Favor Owed

By Tom Lee

Ryan and Gunny are at it again. Amanda has called in her favor, and now the both of them are off to Budapest and a double cross. Ryan has been tasked with discrediting ANFA, a U.S. homegrown terror outfit. While at the same time finding information on a left-wing radical group inside the Hungarian government. Who will die this time?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: Jun 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9781977266118

Tom Lee

Tom Lee is a graduate of Michigan State University. He is a retired Marine of twenty years. After retirement he trained to fly aircraft, eventually flying Medivac, corporate, and finally for the airlines commercially. Now retired from the airlines he has settled into his third career as an author. Tom’s other books are - There’s a Turtle on the Runway and other flying stories. Retribution is Tom’s fourth book in the series involving Ryan, Scout, Gunny, Cate, Amanda and others. 

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Favor Owed

All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2023 Tom Lee

v3.0

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

This book may not be repr oduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The Ryan series by Tom Lee

Back cover picture provided by J. Bodine

Nothing to Hide

Hidden Agendas

Also by Tom Lee

There’s a Turtle on the Runway

and other flying stories

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1: THE CALL

2: PRIORITIZE

3: THE CLUE

4: A CONFERENCE

5: GEEKS

6: A VISIT

7: FAVOR DUE

8: LUNCH

9: THE BRIEFING

10: CUSTOMS

11: FARKAS, BOBOS, GUNNY

12: THE ROOM

13: DECISION TIME

14: THE PICKUP

15: DEJA VU

16: THE MEET

17: CATE

18: SENOR FROG

19: THE DEATH

20: MY FAVORITE CELL

21: A TRAP SPRUNG

22: THE ENCOUNTER

23: INFORMATION

24: THE SETUP

25: SUNDAY

26: A FITTING

27: FINAL ACT

28: PAPPY

29: EMPATHY

1

THE CALL

Ryan ambled out of the bedroom enjoying the warmth of the brick floor on his bare feet as he made his way over to the kitchen to make himself an iced tea. At six in the morning with a brisk ten degrees Fahrenheit outside for the last few days, he was glad that his wife had the forethought to insist that they install heated floors.

He had not slept well. Last night was his only sleepless night in the last five months. As he sat in his favorite chair sipping his tea, he gazed out the window at the snow blanketing the Taos Valley, pondering that implication. After the last two years, the peace had been a pleasant change—last night being the lone exception.

His wife was out of town RVing with her sister and brother-in-law, but in less than two months she would return. Then it would be his time to return to Corning and his bar, Scouties. He glanced over at the chair where Scout lay sleeping. His wife had gotten Scout for the kids ten or was it twelve years ago, he couldn’t remember. They had named her Scout. She was a wire haired terrier, maybe fifteen pounds, white all over except for a black spot on her back that went down her right side. Her face was white with a little brown mixed in. A smile crossed his face as he turned his gaze back to the panoramic view of the snow-covered valley. He waited for the sunrise. In Taos, that was his favorite time of the day—the second, being the sunsets over the valley. As the sun began to rise over the Taos Mountain, the valley lit up like a Christmas tree with the colors of the vegetation being highlighted by the sun’s rays. The same occurred in his living room as the sun illuminated the various art pieces hanging on the walls and sitting on the furniture. With the beauty of the moment holding his attention, a dark thought entered his mind. Setting his tea down he rose, heading for the kitchen counter and his phone. As he reached for it, it began ringing. Picking it up, he already knew who it was. Hello Gunny.

No John, it’s Amanda.

He glanced at the phone – this was trouble. She was not on her private line. He could sense some tension in the pause. I take it you’re calling your favor in?

Well… Amanda said.

Well… get on with it. What do I have to do? He had hoped Amanda would not call in the favor for at least a year, but he couldn’t complain. What she had done to help him and Cate was worth any favor she was going to ask. All those months ago when Cate’s ex had showed up and beaten her, in a fit of rage he had nearly killed the man. He’d been arrested and charged with attempted murder, until Ms. Amanda Kirkpact had stepped in. With her political weight in Washington she had the charges dropped. The ex was sent back to Florida for parole violation in addition to violating the restraining order Cate had filed against him. Now this was the favor he figured she was calling in. At least she was still using his alias of John Warner. He guessed she wanted to keep him under wraps from her company….

Listen, I think I’d better let Gunny explain. Hang on, I’ll put you on speaker.

John, can you hear me? Gunny asked.

