Time for Action

By Jimmy Charping

Fran Banks lives a unique and active life as the owner and CEO of Sentinel Security Systems. Because she was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to prison, she now has a strong internal drive to assist in bringing offenders to justice. Time in prison and the struggle to clear her name compelled her to acquire many talents that a normal accountant does not need. Some unknown force seems to draw her into a chain of events that requires her help to solve the latest mystery. Fortunately, Fran has the help of several trusted friends, each with their own special skills, to bring this thriller to a conclusion. This latest mystery will also draw you into the story and make you not want to put this book down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Oct 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9781398478732

Jimmy Charping

Jimmy Charping is a retired engineering executive, married to a retired middle school teacher, the father of two adult children and grandfather of five grandchildren. He has found being a lifelong member of a local church, engaging in family activities, and prioritizing family are important ingredients for living a fulfilling life. As an avid reader, he realised that he had stories within that needed to be told and began to develop his writing talents.

Book preview

Time for Action

Jimmy Charping

Austin Macauley Publishers

Time for Action

About the Author

Dedication

Copyright Information ©

Acknowledgement

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

About the Author

Jimmy Charping is a retired engineering executive, married to a retired middle school teacher, the father of two adult children and grandfather of five grandchildren. He has found being a lifelong member of a local church, engaging in family activities, and prioritizing family are important ingredients for living a fulfilling life.

As an avid reader, he realised that he had stories within that needed to be told and began to develop his writing talents.

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my wife, Anne, and express thanks for all her inspiration to make me a better person.

Copyright Information ©

Jimmy Charping 2023

The right of Jimmy Charping to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

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.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398478725 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398478732 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

Many thanks to my wife, Anne, and my sister, Judy Goodwin, for preliminary editing and for correcting my typing errors and other mistakes. Also, special thanks go to my daughter, Ashley, and son, Eric, and their families for encouraging me.

Also, the credit for the provision of detailed information about King Air 250 goes to Beechcraft.txtav.com.

Prologue

The sleek King Air 250 lifted off from New Orleans Airport with two new passengers, all bound for Phoenix, Arizona as the final destination. Isabella Cruz, more commonly known as Izzy, a nickname given by her two-year-old brother the day her mother brought her home from the hospital, was the owner of the aircraft. The airplane was a gift from her father upon her graduation from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in film and media arts. She finished high school early and had completed her bachelor’s degree in three and a half years, which made the gift of the airplane have a dual function as a twenty-first birthday gift. Needless to say, not many people receive a six-million-dollar gift, but she was an exceptional young lady with a clear focus on her life’s path and her father could easily afford it.

Izzy’s father, Marcus Cruz, was a banker, manufacturer and investor type businessman around the Caribbean Sea area with his primary focus in Colombia, South America. Marcus was an extremely successful businessman. The path he had taken to his success had forced him to step on many toes to reach an elite level of wealth. He was not into the drug trade, though we were not sure about his early business life, but there were widely spread rumours but no facts. If so, it was well hidden and long forgotten by those who knew him. As far as Izzy knew, he had always totally avoided any association with the illegal drug trade. On the other hand, the DEA assumed Marcus to be involved with drugs because of the incredible wealth that he had accumulated, and they had pursued him relentlessly, but they were dead wrong. The same could not be said for his brother, Alberto Cruz, who was a major player in the Colombian drug supply chain. Most of Marcus’s problems emanated from the actions of his brother. Alberto was ruthless and it did not hurt to deflect interest of the authorities in the direction of his brother. He knew that his brother was a tough businessman and had the means to ward off any attack by the authorities. Izzy and Uncle Alberto had not had a close relationship for many years. Izzy was one hundred percent against illegal drugs and often voiced her opinion against them.

She did not flaunt the fact that she came from money or that she had an airplane available at any time, because she had a greater interest in gaining valuable experience within the movie production industry and not whisk around to the various party destinations like many of her wealthy friends. For the first three years that she had owned the plane, she had used it sparingly. Once she developed her desert documentary project plan, she began to work using the plane as a useful tool.

For the first three years after graduating from Arizona State, she had worked tirelessly on numerous film projects and in different capacities to see the real-world application of the techniques she had learned in college. During this past year, she had accomplished a massive amount of research and had written a detailed proposal with a goal of selling her first film production to PBS, Public Broadcasting Service. In conjunction with the sales presentation, she had created a modified presentation of her production dream to obtain the balance of the financing required to complete her project. The project turned out to be attractive to the PBS executives. Izzy had made sure the budget was sufficient to maintain the quality she required and knew the network would demand.

