| General Fiction posted November 28, 2020 | Chapters: |
...6 7 -8- 9... 
|
  |
Tying in the stories
A chapter in the book A Murder a Month
A Murder a Month:Super Flashback
by Bill Schott
Characters:
Red Appleton, President of the United States, after President Sullivan's death in office
C. C. Connor, former Chief of Staff to President Sullivan; trained assassin
Millie Manowitz, California state representative, twin sister of C.C. Connor; assassin.
Samantha Anthra, Chief of Staff to President Appleton; murdered Pres. Sullivan
Manuel Kontroz, Assistant to the President
Ben Baker, aka Butcher of Baghdad aka Bobby Do, assassin
Bull Schlitz, Chief Police Inspector
Detective Piglette (Piglet) Detective
Alexander Enero, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Dulce Corazon, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Betty Brady, Assassin, drowned by Dave Vision
Dave Vision, Assassin, vivisected by Zack Newton, Detective/Assassin, shot by unknown sniper
--------------------------------
I want to tie A Murder a Month in with the novella, Assassin Nation, but it has been a while since the last chapter, so I'll need to prep readers to allow a smooth backstory.
In a previous novella, Baker's Dozen, we see a secret government program training assassins in the mid-west. Ben Baker is a low-level White House staffer who is dropped naked into a wooded area with a gun, knife, boot lace, and a bottle of water. He knows that he must hunt down and kill twelve other people who he understands are hunting him as well.
This operation is run by the President of the United State's Chief of Staff, C.C. Connor. We learn, as others are dropped into the same area, that Baker is a flat character with no background. This makes sense as we learn that Baker isn't who he thinks he is, but a trained assassin programmed to think he's someone else.
Eventually, by the end of that story, Baker discovers he is Bobby Do, the Butcher of Baghdad, and faces down his creator, C.C. Connor.
Now, in the next story, Assassin Nation, most of the old players are back and all are at the White House. New characters like Samantha Anthra and Manuel Kontroz work both together and against each other. Sam, furthering the nefarious plans of C.C Connor, to place assassins within other's governments, and Manny, to discover just what those plans entail.
Some character quirks are that Samantha Anthra, or Sam, is somehow programmed to kill at the drop of a hat, but is otherwise normal. Manuel Kontroz, or Manny, is a highly spiritual genius who is also a trained killer. What is especially true in the story is that no one can be trusted.
When we last saw Manuel Kontroz, he was on his way to California to find who had assassinated his mentor. Samantha Anthra was with him, as she wants answers too, but she knows many things about an assassin placement plan that she's not revealing.
Previously from "A Murder a Month":
"Enero was shot by Betty Brady, who was part of what is known as the Dixie Mafia. She likely dispatched Corazon, another rival. She was then killed by the Volga Vanisher, Dave Vision; a man well known, in his circles, for his renderings. He was killed, quite brutally, by the late Mr. Newton," said the stranger.
"Guess I'll take the rest of the week off, and let Piglet figure out who knocked off Newton," said Bull
"He would certainly know, Inspector."
Bull throws his arms in the air scoffing.
"Who ARE you!"
The man stands with the .38, slowly loading the rounds into the cylinder.
"My name is Manuel Kontroz."
----------------------------------------------------------
Previously from "Assassin Nation":
Samantha reached into her pocket and looked at the screen on the device. There was an icon which had been sent as a message. She touched it.
Manuel stared at her with both curiosity and a sense of intrigue. Her demeanor changed immediately. Emotion left her face and she quickly spun around and hit the toggle switch to release the plane from autopilot. Her next move was to pull up on the steering sending the plane on a steep trajectory to the ground.
Kontroz dove to the panel, but was stopped by a kick from a sensible, size seven, Fendi high-top sneaker with an added steel toe inserted for just such an occasion. The well-placed kick cracked his lowest rib.
Instinctively, Manuel spun a roundhouse kick that was uncommonly deflected by the woman. She simultaneously landed a jab in the center of his scrotum, which caused the expected reaction. That move was quickly followed by successive flat-hand spearings to his throat, solar plexus, and already fractured rib.
A piece of metal trimming was grabbed and broken off by the woman and became a makeshift knife. She attempted to plunge the sharp piece of aluminum into her opponent, but Manuel was able to counter each thrust with a block. He ultimately was able to grab her carotid artery and cause her to fall backward.
Now able to seize the controls, he pulled the plane up to horizontal and flipped on the autopilot. He turned expecting another assault, only to find Samantha Anthra kneeled and looking up at him. Both stared at each other for a moment, until her phone buzzed again. Manuel reached out his hand, indicating that he wanted the device. She looked at the caller ID and pressed the name. Lifting the phone to her face she said, "Hello, Mother."
