Double Trouble

By Billy Dean

Beverly and her twin sister Shirley have a seven million dollar problem with a drug lord who claims their father, now deceased, embezzled the money. The twins are double trouble for Rick and his team but they manage to terminate the drug lord and his business. The drama triggers an attraction between Beverly and Rick and between Shirley and Mike, one of Rick's team members.

Beverly is reluctant to get involved with Rick because she doesn't want to abandon her engineering career for a life of bending the law. And Shirley is reluctant to get involved with Mike because she has a sex-or-else problem with her parole officer. While Mike is giving Shirley's parole officer a cease-or-else demand, Rick convinces Beverly to learn how to operate the drones they use to zap bad guys out of business. When the parole officer hires thugs to kill Mike and Shirley, Beverly uses a drone to save them. Then Rick and Mike partner with a sheriff to put the parole officer behind bars.

The story concludes at Rick’s cabin where a full moon, a flickering fire and mixed drinks help Rick and Beverly mesh their personal and professional lives. Yes, they slip under the covers. The next morning they begin plans for a double wedding with Mike and Shirley.

You'll identify with the independent, self-determined nature of the male and female characters as they face the inner and outer conflict of cooperating with each other to put bad guys out of business and in prison. You’ll hold your breath when the story takes its darkest turns. Cheer when Rick and his team snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. And smile when... hey, this is just a preview of the coming attractions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Billy Dean
• Release date: Jun 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215543948

Billy Dean

Billy Dean is a free-lance writer with degrees in English and Engineering. He has written articles for trade journals, been a newspaper columnist, performed poetry at open mic events, and had his essays, memoirs, poems, stories and how-to guides published with on-line magazines and e-book distributors.

Book preview

Cast of Characters

Rick – former Marine sniper

Jessica – Rick’s late wife

Brad – Rick’s best friend

Shirley & Beverly – twin sisters

Frank – their deceased father

Maria – security expert

Greg – tranquilizer expert

Barbara – martial arts expert

Mike – attorney and pilot

Sheri – wall climbing expert

Max Goler (Mister G) – Drug Lord

Butch - Goler's cousin

Kane (Toad) & Kyle (Tree) - Goler's goons

Ted – former MI5 agent

Jim – Ted’s research expert

Chad - Shirley’s parole officer

Kurt and Chuck - Chad’s thugs

***

« 1 »

Friday Evening at Rick’s Home

Rick was excited about the annual Bike, Brew & Buggy celebration at the Moose Lodge in Landers. Every year he and his former Marine friends chased each other around the desert on their bikes and buggies, then went back to the Lodge, drank beer and laughed and lied about the good old days. The celebration started at noon. It would be a 3 hour drive from his cabin.

He called Brad. I’m planning to hit the road about 6 in the morning. Gotta bunch of stuff I need to take with me to Landers, so I’m driving my Rover, not the Ducati. Want to ride with me, or are you gonna take your Triumph?

No, same here. Too much gear for the Triumph so I’m taking my truck. When I get to my cabin I’ll give you a buzz.

Sounds good. See you tomorrow.

Rick, Brad and their Marine friends had cabins in Landers where they kept their bikes and buggies to charge through the desert in their dune buggies and race each other across dry lakes and through canyons on their dirt bikes. Rick had a Husky and Brad had a KTM. It was always a great way to release the stress and strain of dealing with bad guys. But tomorrow was a special event for the team members, dozens of their desert racing buddies and friends they’d met at the Moose Lodge.

Rick also had a post office box in Landers. He seldom got mail there but kept it for old time sake. His box proved valuable this trip because Ben, another team mate and desert racing friend who still lived in Landers, needed a part for his Honda Elsinore that was no longer available from the factory or any shop in the states. So a machinist friend of Rick's manufactured the part and sent it to Rick's post office box in Landers.

***

« 2 »

Saturday Morning at the Landers Post Office

The drive to Landers gave Rick time to mull over the weeks he’d spent setting Linda and her father free of the loan shark. He sighed. Linda. Just like me. Too caught up in her career to settle down with anyone.

