Invasion at the Border

By S.J. Bowen

The border has been an area of high tension. The Mexican Government has cut communications with the U.S. The Border Patrol has arrested several known members of terror groups. Local police are dealing with an increase in gang activity. A group of local police officers are still planning their annual camping trip. These friends have been meeting at the same campground for several years.
While camping the group is right in the middle of a planned invasion. The officers and their wives must resort to gorilla warfare. They must protect their wives and attempt to get back to the police headquarters. Fighting is fierce and could cost them the ultimate sacrifice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: S.J. Bowen
• Release date: Feb 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215171905

S.J. Bowen

S.J. Bowen is a retired law enforcement officer with almost 30 years of service. Writing has helped him to cope with the pressures of the job. He has a Masters in Business management and has taught law enforcement classes at the local college. When he is not writing he is camping and fly fishing, now living in Idaho. He volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and loves wood working. Two more fictions are in the works and a behind the scenes look at the Justice System.

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Invasion at the Border

Published by S.J. Bowen

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Copyright 2023 S.J. Bowen

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Invasion at the Border

Chapter I

It has been a tradition for several years. The same families have met at this campsite and enjoyed each other’s company in the wilderness. It started out as two families meeting for five days of rest and relaxation in the beauty of nature; now there were four families enjoying life and each other’s company. Originally, this group had a total of eight children joining them, but now they are all empty nesters and enjoying their newfound peace. They all look forward to their meeting each year and they gather numerous times during the year to plan, it’s also a chance to party and exchange family stories. Since their children were grown and gone, they enjoyed re-establishing their old friendships. All the men had worked together for twenty-five years and had bonded as brothers. They worked in a demanding profession that made their time away from work very important. You see, they are all police officers.

Their meeting place is a small lake in Southern California called Round Rock Lake. They had been meeting here for fifteen years and had become good friends with the camp owners who lived in a beautiful log home on the lake. Since they had been meeting here for years they could always count on the lakeside spots for their camp. The guys fished, the wives hiked and enjoyed the quiet time around the camp. They were celebrating their fifteen-year anniversary and had big plans for their celebration. The guys had planned something different for this trip and had not told their wives about their extracurricular activity. This was going to be the best camping trip ever.

The organizer of the event is Sam West he is the unofficial leader of the group. His wife, Lauren also looked forward to the gathering each year because she enjoyed the friendship she has with the other wives. Sam and Lauren traded in their old fifth-wheel for a new one just a few months earlier and they were proud to show it off. It is a 38-foot beauty with all the luxuries of home. It has a big screen TV, a fireplace, surround-sound stereo, is spacious and very comfortable. They towed it with a huge Chevrolet Diesel that looked as big as the rig itself. Sam and his wife had taken many trips over the years and had become pros at the art of RVing. Sam is fifty years old and looking forward to retiring soon. He and Lauren plan on traveling five to six months out of the year. Lauren retired after she sold her small programming business last year. The sale of the business provided them with the ability to have the nicer things in life. Sam loved his job and did not want to retire but he knew it was getting close. He knew it didn't make sense to stay now they had become financially secure. They have two children, a boy and a girl who are both married and live in Seattle. Sam is a Lieutenant with the police department, in charge of patrol section. He is up for a promotion to Captain and is hoping to get the news in the next few weeks. The promotion would give him more regular hours and help increase his retirement benefits. Sam is well liked by everybody at work, everybody believes he will make a terrific Captain. Sam is a handsome man with a touch of gray around the edges of his light brown hair. He stands six-foot-one and is in good shape for his age. Lauren is two years younger than Sam and has kept her high school weight of 120 pounds. She works out three times a week to stay is good shape. Sam adores Lauren and they have a wonderful married relationship. Sam and Lauren have been married for almost thirty years. Their two children Wil and Beth both moved to the Seattle area two years ago to follow their careers. Both are very successful and miss their time with this group of camping friends. Their careers prevent them from meeting for the annual gathering of the clans this year.

