Counter Deception: Sue Lee Mystery

By SORLIE DM

In “Counter Deception,” D. M. Sorlie takes readers on a thrilling journey through World War Two’s misleading clues and espionage. Set during Christmas of 1942, the story delves into the depths of war as the Alboran Sea becomes a backdrop for intense action and suspense.
The book opens with Tommaso, an Italian doctor, who finds himself in a potentially explosive triage situation. With a nervous kid holding a Red Devil grenade in the hospital ward, Tommaso must navigate a high-stakes scenario to save Christmas.
Danny’s successful Christmas Eve party on the hospital ship, Elsie. As the whiskey runs low and the festivities wind down, the doctors and nurses gather outside the radio room. With a microphone set up to reach all corners of the ship, they come together to sing Christmas carols to the wounded men aboard. However, the night takes an unexpected turn when a junior nurse with a powerful, opera-trained voice steps up to the mic to sing one last song. It filled the atmosphere with the haunting melody of “Silent Night, Holy Night.”
Amidst the holiday cheer, the story takes a darker turn as Sue Lee finds herself trapped in a deadly situation at a strategic airbase in Cuba. Bleeding from a wound, she anxiously watches for her assailant’s next move.

Readers are taken on a rollercoaster ride of suspense, danger, and deception as the plot unfolds. D. M. Sorlie’s “Counter Deception” is a gripping tale that explores the complexities of war during Christmas and the resilience of its characters. With its blend of action, romance, and intrigue, this novel will captivate readers from start to finish.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Enchanted Island Publishing LLC
• Release date: Feb 8, 2024
• ISBN: 9791223005484

Book preview

PROLOGUE

SAN ANTONIO DE LOS BAÑOS, DECEMBER 1942

Blood ran down her arm as she moved between the table and her attacker. Now he was between her and the opening to the outside.

He stepped closer to the table, and in the light, she could see that he was young but looked strong. He held the knife in his right hand with his forearm raised in a stabbing position; that wasn’t reassuring, but it would be easier to block. 

Her right hand was covering the wound to staunch the bleeding as she watched for his next move. 

Suddenly, he lunged forward and slashed down with the knife. Sue Lee expected that move and kicked the table between them into his legs, knocking him over the table, just as a voice from the opening hollered out, 

"Captain, are you in there?"  

"Help! He has a knife!" She yelled, jumping back further from the boy.

Chapter One

RED DEVIL

NORTH AFRICA, DECEMBER 1942

W ake up, lad, Tommy! Danny said, shaking Tommy by the shoulder.

Danny, what’s happening? He said, sitting up.

Tommy, we have a big problem. We need you in Ward 7—a young wounded Italian soldier has a grenade. He speaks no English and refuses to give up the damned thing.

What color is it?

What, what color is it? Danny looked puzzled.

What color is it? Tommy asked again, pulling on his pants.

Red! Danny, told him as they hurried out the door.

Blasts! A Red Devil they are extremely dangerous. Leonard’s wife, Katherine, passed information to the underground about the safety issue and what to watch for when around the Devils. It’s scary! Can we turn the Ship back?

Oh no, the captain was told there is submarine activity now in Tunis. Our next port is Algiers; before we arrive in Gibraltar, Danny Said running across the deck alongside Tommy. Captain’s orders we are evacuating the ward. He doesn’t think one grenade will cause that much damage, but it’s slow. The boy is in the back behind a curtain, Danny whispered as they entered Ward 7.

They slowed to a walk, not wanting to frighten the remaining wounded soldiers stacked two high in the hospital beds.

What’s the boy’s attitude, anger, despair? Tommy whispered back as they walked by nurses, calmly trying to help patients move out of the ward.

Och, without understanding him, it’s hard for me to know, but I would say despair, and if so, that’s the worst kind. Here we are, Tommy, now be careful.

The Ship’s chaplain stood by the curtain waiting for them.

Father, Tommy is here to help us. He speaks Italian.

The chaplain had recently joined before they left Gibraltar. Tommy could sense his fear.

Tommy was also afraid he saw the carnage caused by a Red Devil exploding back in the Plaza in Genoa. A drunken Italian soldier was showing off to his friends. Tommy peeked through the curtain. He could see the boy on the floor next to his stretcher, holding his wounded stomach with his right hand, the other clutching the grenade. He quietly shut the curtain and turned to Danny for an explanation.