It had taken some serious negotiation to finalise the contract with PBS and with a contract in hand the financing fell into place. Izzy had signed Jon Boswell, a highly regarded film director, and Martin Johnstone, a notable script writer and had picked them up in New Orleans for a site visit to the film location in Arizona. With these two creative personalities on board her project had made a major leap forward towards the goal of an award-winning documentary film.

After living in Arizona during her college years, she had seen how fragile the desert ecosystem was and how civilisation was making detrimental changes. Her goal for the documentary was to show the changes in the fragile southwest desert environment over the past hundred years using a host of old still pictures and archived films from various sources that had shown the deserts’ beauty at the time they were taken. Then using her research, she would recreate that film using the still pictures, videos, or films from the exact spot if possible, showing today’s reality and describe the changes that had taken place and analyse why the changes were destroying this fragile environment. The good news was she had far more material available for the eighty-minute film length goal for the documentary and would use editing to weed out the less desirable parts. Izzy, Jon and Martin’s jobs were to assemble the massive amount of research into an entertaining and educational film presentation.

As the flight progressed across Louisiana, the new team selected potential cast and crew members. Martin Johnstone lobbied for a young man to be the narrator because his ‘golden voice’ and word inflection were the best that he had ever heard. The team pencilled him into that slot. By the time they crossed the Texas border the plan was developing into the vision Izzy had from its inception. Everyone was now on the same page.

They decided to break for a while. They all had had too much coffee and needed relief. Ruff Waters, Izzy’s favourite pilot, informed her that they were passing just north of Houston, Texas and proceeding on schedule. Ruff was a crusty old pilot in his mid-fifties with an old school buzz cut on his mostly grey hair. Ruff received his nickname all the way back in high school as a football player who would never receive a good sportsmanship award. He was most likely to be grabbing at important parts of the other team’s players or forcing his elbow into the neck or face of the downed players in the pile. At least once per game he was penalised for his actions. Without the uniform, helmet and padding, Ruff was a likeable and easy-going guy who got along with almost everyone.

Nowadays, Ruff could talk your ear off without ever saying anything meaningful or that you would remember later. His stories were embellished so much there was only a small kernel of truth remaining within them. Ruff’s stories always improved his own character and made each tall tale enjoyable to the listener. The main thing everyone knew about Ruff was that he almost never told the truth. One of his old-time friends described him by saying that he had rather climb a tree and tell a lie that sit on the porch in a rocking chair and tell the truth. That was just Ruff. The second thing everyone knew about Ruff was that he could fly an airplane. His landing was as smooth as silk and he could tell you about each one, with a degree of embellishment of course.

Immediately after informing Izzy of their current location all the instruments blinked off for a second or two, which kicked off the auto pilot, then back on. Ruff grabbed the controls before the airplane had time to flinch. No one had noticed anything unusual. After checking everything twice, he believed it had been a small anomaly and the instruments were back on track. With the auto pilot reset, the flight continued as programmed.

Just as Ruff began to relax with controls restored the instrument package blinked again but this time for a slightly longer period. Again, they were back on but this time, he kept control without using the auto pilot. He radioed Austin Bergstrom International Airport informing them of the problem and requested to land there as soon as possible. He estimated that they were around eighty miles out. His request was approved, and instructions were given for a new heading and altitude. Ruff began making the adjustments.

Ruff turned towards the rear of the plane and said, Izzy, can you come up to the cabin? Now!

After unbuckling her seatbelt, she made an appearance at the cabin door. What’s up?

Sit in the co-pilot’s seat for a minute, please.

She came inside and slid into the seat. Ruff said, You need to buckle up. Okay?

Sure, no problem, was her immediate reply.

Listen, we have a problem with our instruments which suddenly are popping on and off without any rhyme or reason. I have requested that we be diverted to Austin to land and have them checked out. We are currently about twenty minutes out.

Must be serious! Are we going to be okay?

We will be okay. Just need to have them checked before we have a major problem.

Just as he told her that the instruments were off again and not coming on this time, he proclaimed an emergency and requested an alternate landing site. The tower informed Ruff the Giddings-Lee County Airport should be only minutes away directly ahead.

