Don't Know Jack

small padded envelope.

Unmarked. But recognizable.

Gaspar ripped his open. A cell phone. He shrugged. He slipped the phone into his pocket. Kim looked up at Cooper’s office widow. Was he standing behind the reflective glass? Right then? Watching? She saw the messenger boy head back toward the building.

And she saw a man, too, motionless in a shadowed doorway. He was looking straight at her. He was tall, easily six-five, and broad, easily two-fifty. A giant, really. He wore jeans and a leather jacket. Work boots on his feet. He had fair hair and a tan face and big hands. Sunglasses hid his eyes. He looked infinitely patient, just standing there, self-possessed, self-confident, simultaneously alert and relaxed, both friendly and dangerous.

She turned to Gaspar, to point the guy out. When she looked back, he was gone.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Thank you for reading this first book in what we hope will be a new series, if enough readers enjoy it. Kim and Gaspar have much work to do yet if they're to succeed in The Hunt For Reacher. He's a wily prey, to be sure. If you liked the book, you can help keep the series going by 'liking' the book on Amazon and everywhere the option is offered, and by posting your honest reviews of the book to help other readers decide whether it's worth their reading time. I hope you will. And we hope you'll sign up to be on our mailing list so we can let you know when new adventures are ready and make sure you don't miss opportunities for free books. You can do that easily here: Sign me up!

Readers who want to know the stories Behind the Book can find them on my website. Here's a taste of the stuff we post there:

The United States Secret Service handles counterfeiting crimes. Technology has made both counterfeiters and law enforcement more effective. Neither player in this tense drama is likely to be finally defeated. Almost as soon as new currency is created in the ongoing effort to thwart them, the counterfeiters find a way to copy the new designs. As early as 1989, the first 'supernote' or 'superdollar' counterfeit was identified by the Central Bank of the Phillipines and submitted to the Secret Service for analysis. The quality of the ink, paper, engraving and printing were superior even to authentic U.S. currency. The Secret Service believed the counterfeit operation was perpetuated by a single organization, perhaps even a foreign government. North Korea and Iran were the most likely. By 1992, the estimated value of Superdollars in circulation was estimated in excess of one billion. Superdollars are considered a serious terrorist threat to the United States. A lengthy article, published in the New York Times on July 23, 2006, lent support to the already researched facts in Don't Know Jack. You can read Stephen Mihm's fascinating piece No Ordinary Counterfeit online at newyorktimes.com.

Lest readers think counterfeiting is too difficult for the average person, consider Albert Talton, dubbed The Most Notorious Counterfeiter when he was convicted of making more than $7 million in counterfeit bills using ink-jet printers. Before he began his business, he'd never used a computer. His bills were first noticed in 2005 and by 2007, they travelled across the country in significant quantities. He was convicted and sent to prison in 2009. Privately, law enforcement conceded that Talton's counterfeits likely exceeded the $7 million estimate.

Rural Georgia has been the focus of several large scale crime investigations by U.S. authorities in recent years involving Mexican drug cartels. Perpetrators have been charged with drug trafficking, conspiracy, money laundering, and various weapons charges. In November 2010, 45 people were arrested and more than $23.8 million in cash was confiscated along with drugs having a street value of more than $10 million, the Augusta Chronicle reported.

Switzerland's famously private banks are no longer places to stash illicit cash and stolen goods. Everyone from mobsters to art thieves to families who inherited sizeable estates were caught by surprise when legendary secret banking laws were bested by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in its ongoing efforts to bring tax cheats to justice. Even more alarming to tax evaders, their confidants may now be paid a handsome reward by governments when they turn cheaters in. The IRS has recently offered tax amnesty for people hiding money in offshore accounts with stiff penalties for failing to voluntarily comply. The IRS has collected billions under these programs. For the most recent effort, see Forbes Magazine.

Hide Your Assets and Disappear, a book written by a former FBI agent, provided significant insight into how and why people choose to leave their lives behind and why they choose to come back, a subject that has fascinated me for years.

That said, the criminal activities herein depicted are pure fiction, as are the characters. Any events or real places mentioned are used fictitiously. As we all know, truth is stranger than fiction.

About the Author

Diane Capri is a lawyer and multi-published author.

She’s a snowbird who divides her time between Florida and Michigan. An active member of Mystery Writers of America, Author’s Guild, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime, she loves to hear from readers and is hard at work on her next novel.

Please connect with her online:

http://DianeCapri.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/@DianeCapri

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DianeCapri

http://www.facebook.com/DianeCapriBooks

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