Vengeance by Ann Arnold

About the book

"You're going to kill me because I'm writing my thesis on Westpoint Mall?"

"No, Girlie, I'm going to kill you because you meddled into my business."

Evil disguised as revenge leads militia leader James Oates to concoct a deadly plot against the government. Graduate student Carol Garvey unwittingly becomes ensnared in his heinous scheme. He sees her as a threat to his calculated success and must be eliminated.

In gathering data for her thesis, Garvey learns of the twenty-year-old unsolved murder by Oates of Detective Gerald Wilson. Curious, she interviews the reporter who wrote of the killing. He suspects a cover-up. She visits the police archives and finds no record of Wilson, but is seen by Oates' nephew, Patrolman Lester Smith. He alerts the militia leader of her interest.

Garvey's lover, Professor Andrew MacMillian, urges her to limit her research to shops and shoppers and to abandon her amateur sleuthing. Reluctantly she agrees, not knowing her curiosity has set in motion events that will lead to imminent danger.

The paranoid Oates faults the Federal Drug Administration for the cancer death of his beloved wife, Christine. He plans to poison the water system in the Eisenhower Federal Building. Fearful Garvey's inquisitiveness may jeopardize this impending sabotage, he puts out a contract on her life. A showdown in her apartment between Oates and the hit man result in the killer's death and Oates kidnapping Garvey.

MacMillan discovers the body and convinces local police of Garvey's disappearance. Sgt. Manuela Torres and local detectives investigate.

Garvey, imprisoned in an underground bunker, considers what she holds most dear in life, and, she must somehow escape and save hundreds of innocent people from a hideous death.

State agent Brandon Shore had infiltrated Oates' movement. Unaware of Garvey's confinement, he leads a raid on the militia compound. She is rescued and convinces Shore of the urgency to protect the federal building's water supply. He and his men are joined by local officers, including Torres, at the darkened site. The security guard has been killed. Oates is in the building.

Torres encounters Oates in a sixth floor hallway, Gunfire is exchanged. He runs to the stairwell. The police officer fires and wounds him. He tumbles down a flight of stairs with the deadly poison in hand. The container bursts and its contents mix with the blood of the fatally wounded militia leader. He died on Christine's birthday.

About the author

Native Texan Ann Arnold lives in Fort Worth with her husband and his two cats. She has penned four non-fiction books about her adopted city and is a frequent speaker at civic and historical events. When not writing, she enjoys reading and traveling.