Ruff asked Izzy, See if you can spot the airport ahead of us. I am working on dropping us down as quickly as possible and I need clearance from the airport. As the plane descended, Ruff was on the radio requesting landing instructions and he advised that the landing would be visual without any instruments. He declined the need for emergency vehicles to be standing by. That made Izzy breathe a small breath of relief. Her mind thought that it was a good sign that Ruff did not expect a fiery crash.

Two minutes later, she yelled, There it is ahead and to the right. Do you see it?

Got it. Pop in the rear and advise the others to remain seated and buckled up until we are on the ground. Do not worry—I got this. I have done this landing a million times.

Izzy wondered two things: 1. Was this true? 2. It was embellished for sure. Just how much?

As it turned out, Ruff was true to his word. The landing was up to his standards without a hitch. The plane taxied to the designated area and the engines were shut down. Everyone took a sigh of relief before any movement was made.

Ruff said, I told you sweetie I had this. All of you just relax, and I am going to arrange someone to check out the problem and we will be back in the air before you know it. Around ten minutes later, he returned and said, I called to get a technician to check the avionics and they are sending someone out of Austin. They said it would be somewhere between an hour and a half to two hours before they can get here. Believe me it is more comfortable on the plane than in there, so I suggest we just wait here. They are expecting showers to begin within thirty minutes. They said nothing heavy, but a steady rain is expected for a few hours and then clearing.

Izzy passed out sandwiches and soft drinks that she had delivered to the airplane before leaving Florida. As they ate, they discussed the project. Izzy said, I have two good opening films. They will immediately grab the viewers’ attention and make them want more. She went on to describe in detail her thinking and what she had planned. The consensus was that sounded ideal for the beginning of the storyline, and once they had a chance to view the old film along with the new shots a final decision could be made. They continued for over an hour before they quit. Izzy began to read, and the others began a short nap. Ruff was sound asleep in the rear seat emitting a loud snoring sound. Izzy slipped her headphones on to block Ruff’s excessive noise.

A short time later, a white van pulled alongside the plane and three men exited. They opened the rear door and entered without anyone paying attention. The lead guy quickly moved forward into the space where Izzy and the two guys were located. She looked up in time to see a man with a ski mask, gloves, and holding a gun. That was the last second of her life. Two bullets entered her body and then the gunman rotated to his right and shot Martin twice. The second guy shot Jon and the third shot Ruff all within seconds. The suppressors on the guns had done their job and almost no noise escaped the plane. The second guy lifted his mask for a second before he was told to get it back down immediately. The third guy returned to the van and re-entered the plane with two plastic zip lock bags. He was looking at an eight by ten photo and placed one of the bags which was slightly opened onto the floor along the aisle spilling a little of the white powder as it landed. He opened the second bag and retrieved some wadded-up currency and dropped them along the aisle near the rear of the plane. He checked the photo again and made a couple of adjustments to the items he had dispersed.

The others were shooting into the seats and bulkheads to give the appearance of a major gun battle. They made the limp hands of Jon and Martin fire a gun and dropped them onto the floor. The interior of the airplane was a mess. Bullet holes and blood covered the seats, floor and side panels.

They departed as silently as they came.

Chapter 1

I have grown to love our state, South Carolina. I have lived along the coast in Charleston for several years and now in the upstate, Greenville to be precise. The white sand beaches, the warm sun and wonderful seafood of the coast are equalled by the mountains, waterfalls, and hiking trails of the upstate. South Carolina moves at a rhythm much like beach music. Its pace is slow enough to enjoy, yet you can still feel the beat and be moved from the inside out. It sends you on a smooth familiar journey to a pleasant destination. Cities like Atlanta or New York have a rhythm that closely resembles hard rock music. When you feel it, you must be moving hard and fast. You will get nowhere standing still.

It was a clear, beautiful early October morning in South Carolina. The weather lady had designated it to be a perfect ten on the weather metre, whatever that might be, but my personal weather metre fully agreed. My doorbell rang a little after nine that morning, and even though I was dressed, I was not dressed or ready for visitors. This was my time. I guess you could say that I did not match the weather metre. I was hard pressed to make it to a six on the presentable metre scale. It was a total surprise when I opened the door. Kelly Edwards, Dee Parker and Amelie Garraux, the co-owners of our company, Sentinel Security Services, were there, and Kelly waved a large white bag before my eyes.