Yes, who else is there? Ryan started to get a bad feeling. He was on speaker, not a good omen.

Just Amanda and me in her office, but you know phones, replied Gunny.

Oh crap! Ryan pulled his phone from his ear and went into the settings application on the phone. In the application, he went to the privacy function. He wanted to ensure that the location services was switched off. Seeing that it was, he let out a sigh of relief. Okay Gunny, what’s up?

Well, a couple of things… Gunny began.

Amanda chimed in, When are you headed back? I would like to talk with you then.

Same time as always.

Okay, that’ll dovetail nicely for me, said Amanda.

If you two would just shut up for a minute! John… remember those guys you met in Vegas?

Yes. They had been from MI-6 British Intelligence. They’d returned Sidney Blum to him after they finished their interrogation. Ryan wondered what Gunny was getting at.

Well, their bosses called last week to pass on some information they acquired. I took three days looking at the information and it’s accurate to a fault.

Ryan remained silent as he walked over to his desk, pulling open the top left hand drawer. He pulled out the 9mm pistol, checking to see that it was fully loaded.

John….

I’m here Amanda. He was now walking around the house looking out the windows to see if there were any footprints in the freshly fallen snow. The sun was rising, beginning to put on its display of the valley outside his windows. He ended back in his kitchen after his visual survey. Keep going Gunny. I’ve been outed haven’t I? Ryan cursed himself. He should have never gotten involved with Gunny in the first place. He knew when he did that this day would come. There was silence on the line, then he could hear some whispering. Guys, if you don’t mind I’m the one on the hook here.

Gunny spoke, "John, you are on a big hook like in the TV show Deadliest Catch."

Amanda interjected, John, I just want to assure you that this did not come from us. I want to convey to you that we are all in this.

Ryan said, You’re telling me…, but he was cut off.

Yes! Do you understand? Amanda’s words were clipped and authoritarian.

Ryan heard silence after Amanda’s statement. He thought for a minute, then it hit him. They had a leak in their organization. How else would the DTG terrorist organization have known about John Warner? Only Gunny, Amanda, and her boss Sean O’Malley knew about him. Got it. You have anything else?

Not from our end, said Gunny.

Okay. I’ll talk with you later. For now though I have a few things to work on. Ryan hung up. He was not too nervous about what they’d just told him. If the leak was in their agency, then they did not know his whereabouts. Gunny along with Amanda had assured him that they had put nothing down as to where he lived or where he went. As a matter of fact the only place the two of them had a location for him was in Corning, New York. Neither of them knew that his home was located in the mountains of northern New Mexico near the town of Taos, which could only mean that someone had accessed the file on the Gjoni incident. That incident had taken place in Albania. So who accessed the file, a file that was secured in the bowels of CIA headquarters? A yip brought him out of his thoughts. Looking down, there was Scout standing at his feet. Now with his second tea of the day in hand, he said, Come on Scout. Let’s go upstairs and sort this out.

2

PRIORITIZE

Well… that went over like a lead balloon, Amanda said as she stood up from behind her desk. Gunny, I have to say you are probably one of the best spy hunters I have ever met.

But…, replied Gunny.

But geez, can you stop bringing me trouble like this?

Gunny was sitting in one of her office chairs leaning slightly forward with his hands folded together on his knees. Sorry ma’am, but it wasn’t me--It was as I said, the MI-6 boys. They felt they owed us one for bringing Sidney Blum to justice over the killing of their agents.

I know. She waved her one hand over her head as she picked up the folder lying on her desk with the other hand. As Amanda stood there, she perused the three sheets of paper inside the folder, flipping back and forth through the sheets in silence. Closing the folder she then tossed it at Gunny. You’re a hundred percent sure the leak is on our side?

Yes ma’am. I wish I wasn’t.

She pondered the implications as she began pacing around her office. Gunny remained seated with the folder now in his hands. She stopped facing the closed door to her office. Well, I’m pretty sure it’s not you, but if it is I’m in big trouble. Sean can’t be the source of the leak. The Director of the CIA would be a real coup if he was. Besides you vetted him so he’s out. She turned from facing the door to stare at Gunny. You know it could be me.

Yes ma’am, was all he said.

Well, I didn’t expect that answer! She walked over, retrieving the folder from Gunny’s hand. You done with this?

He just nodded.

Walking around her desk, she dropped the document through the shredder that sat next to her desk.

