The Thirst Trap: Sam Piper, #1

By Rodney Falcon

International spy Samantha Piper is racing against the clock to save a device from falling into the wrong hands. But around every corner is a man trying to seduce her. Dashing from point to point about Italy, does she complete her mission or does she fall short?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rodney Falcon Publishing
• Release date: Mar 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215387887

Book preview

Chapter 1

Amalfi, Italy

Two cars accelerate hard out of a corner. The car in front is one of German make and blue. The second car is one of Italian make and green. The driver in front wanted to escape. The driver behind wanted to capture the first driver. Both cars were equally matched.

On one side of the road, a rock wall with unforgiving snags. Looking up the wall, you could see a mountain stretching as far as the eye can see. It was nearing sunset. It looked like a scene straight out of a car commercial.

On the other side of the road, the sea lay hundreds of feet below. Another unforgiving foe. The driver in front fires a blind shot from their handgun. A desperate attempt to ward off the enemy.

The second driver easily dodged the shot. For Sam, she was a trained spy. A med school dropout who had trained with America’s best. But she didn’t just protect her own, she protected the good in the world. She was a freelancer. Working remotely and acting her wage.

Sam was chasing someone carrying a very important flash drive. This flash drive was so important that it warranted a car chase and flying bullets.

Up ahead, a runner jogs on the left side of the road. They seem to be lost in their own world. A nearby wildfire has left smoke lingering in the air, creating a unique sunset over the Tyrrhenian Sea. The runner seems to be consumed in the scenery and their podcast. Fortunately as the two cars approach, they are on the left side of the road. The cars overtake the runner as the road curved to the right. As the cars leave the corner, the runner never turned their head. The only imprint of the cars was the wind brushing their shirt.

Sam had several options available to end this car chase. She could attempt to crash the car ahead of her. That could result in total loss of the assailant and the valuable flash drive. She could crash them into the rock wall, but also risk crashing herself in the process. She knew she had to bring them back alive. But how could she buy herself more time?

They had covered kilometers of winding mountain road in just several minutes. They had to be breaking some sort of record and plenty of traffic laws. The police were few and far between on this seaside road. The pastel colored homes of Amalfi dotted the cliffside ahead of them. It’s a marvel how they built so many homes on such steep land. It made sense why most of their roads had only one lane and even that one lane didn’t feel wide enough sometimes.

The German car downshifted into the next corner and swerved. Sam didn’t see it until it was too late. A boulder the size of a basketball lay in the road. The German car avoids it, but Sam’s right front fender makes contact with it. A loud boom confirms it. Her tire is flat. She’s lucky she slowed down quickly enough before flying off the cliff.

Looking in the rear view mirror, the lead driver yells with delight and presses on. They have lost their tail and have escaped. The sound of the motor quickly fades out into the silence of the hills. Sam’s car has come to a complete stop. Her target has gotten away. She’s lucky to be alive. And her car is completely wrecked.

Chapter 2

It wasn’t her first choice for getting back to town but it worked out in the end. She had stumbled across a group of paragliders on the hill. Through some broken up Italian, a big smile and some persuasion, she got them to free up one of theirs to loan to her. She gracefully glided back to town, landing on the beach just a few hundred meters from the marina.

Her target had gotten away. That was okay. She pulled up her watch and pressed the button on the side.

HQ, this is Piper. I lost target on the coast road. Planning next move. My bad. she spoke into the side. It wasn’t the first time one had gotten away and it wouldn’t be the last. She took off her helmet and shook her brown hair out. The sand gave way under her feet. She was on the ground, but not the most stable.

She walked from the edge of the surf to the boardwalk along the main street. Ten minutes of walking later, she was back at her hotel on the cliffside above the sea. The front desk had an attendant waiting there. The attendant asked for her name and room number. Sam then received her key and walked up to her room.