She said in her best southern girly girl voice, Fran Banks, we come bearing goodies, hot sausage and egg biscuits, and we have even hotter news.

Come in, I am trying to get some order to this place. I moved in six weeks ago and there are still loads of boxes sitting around untouched. Today is the day to restore order. I need to make more coffee or there is orange juice or cokes. Help yourself to what you want. What ya got?

Holding back her excitement as much as she could Kelly said, I received a text late last night from NRX in Vancouver, Canada, as you know, and they have expressed mailed the signed contract along with the check for the front-end money. Millie, our office manager, is at the office and it is scheduled to be delivered anytime now. Can you believe it? They are the largest client in western Canada and will add twenty-five locations, times nine people per location, plus at least five office personnel for a total of two-hundred-thirty additional people on our payroll. Signed, sealed and delivered!

I assume we need to advise Diane Moore that she is now hired since we have the order finalised. Are you going to do that Kelly?

Sure, I will take care of it this morning. Bill Edwards is leaving tomorrow morning to interview a prospective technical guy, an electrical engineer. He seemed to think this is the person we need in our northern division. And speaking of a northern division, we need a trip to Vancouver to select office space and do the legal work on setting up a Canadian company. We have a legal firm already working on the preliminary details. Any ideas when you can get away?

I am good any time. Set it up and let me know when.

Okay, I will try for flying Sunday and working three days and fly home Thursday.

I interjected, It’s time for my news. Early this morning I received a call from Mr Wilkerson in England. He advised they are delaying any investment due to the current political environment. Their prime minister is in hot water and he either forms a new government or there will be an election. Either way, there is an uneasiness to move forward with our deal at this time.

Amelie asked, Does this mean no further interest in buying us?

Per his comments, They still have interest in purchasing Sentinel and will re-evaluate their interest after the political environment is stabilised.

I continued, I am guessing it will not be on their agenda again for at least six months to a year. I believe we all were only leaning a little on the positive side. The NRX deal is equally good for us, and we have control of our future. The NRX deal will make us much more valuable if the interest re-emerges.

Are you ready for the next hot news flash? Kelly said with her normal energy.

Don’t tell me that all of you are pregnant! I said while scanning their faces with a sneaky smirk on my face.

Sorry, if so, that would have been number one. Okay, you know we also bid to Nelson, the second largest security customer in western Canada. They are ready to talk contract and indicated something like the NRX contract might fast-track negotiations. They obviously know we are about to sign a contract. With that order we would add another one-hundred-eighty-five employees. We need to go there on our trip next week and we just may be able to tie the contract down with a little luck.

I took a minute or so to absorb this information. I replied, We knew this was a remote possibility of getting both contracts, but we need to work on financing. With the front money and our retained earnings NRX should not be a problem. When we add in Nelson, we will have to do something. Cash flow will be a problem. We need to discourage anymore new business for the time being. The government contract doubled us last year and now we are doubling again. Way too much growth too soon.

Dee said, Am I correct by saying we are going to retain about eighty-five percent of the employees from Great Northern Security who had the contract previously? That takes off some of the pressure and I assume we can do the same with Nelson.

Kelly answered, You are correct. There are a few who are going to retire, a few that from NRX does not want to retain, a few we do not want, a few NRX will retain, and transfer several long-term employees. Also, the office will be more cost efficient with both orders. Great Northern Security had several unnecessary layers of management and outdated technology that were no longer economical.

I chimed in by saying, We still will have a cash problem in the first couple of months. Y’all probably will not like this, but I believe that we will need to sell the franchised self-defence training business. We have a man in Texas who wants it bad and has made a good offer. I believe we should consider this option. One of our early successful parts of our business was training individuals the art of self-defence. It was so successful, that we made it into a franchised business spreading it across several states. Almost every location was making the owners a nice profit and we had recovered our investment. There were a few that had not followed the guidelines and were struggling.

Amelie stood, adjusted her glasses and walked over towards the rear window. She turned back towards where we were seated. She said, I agree. This would give us the funds we need and the return on the money invested would be much greater with the Nelson contract. Her thoughts, we knew, had merit because we all knew her abilities in finance.

Kelly responded with, "I know you all are looking at me since this was my baby. I cannot argue with Amelie’s logic. We have made our money back on the original investment, and to tell the truth, this franchise thing