Gunny, you didn’t want that back did you? The document was a copy of the original. One of her personal rules was not to leave copies of classified documents laying around. If she had no further use for a document she always destroyed it, or returned it to the originator.

No, that was your copy, replied Gunny.

She knew how astute Gunny was. She also knew that until he could prove otherwise he would consider her a possibility for leaking Ryan’s alias – John Warner. That was going to throw a wrench into her plans for Ryan. Give me a time frame when you will feel certain it is not me. She saw him smirk as he stood up to leave.

He stepped towards the door. As he opened the door to start for his office several floors down. Twenty-four hours, ma’am.

Alright, well, let me know. We have to move forward on this. And stop calling me ma’am. When we’re behind closed doors, it’s Amanda.

Yes ma’am, Gunny said over his shoulder as he headed down the hallway.

Amada slammed the door behind Gunny, he could be so annoying. She was more annoyed that her agency had a leak. That was brought to their attention by MI-6 after an intelligence operation against a terrorist organization working in South Africa captured one of the up and coming leaders of the DTG terrorist organization along with some zip files. Someone or something had been infiltrated into her organization. That person or thing was working for the Venezuelan Intelligence Agency, SEBIN. On top of that, according to the Brits, there was an active team looking for Ryan. Someone was out to kill Ryan. Had someone somehow discovered that he was responsible for the exposure of the intelligence operations that SEBIN had been running in El Rito, New Mexico? She pondered that for a minute. Maybe someone had tipped off SEBIN. She retrieved her coffee cup from her desk. This was really a problem for their counter-intelligence people, but MI-6 had made it very specific that they were only giving their acquired information to Gunny. Gunny had told her that MI-6 considered it a favor owed, so had only provided him with the information. They left it up to Gunny to disseminate what information he felt was relevant. She now had three problems that needed to be resolved.

One, where was the leak? The El Rito listening post had been nothing but a phone call from Ryan, alerting her about the foreign operation in El Rito. Along with the call, information had been delivered to her by one of Ryan’s longtime friends. As far as anyone knew, she was the one that had discovered the operation while she was in the process of breaking up the Yuanita young guns terrorist cell located in Fredericksburg, Virginia. That group had been planning to blow up dams across the U.S. If the leak was not from El Rito, then it had to be Albania but how?

Two, she needed Ryan in Europe. The intelligence reports coming out of Hungary painted an increasingly disturbing picture of the formation of an ultra-left wing political party that appeared to be backed by the Hungarian Intelligence Service. She knew that if this was true then the fragile democracy of Hungary could be in jeopardy. She needed to know definitively what direction this political party was headed. Was it really left wing? Maybe it was right wing, or just plain radicalization. In her mind it didn’t matter; all options meant it was bad news for U.S. political interest. She decided that before she went to Sean to ask for official permission to investigate and if possibly, intervene. She needed a clear picture of what was happening. That was where Ryan came into the picture.

She knew when she made that step of talking with Sean it would have to be explained to the Senate Intelligence Committee, and that for sure would let the cat out of the bag. The inability of those people to keep their mouths shut frustrated her to no end. Ryan, though, was the perfect choice for her plan. He was not part of the agency. No one but Gunny and her knew about him. The list went on as she ticked off in her head the skill set Ryan had. She planned to use Gunny along with Ryan the same way they had worked together when they tracked down who was exposing covert operations to the Washington Post.

And three… She stood up and began pacing. An active team looking for Ryan. How was she going to handle that? Her mind swirled around this problem of an assassination team after Ryan. Why? How? Who? She knew that could all be figured out soon, but still. It was the WHEN that bothered her. She had to have all this wrapped up before she made her official request to Sean.

Afternoon ma’am.

Startled out of her thoughts she replied, Morning. She stopped, then looked around. She was in the hallway outside her office. She glanced at her watch, it showed 3:30 in the afternoon. Where had all the time gone? Excuse me?

The young lady that had greeted her stopped and turned toward Amanda. Yes ma’am.

This may seem odd, but how long have I been in this hallway? The look on the young lady’s face showed that she was questioning Amanda’s inquiry.

Just a few minutes, came her reply.

Thank you. I’ve been up and down this hallway all day and it’s all beginning to blend together. Amanda hoped that sounded reasonable to the young employee. By the look on the employee’s face, it showed that she indeed took it as a normal comment. The young lady smiled, then continued on her way. Amanda returned to her office. She’d spent the