When he pulled into the parking area of the post office, he saw two women struggling to remove the lug nuts on their truck. They had jacked their truck up so the wheel with the flat tire was off the ground. One of the women was struggling to keep the wheel from turning so the other could loosen one of the lug nuts.

Rick walked over to the women. A flat tire. That's no fun. Anything I can do to help?

Shirley looked up and saw a tall, lean, athletic looking man. Wide shoulders, narrow hips and sinewy, muscular arms. His tanned face and the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth told her he spent time outdoors and smiled a lot. There was a smile on his face now, and his hazel eyes sparkled with humor and good will. Shirley decided she could trust him.

Yes, we're—

Beverly grabbed Shirley’s arm, gave Rick a stern look, then waved him off. No, we've got it.

Rick shrugged his shoulders. Looks more like it's got you.

He's right Beverly, this is not working.

Rick looked at Shirley. I'd be happy to help, but I'm not inclined to get between your yes and your sister's no. He pointed his finger at Shirley, then twisted his wrist so his thumb pointed at her sister.

Beverly stood up, pulled a revolver from behind her back, and pointed it at Rick. He's the hit man, Shirley. Get over there and find his gun.

Hit man? asked Rick. What are you talking about?

How else would you know we're sisters? They sent you to kill us.

Rick rolled his eyes. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to notice that you're identical twins. Same emerald green eyes, same auburn hair, same pretty faces, same slim, shapely figures.

Rick paused to see if Beverly would lower the gun. She didn't.

"Look ladies, I've got a busy day ahead of me, so if you're not going to shoot me, I'm going back to my truck and get on with it."

Rick turned to walk away, then stopped and looked back at Beverly. And stop trying to loosen lug nuts on that wheel with it off the ground. Put some weight on the tire for Christ sake, then you and your sister can both put your weight on that lug wrench.

How do we know you don't have a gun in your truck?

"I do have a gun in my truck. I have one in a holster under my shirt too. So if I were a hitman, you'd already be dead."

Shirley turned to her sister. He's not going to shoot us, Beverly.

She turned back to Rick. You've heard our names. What's yours?

Rick. Rick Nelson.

Shirley raised her eyebrows. Like Ricky, the famous singer. You have a guitar?

I do, but I’ll never be famous.

Shirley smiled then offered her hand. Rick shook it, then offered his hand to Beverly but she just stood there with a cold, dark look on her face.

Knowing his name doesn't mean we can trust him, Sis. He could be working for this Mister G. The note said they're going to kill us.

Rick tipped his head back and frowned. What note?

Shirley removed a green envelope from her pants and started to hand it to Rick. Beverly yanked it out of her hand. This is none of his business. If that man watching us sees you hand the note to him, he'll think he's a cop and shoot all of us right now.

A silent alarm went off in Rick's head—that part of his brain that picked up signals like an antenna, things his conscious mind had missed. He looked up at the sky as if he were thinking about something, his situational awareness suddenly sharp and keenly alive.

What he was really doing was using his peripheral vision to scan the area for the man watching them. He didn't turn his head left or right to focus on individual objects because that would blur everything else in the surrounding area.

***

« 3 »

He saw a man slouched down in a pickup truck in the dirt lot across the street from the post office. Trying to be stealthy, Rick thought. The driver’s side door, the front and back fenders and the hood were all different colors but faded and rusty. The overall effect was to make the truck merge with the cotton wood trees that bordered the street. The truck would be barely visible to a casual observer. Rick wasn’t a casual observer, so it stood out like a sore thumb in his peripheral vision.

Rick stop gazing at the sky and turned his attention to the women. "Well, I'm not a cop but if somebody was sent to kill you, you'd already be dead."

We have to trust somebody, Beverly, and I'm going to start with him. Give him the damn note.

Beverly lowered her revolver so it was pointing at the ground. He could see the tension on her face and in her eyes. Her finger was still on the trigger but the safety was engaged. If she had been somebody he wanted to take down, he'd have disarmed her right then and there.

Beverly said, I'll give you the note but not out here. Let's go back in the post office and you can read it there. You first.

Rick led the women into the lobby of the post office. Beverly turned and handed him the note. Rick read it out loud.

