Beyond the Black Stump is now available on Amazon as a Kindle Edition.
The print edition should be available shortly.
This excerpt is from when the lads join FBI agents at a “training” facility not far from Belfast. They’ve come to pick up weapons and prepare for meeting rouge SAS soldiers intent on destroying the Easter Accords.
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“…Gunfire took the four of them to the window.
They could see Mick and Jack watching someone firing downrange at some pop-ups about a hundred or so yards away.
Bear suggested they head out to watch.
When the four got closer, they could see that the shooter was a woman. She was leaning into her shots scoring hits with three-round bursts.
They came up behind Jack, who had waved them in.
“Impressive as hell,” He said to the group.
Mick added that maybe they should bring her along as backup. He nudged Jack with that comment.
Jack just shook his head.
As the shooter laid down her weapon, reaching for another, Bear said, “Jack, we’ve got the ideal spot. Whoever she is might be a good addition.”
“No, we’ve got to keep it close. She’s an FBI agent, which might complicate things.”
Sinead did a what about me shrug.
“Sorry, you are vital; she’s not. Wolf has already spoken for you, so…” He trailed off.
Sinead flashed Wolf a smile.
AMD had started firing again. This time she was firing fully automatic, sweeping her Uzi from low left to slighter higher right, spraying four targets within a heartbeat. When she spun around, offering her weapon to any of those watching, the barrel was tracing smoke behind her.
“Holy Jesus! Mook, take her up on it. Ah, I mean shooting that is.” Mick was laughing as he teased his friend.
Sinead beat them to the punch walking up and taking the Uzi from Ali. She pulled a twenty-round clip off Ali’s utility belt slamming it in with authority. “Stand back, boys; this is my first time with this bad boy.” No sooner had she said that than she spun, sending a dozen rounds at three pop-ups at ranges from fifty to a hundred feet from where she was standing. She abruptly dropped the Uzi pulling her Sig Sauer P224 from under her vest. She cracked off eleven shots into two targets AMD had organized to pop up thirty-five feet away.
Mahaney commented. “Perhaps we should get out of the spook business and hire these two for a roadshow.”
“You mean revive Buffalo Bills Wild West, Indians and all? What, they would be Annie Oakley and pal? I could be Sitting Bull.”
“Jesus, Bear, I didn’t mean it that way,” Mahaney replied.
“ I know, I’m just messing with you. You know my g’ma travelled with ole Bill he told AMD who was standing next to Jack.
“Really?” She replied.
Jack interrupted, saying that was a story for another time and that he and Wild Mick needed to fire a few rounds. “Sinead, spot me on the five-hundred yard target,” Jack said, picking up the L115 sniper weapon Ali had brought for him.
Mick could see that Jack was stepping away from whatever flirtations were in the air and getting down to business.
“Okay, Sinead. I’m going to fire the first round at one o’clock. Be precise on the hit as I’ll dial it back down for our ideal distance after a clip.” He called out to Bear for what he thought the distance was where they would set up. Bear thought 200 or so yards.
Jack fired from a kneeling position.
Sinead, who was standing to his left, said, “A smidge low on a classic number one if we were looking at a clock dial. Bottom of the one moving towards the bottom of number two. Nice shot.” Jack made a minor adjustment cracking off four rapid shots.
“You cut the one in half. Impressive!” She said…”
Mahaney’s recent trip to Northern Ireland to investigate a string of brutal bank robberies has left him suspicious of the SAS and the robberies’ motivations.
Possible action against the Royals by the military has everyone running scared.
The same characters from O-roo, A Day Without Stars, Under the Spider Tree, and Slaughterhouse Creek are back for another rousing adventure of “Life in the Shadows.”
We All Deserve Better 