------------------------------------------------------
Millie Manowitz sat across from her daughter, Samantha Anthra, at a window table in Bistro Cacao, three blocks down from the Capitol.
"Asparagus ravioli, dear?" asked Millie. "Running a marathon soon?"
Sam looked at her plate and then at her mother's. "That shrimp salad has quinoa, roasted beets, and parmesan. Did Chef Deger recommend that? I think he wants you fat and jolly for when he proposes."
"Where is Manny now?"
"Change of subject? Gosh, I was just kidding about Kemal Deger. Is it serious?"
"You're hilarious," Millie replied, without a smile and avoiding Sam's eye contact. "Where is Manuel Kontroz?"
"He's not directly under my control. After you called us back, halfway to California, he disappeared for a few hours and then left me a text."
"By the way, what happened in that analog plane of his? You were completely off the radar - invisible to the world."
"To be totally honest, I fell asleep. Your phone call woke me up."
"So, Manny didn't question your turning back? Dr. Wu was like a father to him."
"He was practically a mute all the way back, except I heard him mumbling some type of prayer, or something."
Millie smiled as she lifted her water glass to drink. "Manuel Kontroz keeps his own counsel, certainly. If you told him about the murders in that Illinois city though, and that they connect to Dr. Wu, that is where he is now."
Scoffing, Samantha pushed her plate away and stood. "I actually have a job, you know. I'm the Chief of Staff for the President of the United States. Keeping track of Kontroz is not a priority for me. I can avenge Dr.Wu without him. He also wants information he's not cleared for; I'm convinced he's investigating all of us."
Millie spears a shrimp on her plate and raises it up for her daughter to see. "Sam, Manny is a shrimp, but - what a shrimp! He has gifts which can make him our leviathan - or a kraken."
Characters:
Red Appleton, President of the United States, after President Sullivan's death in office
C. C. Connor, former Chief of Staff to President Sullivan; trained assassin
Millie Manowitz, California state representative, twin sister of C.C. Connor; assassin.
Samantha Anthra, Chief of Staff to President Appleton; murdered Pres. Sullivan
Manuel Kontroz, Assistant to the President
Ben Baker, aka Butcher of Baghdad aka Bobby Do, assassin
Bull Schlitz, Chief Police Inspector
Detective Piglette (Piglet) Detective
Alexander Enero, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Dulce Corazon, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Betty Brady, Assassin, drowned by Dave Vision
Dave Vision, Assassin, vivisected by Zack Newton, Detective/Assassin, shot by unknown sniper
--------------------------------
I want to tie A Murder a Month in with the novella, Assassin Nation, but it has been a while since the last chapter, so I'll need to prep readers to allow a smooth backstory.
In a previous novella, Baker's Dozen, we see a secret government program training assassins in the mid-west. Ben Baker is a low-level White House staffer who is dropped naked into a wooded area with a gun, knife, boot lace, and a bottle of water. He knows that he must hunt down and kill twelve other people who he understands are hunting him as well.
This operation is run by the President of the United State's Chief of Staff, C.C. Connor. We learn, as others are dropped into the same area, that Baker is a flat character with no background. This makes sense as we learn that Baker isn't who he thinks he is, but a trained assassin programmed to think he's someone else.
Eventually, by the end of that story, Baker discovers he is Bobby Do, the Butcher of Baghdad, and faces down his creator, C.C. Connor.
Now, in the next story, Assassin Nation, most of the old players are back and all are at the White House. New characters like Samantha Anthra and Manuel Kontroz work both together and against each other. Sam, furthering the nefarious plans of C.C Connor, to place assassins within other's governments, and Manny, to discover just what those plans entail.
Some character quirks are that Samantha Anthra, or Sam, is somehow programmed to kill at the drop of a hat, but is otherwise normal. Manuel Kontroz, or Manny, is a highly spiritual genius who is also a trained killer. What is especially true in the story is that no one can be trusted.
When we last saw Manuel Kontroz, he was on his way to California to find who had assassinated his mentor. Samantha Anthra was with him, as she wants answers too, but she knows many things about an assassin placement plan that she's not revealing.
Previously from "A Murder a Month":
"Enero was shot by Betty Brady, who was part of what is known as the Dixie Mafia. She likely dispatched Corazon, another rival. She was then killed by the Volga Vanisher, Dave Vision; a man well known, in his circles, for his renderings. He was killed, quite brutally, by the late Mr. Newton," said the stranger.
"Guess I'll take the rest of the week off, and let Piglet figure out who knocked off Newton," said Bull
"He would certainly know, Inspector."
Bull throws his arms in the air scoffing.
"Who ARE you!"
The man stands with the .38, slowly loading the rounds into the cylinder.
"My name is Manuel Kontroz."
----------------------------------------------------------
Previously from "Assassin Nation":
Samantha reached into her pocket and looked at the screen on the device. There was an icon which had been sent as a message. She touched it.
