They'll Call It Treason Read Free

body like a surging tidal wave, threatening to overload his nerves. His vision blurred. Oh, how he wished he could just pass out.
    The man jerked the knife out and then rammed it back into his chest. Riley's body jerked with each blow. The knife dived again, and again, and again.
    The pain convulsed through Riley’s body, but just as quickly, everything around him began to go black. Blood flowed out of his mouth, threatening to choke him. He strained for one last look at his attacker, nothing, just a black figure in the dark.
    For a moment he thought he saw Ashton looking down at him. His eyes caring, his mouth moving, saying something he could not hear. He smiled.
    Then everything went black.

CHAPTER 2
    April 17 at 7:05 a.m. EST
    Raleigh, North Carolina
     
    The SUV thumped along I-40. Ethan Shaw did his best to avoid the potholes and ruts scattered over the surface, but no one was that good. Since the drive down from Norfolk the clouds had darkened and covered the sun. A light rain had started, keeping the wipers busy.
    Eyes on the road, Ethan listened to his partner go over the case details.
    “According to the Capitol Police report, the victim’s name is Representative Riley Daniels, from Collettsville, North Carolina.” Special Agent Jason Phelps paused and laughed, “Collettsville? That sounds awful back woodsy don’t you think?”
    “Yeah, just a little. Be easy on the country folk though, they don’t take too kindly to us city slickers,” Ethan joked in his best country accent as he steered the rental car off the interstate.
    Jason chuckled, then returned to the report. Ethan continued to listen as he peered out the window. Rain streamed down the glass and obscured his view. His arms flexed under his coat sleeve as he turned the wheel, taking them down a smaller city street. Ethan was in his mid-thirties, a former Marine Recon sniper turned FBI field agent five years earlier. He had never been a huge fan of the government, so he figured the best way to keep them in check was to get a job with them.
    “Known associates and friends, Sanford Robertson, Kim Thurmond, a Representative Glen Jacobson…” Jason’s voice faded away as Ethan’s mind slipped to more attractive thoughts for a moment, Kate in particular.
    Dark chocolate eyes, lush sandy blond hair. She was the one, at least he hoped so. It being a long distance relationship for the past two years had helped none. Kate had accepted a job offer at North Carolina State University teaching Political Science. Ethan was stuck in Norfolk where he had met Kate, with no plans on moving.
    “Only about five minutes from the crime scene, Ethan,” Jason said, giving Ethan’s shoulder a pat to reel him back in. “You weren’t listening to a word I said, were you?”
    “I caught it…” He paused for effect while merging onto Capital Boulevard, “the first time you went over it on the plane.”
    With a grin and light snicker Jason shook his head. Ethan remembered the briefing well. A North Carolina State Representative had been murdered late in the night under half a mile from the Legislature Building. Stabbed to death and left in a dark doorway where he had been found earlier that morning.
    Under normal circumstances the case would not merit the FBI’s interest. Especially not an out-of-state team. This one did. The two had been following a series of homicides – alleged assassinations – of political figures over the past four years mostly along the eastern seaboard. They had to be sure this one was not related.
    It had been Jason who had convinced Ethan to let his military enlistment expire and enter the FBI Academy five years earlier. Now the two high school friends were tasked with finding and rooting out domestic terrorist groups before they could strike.
    Fortunately, the rain was lightening. Ethan was not fond of getting soaked. Signaling they were close, the Edenton Street United Methodist Church towered over them on the left shoulder. Ethan was