Sam’s good friend Ed is also his neighbor. Ed moved next to the West family ten years ago and they are almost like brothers. Ed Berg is married to Karen; they have two grown twin girls. The girls always called Sam, Uncle Sam and Lauren is Aunt Lauren. Ed is a Sergeant in charge of the S.W.A.T. detail and heads up the department’s intelligence and gang unit. His wife Karen is a housewife and has helped Lauren with her computer business on and off over the years. Their girls are at College in Boston and Ed is happy they were able to get scholarships, he was never sure how was going to pay for two to attend any college on his salary. Ed has a 40-foot class A motor home and it too has all the luxuries of home. They tow a Jeep behind the motor home for mobility once they make camp. Ed installed a new satellite dish that is able to connect him to the Internet and receive satellite TV. Ed is also in good shape for a man over fifty. He stands six foot two and is rapidly balding, so he shaves his head to a very short stubble. Karen is a very pretty woman and enjoys showing off her forty-five-year-old shapely body. Ed and Karen enjoy accompanying Sam and Lauren on their camping trips.

The third couple is Don and Janet Perry. Don is also a Sergeant and works directly under Sam in the Patrol Division. Sam thinks highly of Don and relies on him to keep his patrol section running well. Don is five foot ten and has a small beer belly. Don’t let the looks fool you. Don is very active and works out regularly to stay in shape. Don likes his beer and knows he must work out to keep his fifty-two-year-old body from looking like a beer barrel. Janet is forty-nine and works as a dispatcher in the department; they both plan on retiring in three years. Don and Janet never had children, but all of the friend’s children have adopted them as an uncle and aunt. When the kids were little, they always enjoyed spending time with Uncle Don and Aunt Janet. The Perry’s travel in a 35-foot Class A motor home that they bought five years ago. It may not be as luxurious as the others, but it is in excellent condition and has many of the amenities the others have. It is much better than the tent they camped in for the years prior. Don tows a small trailer with two motorcycles inside, one for him and one for Janet. They enjoy riding their bikes around the camp area and dress up in their leathers, looking like real bikers.

Last but not least is the oldest couple of the group, Jerry and Jane Stone. Jerry retired from the department five years ago and has been enjoying his retirement. Jerry was a Commander overseeing the department’s Administrative Division. He is a mentor to all the men in the group. They all strived to be like him because of his integrity and work ethic. Jerry would have been the next chief if he had stayed with the department. He explained that since he got a late start in the department and he was much older than the others he wanted to enjoy his retirement years, so becoming the chief was just not in the cards. Jerry is sixty and Jane is fifty-eight. Jane had been a successful attorney and retired a few weeks after Jerry. They have four kids: three boys and a girl. Two of the boys are police officers with other departments in southern California the other is a successful businessman. Their daughter is an attorney like mom and works for the D. A’s office in Los Angeles. They are very proud of their children and cannot help but talk about them all the time. Jerry and Jane camp in a three-year-old, 35-foot fifth wheel and were usually on the road four months out of the year.

The group has all grown up together and family is a good word to describe their relationship. They all spend time around the campfire at night talking about what the kids were doing or the latest success stories. The first night of a gathering is spent talking about the activities of the week; they were all excited about their plans for the fifteen-year celebration.

The first to arrive was always Sam and Lauren. They arrive early to ensure that the site was cleared and ready for the group. Sam will usually stop first at the camp owner’s home. It is on the west side of the lake just a mile from the entrance to the camp area. As Sam turned up the drive of the beautiful log home, a woman came bounding from the house arms outstretched. It was the wife of the owner Nelly.

So good to see you, Sam! she exclaimed waiving her arms in the air.

Good to see you too, Sam replied as he embraced her. Where is the old man?

He is down at the camp making sure everything is ready for you guys. He is anxious to see you too. Would you like to come in for a minute?

Sam motioned for Lauren to follow him and Nelly into the house. Nelly gave Lauren a big hug and they all moved into the house.

Come on over and sit on the couch, Nelly said motioning to the living room couch.

The house was about three thousand square feet and decorated like something out of a