Manuel stared at her with both curiosity and a sense of intrigue. Her demeanor changed immediately. Emotion left her face and she quickly spun around and hit the toggle switch to release the plane from autopilot. Her next move was to pull up on the steering sending the plane on a steep trajectory to the ground.
Kontroz dove to the panel, but was stopped by a kick from a sensible, size seven, Fendi high-top sneaker with an added steel toe inserted for just such an occasion. The well-placed kick cracked his lowest rib.
Instinctively, Manuel spun a roundhouse kick that was uncommonly deflected by the woman. She simultaneously landed a jab in the center of his scrotum, which caused the expected reaction. That move was quickly followed by successive flat-hand spearings to his throat, solar plexus, and already fractured rib.
A piece of metal trimming was grabbed and broken off by the woman and became a makeshift knife. She attempted to plunge the sharp piece of aluminum into her opponent, but Manuel was able to counter each thrust with a block. He ultimately was able to grab her carotid artery and cause her to fall backward.
Now able to seize the controls, he pulled the plane up to horizontal and flipped on the autopilot. He turned expecting another assault, only to find Samantha Anthra kneeled and looking up at him. Both stared at each other for a moment, until her phone buzzed again. Manuel reached out his hand, indicating that he wanted the device. She looked at the caller ID and pressed the name. Lifting the phone to her face she said, "Hello, Mother."
------------------------------------------------------
Millie Manowitz sat across from her daughter, Samantha Anthra, at a window table in Bistro Cacao, three blocks down from the Capitol.
"Asparagus ravioli, dear?" asked Millie. "Running a marathon soon?"
Sam looked at her plate and then at her mother's. "That shrimp salad has quinoa, roasted beets, and parmesan. Did Chef Deger recommend that? I think he wants you fat and jolly for when he proposes."
"Where is Manny now?"
"Change of subject? Gosh, I was just kidding about Kemal Deger. Is it serious?"
"You're hilarious," Millie replied, without a smile and avoiding Sam's eye contact. "Where is Manuel Kontroz?"
"He's not directly under my control. After you called us back, halfway to California, he disappeared for a few hours and then left me a text."
"By the way, what happened in that analog plane of his? You were completely off the radar - invisible to the world."
"To be totally honest, I fell asleep. Your phone call woke me up."
"So, Manny didn't question your turning back? Dr. Wu was like a father to him."
"He was practically a mute all the way back, except I heard him mumbling some type of prayer, or something."
Millie smiled as she lifted her water glass to drink. "Manuel Kontroz keeps his own counsel, certainly. If you told him about the murders in that Illinois city though, and that they connect to Dr. Wu, that is where he is now."
Scoffing, Samantha pushed her plate away and stood. "I actually have a job, you know. I'm the Chief of Staff for the President of the United States. Keeping track of Kontroz is not a priority for me. I can avenge Dr.Wu without him. He also wants information he's not cleared for; I'm convinced he's investigating all of us."
Millie spears a shrimp on her plate and raises it up for her daughter to see. "Sam, Manny is a shrimp, but - what a shrimp! He has gifts which can make him our leviathan - or a kraken."
Red Appleton, President of the United States, after President Sullivan's death in office
C. C. Connor, former Chief of Staff to President Sullivan; trained assassin
Millie Manowitz, California state representative, twin sister of C.C. Connor; assassin.
Samantha Anthra, Chief of Staff to President Appleton; murdered Pres. Sullivan
Manuel Kontroz, Assistant to the President
Ben Baker, aka Butcher of Baghdad aka Bobby Do, assassin
Bull Schlitz, Chief Police Inspector
Detective Piglette (Piglet) Detective
Alexander Enero, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Dulce Corazon, Assassin, shot by Betty Brady
Betty Brady, Assassin, drowned by Dave Vision
Dave Vision, Assassin, vivisected by Zack Newton, Detective/Assassin, shot by unknown sniper
--------------------------------
I want to tie A Murder a Month in with the novella, Assassin Nation, but it has been a while since the last chapter, so I'll need to prep readers to allow a smooth backstory.
In a previous novella, Baker's Dozen, we see a secret government program training assassins in the mid-west. Ben Baker is a low-level White House staffer who is dropped naked into a wooded area with a gun, knife, boot lace, and a bottle of water. He knows that he must hunt down and kill twelve other people who he understands are hunting him as well.
This operation is run by the President of the United State's Chief of Staff, C.C. Connor. We learn, as others are dropped into the same area, that Baker is a flat character with no background. This makes sense as we learn that Baker isn't who he thinks he is, but a trained assassin programmed to think he's someone else.
Eventually, by the end of that story, Baker discovers he is Bobby Do, the Butcher of Baghdad, and faces down his creator, C.C. Connor.