She threw her jacket on the twin bed in the room and stripped off her clothes. She needed a shower. Naked, she walked into the small bathroom next to the bedroom and turned the water on. The hotel wasn’t the best in town. The agency wasn’t going to splurge for that. They went for the second best. The one that wasn’t rated five stars and featured in all the travel magazines. The one all of the Hollywood stars stayed at when they were in town.

With the water up to her desired temp, she stepped in and let the stream consume her. All she could hear was water rushing and hitting the floor. She could relax. She had locked the door behind her. She could be at peace for once and reevaluate her plans.

Her target was a known thief wanted by the United States. They had plans to steal a precious item that was worth millions. The item just happened to be on display at an museum in town. It wasn’t jewelry. It wasn’t artwork. It wasn’t even money. It was a flash drive containing the most troublesome computer viruses the world has ever discovered.

When Sam arrived in town, she was shocked to find that the museum was ill-equipped to handle security. The guards she encountered in the museum had been barely able to do their job. She was able to snap photos with her thick framed glasses.

Sam didn’t linger in the shower long. She didn’t know how long her hot water would last anyway. She turned the water off, grabbed her towel and soaked up the majority of the water that had remained on her body. Her hair was wet and messy. The hair dryer didn’t work. She would have to just air dry it.

Before the shower, she had taken off her watch. When she stepped back to the desk in the room, her watch had a new message for her. It was from HQ, specifically from her boss Lexington. She hit play on the voice message.

Piper, hey too bad about that car. I guess even the best have bad days. I have more intel for you. Your target, Sergei Popov, is still on the loose. I don’t have to tell you that. We do know where he is staying in town. He is on the opposite end, staying in a basement near the main piazza. The front of the building is very discreet. The door is in between two buildings. The plus side is there is one way in and out. No windows. He can’t possibly get away. I want you to stake out the building and apprehend him when he exits. Our intel shows he is on a boat that is set to leave this evening. I’ll send you the address. Try not to crash another car please. We can’t keep buying these cars Piper. Anyway, you have our full support. Good luck.

The message ended. Her phone buzzed with an address.

120 Via Cavour

She quickly got dressed, grabbed her gear and left the room.

At the front desk, she set the key back, threw one hundred euros on the desk and said goodbye to the attendant. Tonight, she was on a boat leaving Amalfi.

Chapter 3

The boat was scheduled to leave at 1900 hours. It’s destination was northern, along the coast to the nearest big city: Naples. The locals called it Napoli, famous for being the birthplace of pizza. Piper had two hours until the scheduled departure, so she thought she would kill some time in town. She walked up to a small restaurant on the main town square. She was promptly seated at a table with a good view of the piazza.

The western edge of the piazza lay the sea. The eastern edge had buildings that were occupied by the local government. The northern edge comprised small shops that served the tourists. And on the southern edge, the sight of the town. The Cathedral of St. Andrews. It sat atop a flight of 30 steps, made from concrete. Built in the 9th century, it was one of the many highlights of a trip to the seaside city.

In the center of the plaza, a fountain stood with children made of marble gathered around it. Water flowed from the top to a basin down below.

Tables with umbrellas above them filled the center of the piazza, crowding the fountain. It was early evening and the tourists were getting the craving for a snack, if not an early supper. Fragrant smells filled the air. Fresh pizza, pasta and more wafted through the air. Piper ordered a cocktail from the menu. An aperitivo as they called it. The drink before the meal. She wanted her wits about her, but she wanted a slight buzz to calm her nerves.

The waiter left and her eyes scanned the crowd gathered below the steps. She had been her only for a few days. She had never seen the piazza empty. They truly were the town center. The epicenter of activity.

A tall, slender man approached her table. He stood in front of her and she took her gaze from the square to the man in front of her. Her eyes lit up.

Mind if I join you? he asked. He had a slight accent, but the untrained ear would never notice it. Piper’s eyes lit up because she knew exactly who it was. The gall of this man. This was the man. The exact one she was chasing earlier. And here he was. Presenting himself to her. It plain sight!