When our orderlies were carrying him, saw the grenade, they set him down and got out!

How the hell did triage miss the grenade before bringing him aboard? Tommy said with nervous anger.

He needed to calm himself. He stood in front of the curtain, made the cross’s sign, and said a prayer. The chaplain was standing nearby and repeated the prayer in Latin. Before he could open the curtain, Danny added a syringe into his smock pocket.

If you get this into him, Lad, holler! We need to wrap his hand shut around that Red Devil!

Tommy nodded and stepped through the curtain.

Good morning. I’m Dr. Donati from Genoa—Where do you live in Italy, son? He asked in Italian as he squatted down next to the boy. Let me look at your wound, and you can tell me about your home, he said, much braver than he felt.

The boy was startled and looked at Tommy with tears running down his face. Tommy checked his eyes. They were dilated. He was in shock; there was not enough blood circulating which could cause heart failure.

His fear left him, and his training took over. He eased the boy’s right arm so that he could have a better look at the wound.

Tell me about your home, he repeated as he tenderly probed the wound with his fingers. The boy said nothing. He was shaking, but it appeared to lessen as Tommy touched him; he was slipping into unconsciousness.

Tommy held him around the shoulders and whispered, Danny, Danny quickly came in with a roll of gauze to wrap the kid’s left hand holding the grenade. The grenade fell from the boy’s hand. Both Doctors froze! Time stood still as they watched the red grenade bounce and roll across the floor toward the curtain.

A foot reached out behind the curtain and gently stopped the rolling grenade. The curtain opened; the foot belonged to a British officer, a short man wearing a surgical bandage wrapped around his forehead, and his left arm was in a sling. He bent down and picked up the Red Devil, turned it over in his hand.

I say, Italian Bomba, nasty things! I will take care of this carry-on gentleman, he nodded to them and left with his prize.

We need to move him to the operating room quickly! Tommy plunged the syringe into the boy’s arm.

That evening, two doctors and Father O’Neill sat on the deck in three rickety lounge chairs with two Scotch whiskey bottles between them.

Now, let’s have a wee bit more of this libation, as the good father calls it; Danny reached for the closest bottle. Tell us, father, who was the British Gent who saved us? I almost shit my pants when I saw that devil grenade rolling across the floor!

Major Edward Easton, a demolition expert. I remember the boys talking about him. I found him in Ward 5. He’s notorious for getting blown up, hospitalized, and going right back to the battlefield to disarm another bomb. I was told by the men that this was his 4th hospital ship.

Och, now I’m beholden to a Britt, but I will buy him a drink anytime; you should have invited him to join us, father?

He spends his time sitting and reading for the men that are blind or severely wounded whenever he can, Father O’Neill said with admiration.

He’s a good person; what happened to the grenade? Tommy asked as he settled more comfortably into his favorite lounge chair.

Off the stern on the port side, he threw it well clear of the Ship to prevent an explosion when it hit the water. Nothing happened. He told me he thought the boy might have picked it up in confusion. War is awful; that young boy is only 15. He’s barely out of puberty, the father said, handing Tommy the bottle he couldn’t reach. "

That wee boy could use all the prayers and Irish luck you have, father. Tommy did an excellent job removing the shrapnel from his intestines, but we never know for sure?"

"How about an Irish toast, gentleman?

God created liquor to keep the Irish from conquering the world. I

f it would stop this war, we should share it with everyone."

After the toast, the three men sat in exhausted silence. The long day was done; soon, it would be Christmas.

Over the ship speakers, Bing Crosby sang;

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.

Just like the ones I used to know.

Where the treetops glisten, and children listen.

To hear sleigh bells in the snow.

Chapter Two

MR. YIN

SAN FRANCISCO, DECEMBER 1942

Sue Lee was home and had spent the last few evenings after work cleaning and rearranging, preparing for Jane’s arrival from England. She was due in tomorrow. Jane had been delayed because of the shortage in the London hospital. Jane volunteered to help. Now it was nearly Christmas before she could get away.

In Gibraltar, she was a Flying Doctor, a humanitarian helping the sick and elderly in war-torn Spain after the Spanish revolution.

The year England declared war on Germany. Jane started using her plane to help; Jewish family’s escape from the Nazis through Spain and found herself deeply entrenched in the underground.

Somehow her cover was blown, and they put a contract out to kill her, and they shot