The Chamberlain Files Book 3
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James F. Timmins
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Detective Jack Chamberlain and his partner Claire are thrust into a high-stakes investigation when a series of coordinated terrorist attacks rock the United States. As they chase down leads from a deadly movie theater shooting in Oklahoma to a catastrophic explosion at Gettysburg, they uncover a sinister plot orchestrated by a homegrown militia group. With the nation on edge and time running out, Jack and Claire must navigate a web of deception and danger to prevent further chaos and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Prologue
File Three: HomeGrown
Detective Jack Chamberlain returns for his latest case in HomeGrown. Jack’s used to encountering all kinds of criminals and evil in the world, but this time he has to face something he’s never come up against before: American-born terrorists. Only Jack and his partner Claire can bring them down... but at what cost?
He looked at the detailed United States map displayed on the monitor that covered the wall in front of him.
In every state at least one city was lit with a small blue dot; in many states, there were multiple blue lights.
It would soon be time to wake the sleeping giant, the great tiger that had grown fat and lazy, gorging itself on an abundance of bread and wine.
People moved like lemmings through their daily lives, without purpose, passion, or even consideration for one another. The great Me generation had reached a societal apex.
Occasionally, after a hurricane, tornado, or some natural tragedy, the populace would join together, briefly, to help one another.
But those moments were fleeting and did not carry over once the event fell from the daily news.
The attention span of the American public was so short that the next iPhone app could make them forget a tragedy that had occurred against their fellow Americans.
That would soon change. Americans needed not only a reminder to come together as one nation, but a constant reminder.
One tragedy would not convince Americans to band together, but a host of heart-wrenching stories and tragic events would.
America needed to become a country always on guard, where not a city street or hamlet park would be safe to spend a lazy afternoon.
A land where to gather as a crowd would be an invitation for a visit from the grimmest of reapers.
He turned to the television and watched the news reports of the tragedy unfolding in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. A lone gunman had entered a movie theater and begun firing, indiscriminately, into the crowd.
Few had made it out of the multiplex alive. Someone had managed to dial nine-one-one and the theater had been surrounded by local law enforcement.
A command center had been set up by a SWAT team in an adjacent parking lot.
As the police moved a crowd of onlookers back to a safe distance, a van exploded in the midst of the crowd, killing dozens and wounding dozens more, all captured by a local news coverage team.
The explosion had created enough confusion to allow the gunman a chance to escape. The police were on the lookout for an on-off-road motorcycle said to have been seen fleeing the scene just after the explosion.
The coverage returned to the kaleidoscope of blue and red lights shining against the night. Ambulances rushed from the parking lot heading for the local hospital.
The local news station camera panned across the hellish scene in the parking lot that contained a line of bodies whose night would end at the morgue.
Get the country’s attention and hold it. That was his goal. It was time for another revolution just as Jefferson had wanted, had envisioned.
Jefferson would have been amazed the country had lasted this long without completely overturning the government empire. But Jefferson was a visionary far beyond his time.
The Civil War had almost changed the landscape of America but had failed, and no other substantial attempt had been made.
Sure, there had been the occasional militia attempt at insurrection, but nothing of any lasting impact. That was about to change as he and his brethren pulled the tail of the tiger.
He turned back toward the map and typed three numbers into the keyboard on his desk. He watched on the map as the blue dot in Oklahoma turned red.