Now, in the next story, Assassin Nation, most of the old players are back and all are at the White House. New characters like Samantha Anthra and Manuel Kontroz work both together and against each other. Sam, furthering the nefarious plans of C.C Connor, to place assassins within other's governments, and Manny, to discover just what those plans entail.
Some character quirks are that Samantha Anthra, or Sam, is somehow programmed to kill at the drop of a hat, but is otherwise normal. Manuel Kontroz, or Manny, is a highly spiritual genius who is also a trained killer. What is especially true in the story is that no one can be trusted.
When we last saw Manuel Kontroz, he was on his way to California to find who had assassinated his mentor. Samantha Anthra was with him, as she wants answers too, but she knows many things about an assassin placement plan that she's not revealing.
Previously from "A Murder a Month":
"Enero was shot by Betty Brady, who was part of what is known as the Dixie Mafia. She likely dispatched Corazon, another rival. She was then killed by the Volga Vanisher, Dave Vision; a man well known, in his circles, for his renderings. He was killed, quite brutally, by the late Mr. Newton," said the stranger.
"Guess I'll take the rest of the week off, and let Piglet figure out who knocked off Newton," said Bull
"He would certainly know, Inspector."
Bull throws his arms in the air scoffing.
"Who ARE you!"
The man stands with the .38, slowly loading the rounds into the cylinder.
"My name is Manuel Kontroz."
----------------------------------------------------------
Previously from "Assassin Nation":
Samantha reached into her pocket and looked at the screen on the device. There was an icon which had been sent as a message. She touched it.
Manuel stared at her with both curiosity and a sense of intrigue. Her demeanor changed immediately. Emotion left her face and she quickly spun around and hit the toggle switch to release the plane from autopilot. Her next move was to pull up on the steering sending the plane on a steep trajectory to the ground.
Kontroz dove to the panel, but was stopped by a kick from a sensible, size seven, Fendi high-top sneaker with an added steel toe inserted for just such an occasion. The well-placed kick cracked his lowest rib.
Instinctively, Manuel spun a roundhouse kick that was uncommonly deflected by the woman. She simultaneously landed a jab in the center of his scrotum, which caused the expected reaction. That move was quickly followed by successive flat-hand spearings to his throat, solar plexus, and already fractured rib.
A piece of metal trimming was grabbed and broken off by the woman and became a makeshift knife. She attempted to plunge the sharp piece of aluminum into her opponent, but Manuel was able to counter each thrust with a block. He ultimately was able to grab her carotid artery and cause her to fall backward.
Now able to seize the controls, he pulled the plane up to horizontal and flipped on the autopilot. He turned expecting another assault, only to find Samantha Anthra kneeled and looking up at him. Both stared at each other for a moment, until her phone buzzed again. Manuel reached out his hand, indicating that he wanted the device. She looked at the caller ID and pressed the name. Lifting the phone to her face she said, "Hello, Mother."
------------------------------------------------------
Millie Manowitz sat across from her daughter, Samantha Anthra, at a window table in Bistro Cacao, three blocks down from the Capitol.
"Asparagus ravioli, dear?" asked Millie. "Running a marathon soon?"
Sam looked at her plate and then at her mother's. "That shrimp salad has quinoa, roasted beets, and parmesan. Did Chef Deger recommend that? I think he wants you fat and jolly for when he proposes."
"Where is Manny now?"
"Change of subject? Gosh, I was just kidding about Kemal Deger. Is it serious?"
"You're hilarious," Millie replied, without a smile and avoiding Sam's eye contact. "Where is Manuel Kontroz?"
"He's not directly under my control. After you called us back, halfway to California, he disappeared for a few hours and then left me a text."
"By the way, what happened in that analog plane of his? You were completely off the radar - invisible to the world."
"To be totally honest, I fell asleep. Your phone call woke me up."
"So, Manny didn't question your turning back? Dr. Wu was like a father to him."
"He was practically a mute all the way back, except I heard him mumbling some type of prayer, or something."
Millie smiled as she lifted her water glass to drink. "Manuel Kontroz keeps his own counsel, certainly. If you told him about the murders in that Illinois city though, and that they connect to Dr. Wu, that is where he is now."
Scoffing, Samantha pushed her plate away and stood. "I actually have a job, you know. I'm the Chief of Staff for the President of the United States. Keeping track of Kontroz is not a priority for me. I can avenge Dr.Wu without him. He also wants information he's not cleared for; I'm convinced he's investigating all of us."
Millie spears a shrimp on her plate and raises it up for her daughter to see. "Sam, Manny is a shrimp, but - what a shrimp! He has gifts which can make him our leviathan - or a kraken."
 Recognized |
Kemal Deger is the actual chef at Bistro Cacao in D.C.
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