Reign of Terror by Frank Perry
Reign of Terror
By
Frank Perry, author
Hampton Falls, New Hampshire
[email protected]
Synopsis
The third in this series with Army Major Peter Shields and Rachael Aston (after Recall to Arms and The Cobra Identity), finds the two ex-lovers trying to establish a new basis for renewing their engagement to be married. It will not be easy and may never happen given their differences, yet both are in love with the other. They come from different backgrounds and don’t always share the same vision for their futures. Both are involved with the increased pressure to secure the southern border and stop drug trafficking. Violence is escalating rapidly along both sides of the border. Both get involved in different capacities. Rachael has a diplomatic role tied to her CIA duties and Peter is activated along the border through the National Guard. Both face danger and may need each other to survive.
Copyright © 2016 by Frank Perry
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to: [email protected].
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge the contributions made to this book by: Sandy Blair, my valued author friend and advisor. Beverly Heinle provided invaluable proofreading, Ken Starr, LTC, USA (ret.) provided important Army insight. Richard Cesario gave a critical editorial review. My wife Janet tolerantly read the early drafts. The cover art and formatting was done by Brendan Perry.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, world organizations, government agencies, regulations, places, events 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 author professes no medical training related to the subject matter.
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Other books by Frank:
Recall to Arms
The Cobra Identity
Reign of Terror
Letters From the Grave
Kingfish
Sibley’s Secret
The Dolos Conspiracy
Author’s note: I hope you will enjoy this book. If you would like to preview my other books, including the trilogy beginning with Recall to Arms, use your browser at Amazon/books using the search function for: title (title of the book), Perry. Happy reading!
Prologue
The southwestern border into the United States has thousands of illegal immigrants crossing the desert each day avoiding legal Ports of Entry. Less than one third are captured by U.S. authorities. The terrain is classified as urban, rural and remote. The vast majority of the southern border is comprised of remote terrain consisting mostly of mountains and deserts. The topography is rugged raw desert, with deep gorges and ravines, scrub brush, and impassible rock formations. Much of the land is covered with tall brush and cactus. From most ground observation points along thousands of miles of remote terrain, humans are concealed from view over ninety eight percent of the time.
For most of the southern border, there are no roads, electricity or water. The land is harsh with extreme heat, natural predators and cutthroats. At least four hundred innocent people die each year trying to cross the deserts to find work, but the actual number is unknown. Beyond natural threats, outlaws kill innocent people for whatever meager money they might carry. The vast majority of aliens are harmless low-level workers that are filling ten million jobs that U.S. workers have refused. Illegals fill hotel domestic, landscape and harvesting jobs beneath American workers. The vast majority want to leave the U.S. and return to Mexico in less than a year.
Since the end of Prohibition in the 1933, the main function of the border patrol (USBP) has been to stop the inflow of alien workers into the United States. A typical group of aliens trekking through the deserts include families with women and children. When apprehended, they often suffer from exposure, hunger and disease. The USBP agents save lives that would otherwise perish. That role remains today, but is overshadowed by a deadly new mission.
Beginning in the mid 1990’s the USBP mission has become increasingly more dangerous in response to Government pressure to stop illegal drugs entering the U.S. As the War on Drugs has continued over thirty years, the sea and air corridors initially used for transport have been successfully blockaded through astronomical expense and manpower dedicated to this purpose. As a result, the land channels through Mexico have become the dominant distribution route for drugs.
This has bred a new generation of murderous gangsters, more brutal even than during Prohibition. Mexican drug gangs have multiplied over the past decade. The resultant violence means thousands of people die each year to fill American demand for illicit drugs. Drugs in America are figuratively soaked in blood today. The violence along the border towns on both sides has reached epidemic proportions. Juarez and El Paso face each other across a spoiled depleted stream called the Rio Grande River. In 2011, there were more than 5000 gang murders in Juarez alone, and the violence is spreading north of the border. Across Northern Mexico, Drug related murders have been growing at least twenty percent per year since 2006. This is also true in many proximate U.S. cities such as El Paso, Tucson, Albuquerque, Phoenix and San Diego. On the front lines in the war, the USBP has the most dangerous job in American history. Supporting them are the National Guard, DEA and regional law enforcement agencies. America is not winning the war.
On February 8, 2012, the U.S. DE