Triple Trouble: A Cassidy Callahan Novel. Kelly Rysten
Читать онлайн.| Название | Triple Trouble: A Cassidy Callahan Novel |
|---|---|
| Автор произведения | Kelly Rysten |
| Жанр | Контркультура |
| Серия | |
| Издательство | Контркультура |
| Год выпуска | 0 |
| isbn | 9781926585420 |
TRIPLE TROUBLE
A Cassidy Callahan Novel
by Kelly Rysten
CCB Publishing British Columbia, Canada
Triple Trouble: A Cassidy Callahan Novel
Copyright ©2009 by Kelly Rysten
ISBN-13 978-1-926585-42-0
First Edition
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Rysten, Kelly, 1960-
Triple trouble [electronic resource] : a Cassidy Callahan novel /
written by Kelly Rysten.
ISBN 978-1-926585-42-0
Also available in print format.
I. Title.
PZ7.R98Tr 2009a j813'.6 C2009-905513-9
Cover artwork by Kelly Rysten.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, and characters are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be considered as real.
Resemblance to any events or persons, living or dead, past or present, is purely coincidental.
Extreme care has been taken to ensure that all information presented in this book is accurate and up to date at the time of publishing. Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Additionally, neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For other permission requests, please contact the author. Printed in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
Publisher: CCB Publishing
British Columbia, Canada
Dedicated to the memory of my father Henry Daniel Saastamoinen who always believed in me and encouraged me to share Cassidy with others.
Contents
I was pulling out of the grocery store parking lot when a large, scruffy man yanked open the door of my Jeep and jumped in. He pointed a grimy, worn gun in my face and yelled “Drive!”
I was so shocked I froze. After using guns my entire life including a stint in the Marines you’d think I could keep a cool head in a simple carjacking. My second reaction was, oh no, trouble has found me again. Wherever I go, trouble follows. Sometimes it follows at a distance, teasing, and sometimes it attacks like this, with driving force and violence.
When I was a kid my propensity for trouble didn’t bother me as much. In fact, I felt honored when my father’s workers called me Trouble. I thought I was tough, and the name made me feel tough. It made me feel like I ought to look for more adventures. And that usually got me into trouble so it was kind of a self-fulfilling name. My real name is Cassidy Callahan. Most people think of me as Skipper meets GI Joe. I’m a petite blonde, and I’ve always looked like a kid, but in my mind I’m a dynamo.
As I grew up, my life changed but my attitude didn’t. I was a decent, if distracted, student. I graduated from high school. Then, after a boring summer where I imagined myself stuck on my parents’ ranch forever, I decided there was a whole wide world out there just waiting to be explored. After a big to-do where I butted heads with my parents, I joined the Marine Corps and took off to prove just how tough I really was. Having grown up on a ranch, in a place that was physically demanding, I thought I was prepared. I’d wrestled skittish horses and helped round up cattle, backpacked, hiked and tracked, and was physically fit. The Marines, however, had a very different idea of what fit was. I met all their tortures with firm determination and was proud when my determination paid off and I was a soldier. Men laughed when they saw me in full gear. At times, I looked like a walking uniform. Put me in fatigues, boots, helmet, backpack, give me a weapon and sunglasses and I disappeared. Put me through a morning of calisthenics, send me on a long hike in the desert heat and I could drop several pounds in a day.
Four years as a Marine had kept trouble at bay. I’d married an Air Force test pilot named Jack and settled down a bit. I was almost a normal housewife except for sudden longings for the great outdoors. The nearby mountains called to me until I gave in and took off into the woods. Give me a daypack with snacks and a bottle of water and I was good to go. Jack went too, occasionally,