the Chameleon?

He helped Charlie and Claire make the bust and is our friend, says Abe. Derrick walks away and puts his note in his desk drawer. He calls the number on the letter, and no one answers.

Leave a message!

Thank you! Click.

Charlie, Claire, you did a great job today. When I am no longer able to help you, you will need to put someone else up on the containers. How about we show Junior the ropes? asks Lucky.

Sounds good, Dad, says Charlie as Claire nods her head yes.

Junior accepts a role as an investigator who will help Charlie and Claire as Charlie begins his physical training and realizes he is in exceptional shape. Jack must be proud of his son. Charlie looks to the heavens. Charlie believes he is a little bit behind in self-defense as Lucky begins his training. Charlie receives a call from a woman about her son getting involved with a gang,

How can I get him away from that environment? He does not know what he is getting into, says Harriet Moss.

Do not worry. I will look into it. What is your son’s name? asks Charlie.

Samuel Moss. He goes by Sam. His friends call him S&M, thinking it is funny, says Harriet.

Charlie tells Claire to look up Samuel Moss and see if he is in with any local gangs. She hopes he is a wannabe looking for something to stimulate him. Claire gives Charlie a report from the juvenile authorities. Sam is a straight A student who is excellent in math. He is taking calculus and trigonometry as a junior in high school.

He must be bored, says Claire. "Mom is working two jobs because the deadbeat dad is off partying away from home, living with a single woman who loves to drink. The father has shown no interest in taking care of his only son but drops by for money. If she refuses, he forces her to give him money, either by threatening her son or beating her up. Sam is small in stature for a junior in high school, a late bloomer who gets pushed around and is looking for someone to protect him. That is why he takes the abuse from the gang—fifteen toughs who run the two-block neighborhood called the Seth. The Seth is Hebrew for ‘the substitute.’ A new family of petty robbery, burglary, and purse snatching terrifying the area."

A new figure emerges in the neighborhood, a hunched-over old man. He walks with a cane, has long gray hair, a long gray beard, and a gray mustache, and he is wearing a black Giants’ baseball cap. He wears a man purse as he walks the street.

S&M, grab that pussy’s man purse! Let’s see what is in it, says Kilroy, the leader of the gang. Sam obeys and runs toward the old man and grabs for the purse. He gets two feet, and the old man trips his legs, causing him to fall. He raps him on the head, making him dizzy.

With clarity you find peace, says the old man as he walks by and disappears like a ghost as the boys run into the corner.

Where did he go? How can you expect to be in the gang if you cannot steal a purse from an old man? shouts Kilroy. The gang beats up Sam in front of the neighborhood to make him tough. He arrives home all bruised, and as his mother confronts him, there is a knock at the door. It is Claire.

Hi, my name is Claire, and I am recruiting mathematics students who are exceptional in math to enter a new school for academic excellence. Would you be interested?

No, I like what I do.

You like being part of a gang that beats you every day? You have an excellent mind, and my sponsor would like to see you challenge yourself. How about it? says Claire.

I will think about it, says Sam.

What do you mean you will think about it? You would rather be with a bunch of thugs, uneducated brutes like your father? yells Harriet.

Well, at least I am wanted!

Sam rushes past Claire and disappears down the street, looking for his friends, and bumps into the old man. The old man looks at him and says, With peace, you find growth.

The old man smiles, and Sam feels something he never felt before. He cannot put his head to it. He walks past the old man and turns to see where he went, but he has disappeared again.

What is he an illusion or a ghost? What does he want with me? Now Sam is as confused as ever and searches out his gang.

Kilroy has no sympathy for his newbie as he slaps him around the band.

Let’s find this old man and teach him a lesson! Kilroy slams a plate on the table and breaks it. Clean this mess up, S&M! Then we will find the old man, says Kilroy.

They search the streets and end up in the park. In the park, the old man sits on the lawn. He is meditating with his cane in his lap and his eyes closed. Kilroy walks behind him as his four compadres circle the old man, who remains silent.