She nodded her head and motioned to the seat next to her. He took a seat and the waiter walked over. She thought this was too good to be true. Why would the mouse walk right into the cat’s claws?

Chapter 4

When a mouse walks into a trap, you imagine the mouse not being too thrilled. You imagine a mouse struggling against it’s binds. You imagine it making noise and thrashing about. You never picture the mouse intentionally walking into the trap, willingly. Like a person walks into a movie theater, eager to see a new flick.

To an outsider, the sight of an attractive man sitting down to dinner with an attractive woman in a picturesque italian seaside village would seem like a normal one. You wouldn’t think twice. But this was no couple. This was no match. Cat meet mouse.

Piper was surprised. It had been quite some time since she had been surprised. She didn’t expect her target to fall right into her lap. Here he was sitting right across from her. He smiled with ease. He had a charm about him that conveyed relaxation and leisure. He didn’t seem perturbed that his capture was seconds away. Her game plan was about to change.

You’re probably wondering why I’m sitting here, he said. His cologne wafted across to her nose and captured her. It was nice.

She smirked. What could you be talking about? I’m just an American tourist seeing Amalfi.

Don’t play games, Sam Piper. Your beauty matches your intelligence. I know you were chasing me on the coast road earlier. It’s a shame that rock jumped in front of your car.

To say he was arrogant would be an understatement. He was beyond cocky. His eyes didn’t waver. He rarely broke eye contact. If he had a weapon, she couldn’t see it.

Do you know why there’s a watch tower by the sea, Miss Piper? he asked, taking a sip of his Campari. The orange peel was so askew on the rim of the glass, it almost fell off. The citrus scent made it’s way to Piper’s nose. Fresh from the hills, she was sure. The region was famous for a lemon liquor called Limoncello.

Why is there a watch tower, Popov? She landed on his name as if he were a former lover pestering her for a second chance.

Please, call me Surge. Back when the city-states were on their own, they needed to defend their harbors. This coastline is filled with old watch towers. Nothing comes in, nothing comes out. The stone forts are meant to intimidate. They are impenetrable. Impossible to climb. They’ve lasted for hundreds of years.

What are you getting at? Can you get there already? I have a boat to catch, she said with irritation.

Your country is like the watchtower. Even though you are unaware of the truth sometimes. You think I have something. I do not. You see, your watchtower missed it.

Piper raised an eyebrow. What are you talking about?

Cut the crap Piper. I’m on the boat leaving tonight as well. But you’re not going to apprehend me because you have no proof. I have nothing on me that you are looking for. Unless you are looking for something else, he smirked. Any other guy this good-looking, she would have taken his proposition. This was not one of those guys.

She didn’t say a word. She was lost. She had been beat. He put a hundred euros on the table and stood up.

I’ll see you on the boat, Sam Piper. My offer still stands.

Then he stood up and walked toward the sea.

Chapter 5

Piper sat in her chair. She was speechless. The game that Surge was trying to play was a confusing one. He walked up as if nothing could happen. As if he weren’t in danger. As if she weren’t a threat.

That bothered her. The waiter brought her plate out and she was reminded of how hungry she was. The smells from her plate rose to her mouth and she begin to regain her appetite. She was human after all.

She dove into the plate of pasta with the freshly made sauce on top. Minutes later, her meal didn’t exist. It had been consumed. Just like she had been with Surge’s puzzling demeanor.

The sun was falling into the ocean just like it had every day before this one. Piper was finished with her meal. It was tough to leave a restaurant in a hurry in Italy. They were more leisurely than American restaurants. It was almost like they didn’t want to be paid. She knew this and threw a wad of euros on her table.

As she was leaving, the waiter ran after her.

Excuse me, miss? he said with a slight accent. He handed her a slip of paper.

No it’s okay, I left money on the table for you.

He continued to hold the paper towards her.

The man you were with left you a note.

She took the slip from the waiter, said thank you and began walking away from the piazza and toward the docks. Two blocks