The Story behind the Series
Boy meets girl – in Paris. She is a mystery; he is a deeply concealed officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. Neither wants to tell their story, but they need one another. What could go wrong, right?
Robert Chase was recruited out of a small midwestern university about twenty years ago. He wanted to help change the world. The Iranian takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran was barely in the rearview mirror when the CIA promised it would never be surprised like that again. It formed a dark operations group that would penetrate terrorist cells worldwide and bring dangerous men and women in from the cold to face life-long imprisonment. Today, we would call it extra-judicial rendition; back then it was simple kidnapping. Chase became one of the best at it. His features were forgettable, and he found he could slip in and out of trouble almost without notice. He was quick with his hands and was bulldog tenacious.
Samantha D’Aubrisson had a complicated past. Her mother was a U.S. state department watcher who sometimes would let the young Sam help in some of her assignments. Her father, a French citizen and diplomat, had no idea what was going on. He was convenient and largely absent from Sam’s life. Samantha’s past will slowly be revealed as the stories unfold. One thing is certain: she is deeply in love with Chase and will do anything to protect him.
The series begins with Genesis. During their fledgling long-distance relationship, a terrorist attack in Marseille stuns Chase and his sense of who he is. Sam circles the wagons. If he is going to continue this line of work, she insists she will do it with him. This presents some problems that remain unresolved when he receives a new assignment. Intercepts from the Middle East indicate a massive plot is underway that could endanger the lives of every American in Iraq. It is being financed by the same person who handled the money for the Marseille event. Chase will not be outplayed a second time. The tension mounts and the outcome hangs by a thread. A shadowy hacker named Andreas makes an appearance as he attempts to extract all the CIA’s secrets.
The second book in the series is The Protocol. Chase and Sam have retreated to a small village on the Mediterranean coast to heal from a brutal shooting. He is not sure he is up to the job anymore; Sam just wants him to be happy. An accidental crossing of paths in the Central Milan train station sets Chase on a new hunt. An international criminal by the name of Hans Stumpf has abandoned his safe hideaway to embark on a new mission of mayhem for a sinister extremist group that has set its sights on stealing the presidency of France. But he is not alone in his delusions. An American billionaire is the brains and the money behind it, and he intends to disrupt the government of the United States at the same time. The action rages across Europe and the United States as both plots unfold. Andreas makes a second appearance, this time to grudgingly aid Samantha.
Book three in the series is A Disappearance. A girl is stolen from the street in front of her Moscow home. Within hours she is sucked into an international trafficking scheme run by former KGB officer Miki Lukin. He is the son-in-law of one of the most ruthless and powerful oligarchs in Russia and a close ally of the president. But young Sofia has a protector too: the head of the intelligence service known as the FSB. Alexander Popov has a problem, however. He cannot move against Miki directly; he will need deniable help. Popov calls Reynolds Merrill, a deputy director of the CIA. “I need your help,” says Popov, “you have a man in Europe who finds people.” He does; Robert Chase is his name. But if he is to risk his life on this operation, he wants an unnamed favor in return.
The mission immediately runs into trouble. Miki flees from a gun battle in his villa in Cannes to his father-in-law’s fortified compound on Cap Ferrat. Chase and Sam can’t go get him, so they devise a plan to make him come to them. Meanwhile, poor Sofia is on her way to an anxious customer in Los Angeles. In the end, it will be Samantha’s job to save her, and Robert Chase.