Kilroy nudges the old man and says, I am going to make an example out of you! He pulls out a knife and begins to lean forward when the old man whips out his cane and whacks Kilroy in the head, making him fall back, wheeling in dizziness. Two more members pull out knives as the old man pushes one with his cane and kicks another in his kneecap, shattering it. He falls in pain to the ground as the fourth man kicks at the old man, missing him badly, losing his balance and falling to the ground. The boy with the knife lunges toward the old man, who grabs the knife hand and bends it back quickly, forcing the blade to the ground. The old man bends his hand and circles around the attacker, pushing him to the ground. He kicks the back of his head as Kilroy runs at him with a knife, acting like he knows what he is doing. The old man steps to one side and hits his knife hand with the cane and breaks two of Kilroy’s fingers. Kilroy cries out in pain, and the old man wallops him with the cane. Sam watches as Kilroy falls unconscious. Sam watches as the old man limps to him and stops and says, A prepared mind earns a good life. What do you want? The old man points to the men scattered in pain on the ground. The old man walks away whistling Dixie, which makes Sam smile. Sam walks to his friend Kilroy and sees a note on his chest.

Disband your small gang and go back to school or die!

The Chameleon

Sam leaves the park and goes home to tell his mom about the old man named the Chameleon. He explains to his mom that he is sorry and will work hard at school. Claire shows up the next day, and Sam says, If you will have me, I would like a challenge.

My benefactor sponsored a new school forty-five miles from here. You and your mom will move to the school where there is a two-bedroom apartment in the school for you and your mom. Mom will have a job at the school as the admissions officer and cook, and the students will clean the building every day to subsidize their education. That way you feel like you are contributing to your success. It is a ten-hour day, and you will feel challenged. In the morning is physical training and meditation. Do you think this is for you? asks Claire.

Yes, how many students are there? asks Sam.

Twenty-five of the very brightest and their moms. We will pick you up at five in the morning on Friday, says Claire.

Claire turns and leaves as Sam watches her go down the street and sees the old man who turns, smiles, and bows. He slowly limps away and disappears into the crowd.

How does he do that, Mom? asks Sam.

I do not know, but I am glad you met him, says Harriet.

Six months later, Sam is studying and working hard. He has excellent teachers who challenge his mind. Sam becomes close to Professor Lazlow and his team of scientists. Sam has grown six inches and gained thirty pounds of muscle. He stands six feet four inches tall and weighs two hundred and ten pounds with 5 percent body fat. He meditates every morning and is studying karate with Lucky, Junior, and Charlie. He is told to be cautious with new friends, but remember, the heart is the gateway to the soul. Always water the heart with compassion and your soul will be cleansed.

One Saturday morning, he and Charlie travels to the old neighborhood and found a change. The old gang disappeared, Kilroy died in prison, and the group dissolved.

The old man was correct. He said Kilroy would die, says Sam.

Evil cannot survive when goodness prevails, says Charlie

Chapter Two

The Sunrise School of Developing Minds

Lucky is proud of the new school he built on the airstrip. He wishes to have one hundred students at the school. The parents will run the school with CJ’s guidance. CJ couldn’t make up his mind about college. First, he wanted to do police work, then it was a lawyer; he went back to school at Stanford and came back to Cherry Farm when his father thought of the new school concept. CJ has a master in education and is working on his doctorate and will use the new school concept for his thesis, Educating the Troubled Genius.

The school receives a government grant of ten million dollars a year to help run the school. The students support the school with a small farm of fruits and vegetables, which they sell in the DC area. It includes a mechanic shop to tune cars and small trucks. It has an art studio for extracurricular activity, which is always full of students. Once a year the students sell their art craft at an autumn fair with music, food, and fun. It is a unique setting for those students who are of low income and brilliant. It is called the Sunrise School of Developing Minds.

Lucky is proud of this independent school and the families that work at keeping it cleaned, painted, maintained, and a happy environment. After graduation, the students are given scholarships to colleges of their choice. The students’ national test scores are above average. The students have no problem with awards to the school of their choice. The parents