Your father stole 7 million bucks from me. You got 24 hours to transfer the money from his account back to mine or your both dead. Clock starts when we see you reading this warning. Use the phone you found in your truck to get the number of my account. Tap contacts and Mister G.

Yeah, looks like you're in some serious trouble with this Mister G.

You got your mail here but your truck has Colorado plates. What's up with that?

"Our father died so we came here for his funeral. After the ceremony, we went back to our truck and found a cell phone and a note on the front seat telling us our father had an important message for us in his mailbox here in Landers. The postal clerk inside wouldn't give us his key until we convinced her that he was dead and we were his daughters. When we opened his box we found this note.

Shirley glanced at her sister. It doesn't make any sense. Our father was an accountant, not a criminal.

Beverly turned to her sister. Get real Sis. Frank was into criminal accounting practices long before Mom left him. You know that. He probably worked for Mister G.

That would be my guess. said Rick. Could I make a suggestion?

Yes. said Shirley.

Go back to your truck and continue struggling with that lug nut on your flat tire.

But you said—

Forget what I said earlier. I need you to put on an Oscar-winning performance. You're pretending, okay? Twist and turn, throw the lug wrench down. Pick it up again. Yell at each other. Kick the tire. Just don't knock your truck off the jack and hurt yourselves. Okay?

Shirley laughed. That'll be easy. We weren't pretending then and we won't be pretending this time.

Barbara gave her sister a scathing look. It's not funny Sis. Then she turned to Rick, frowned and spread her hands. Pfft. What kind of suggestion is that? You read the note. Somebody is watching us. Probably a sniper. He flattened our tire so we couldn't get away. If he sees us trying to fix it again, he's going to kill us.

"He won't kill you here at the post office. His boss needs you to transfer the funds from your father's account to his. A more likely scenario is that he'd send some more goons down here to kidnap you, take you back to Mister G's place, torture you until you give up the number and access code to your father's account, then kill you."

Well that's a fucking relief! said Beverly. Rick could hear the sarcasm ringing in her voice. But you're right about the flat tire. It has a bullet hole on the sidewall.

Shirley took a deep breath and put her hand over her mouth. Oh God. Like those movies where a man is strapped to a chair and you know he doesn't know what the men are asking him so after they've pulled his toe nails out of his foot and drilled holes in his teeth and cut off two fingers he makes up some lie and they find out he lied and—

Beverly put her hand in Shirley's face. For crying out loud, Shirley, stop it. You're scaring the crap out of me.

You can both stop worrying about being tortured and killed. Okay?

Beverly looked at her sister then turned back to Rick. Okay. Somebody is watching us. We know he flattened our tire. But he won't shoot us now. So if you really want to help, we could lose him out there in the rocks and cactus. Your truck is four wheel drive, right?

"It is but that would only be a temporary solution. Eventually you'll have to deal with Mister G."

He's right, Beverly, and we don't know how to do that.

Shirley looked at Rick. But you do, don’t you?

Rick could hear her begging for reassurance.

"Yes, I've been dealing with bad guys like Mister G for years and my approach always leads to a permanent solution."

Shirley turned her head to her sister. Then let's do what he said, Sis.

Beverly locked eyes with Rick, working her lower lip with her upper teeth. Rick could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. She didn't trust him or her sister.

How do I know you're not part of Mister G's plan to get our father's money?

You don't. But actions speak louder than words. So my advice is to watch and learn. I'm going to have a little conversation with the man watching you.

***

« 4 »

Shirley had a surprised look on her face. You know where he is?

I do. But I can't confront him until you are back at your truck struggling with that tire. When we get back out there in the parking lot, don’t look around as you walk to your truck. And don't panic when you see me drive out of here. Just wave a friendly goodbye.

Shirley's eyebrows jumped up. You're leaving?

I'll be back after I give the guy an offer he can't refuse. A minute or so after I leave, you'll see an old man with a cane limping toward that truck parked behind the trees across the street.

Beverly and Shirley started to turn their heads but Rick put one hand on the side of Shirley's head and his other hand on the side of Beverly's head. Keep looking at me.

The old man is you? asked Shirley.

Yes.

Oh my God, said Beverly. "He could kill us right