Revenge: a Marc Ryder Adventure

By Norm Olson

Marc Ryder a self-described "ordinary man" has been ordered to take his wife Marina on a honeymoon. He wastes no time in booking a three week Island resort hopping trip. Starting in Athens the trip includes Paros, Aruba, Sint.Maarten, Playa del Carmen and Puerto Vallarta. They are followed by murder and mayhem. This all culminates in Puerto Vallarta where the enigmatic international assassin, the Bolivian plans to kill the Commandante of the Policia Federales and anyone else who tries to stop her. A combination of International and local thugs working for the Panamanian drug cartel, and an elusive local Puerto Vallarta character "El Salvaje" the savage are all trying to kill the Commandante.If this were not bad enough Dmitri Shepelova arrives in Mexico City in search of the Bolivian and barely escapes with his life. Ryder is ordered out of Mexico by the Governor. He returns to Long Beach where Marina is kidnapped setting the stage for an explosive ending. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: May 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781977266347

Norm Olson

This is Norm Olson’s fourth Marc Ryder novel. Norm is a former Army Officer and retired FBI Special Agent spending 16 years in Foreign Counterintelligence. He makes his home in Arizona with his wife and two Huskies, Fenrir and Anubis. 

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Revenge

All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2023 Norm Olson

v4.0

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 37

CHAPTER 38

CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 41

CHAPTER 42

CHAPTER 43

CHAPTER 44

CHAPTER 45

PROLOGUE

Xander Naoussa considered himself unbeatable. He was offered a very substantial amount of money to find and eliminate another assassin, a female assassin no less. He decided this would be his final job. At age 56 he had had enough and after this job he would fade away to one of the Greek islands. It was quite by luck that he had been in the right place, Berlin, talking to the right people, Joanna Bergraf Feldman when the subject of Joanna’s brother Franco came up. It seems he had fallen off a high-speed train somewhere between Innsbruck and Zurich. Joanna thought this was preposterous and was convinced that her brother had been pushed off the train. She was also convinced the push was done by an international assassin called the Bolivian. Through an intermediary, Naoussa struck a deal to eliminate The Bolivian. He thought the name was quite amusing, The Bolivian!

It took him longer than he thought to pick up enough clues to put her on the Greek Island of Paros. He had grown up on the Island of Antiparos and spent his teenage years on the Island of Paros hustling whatever he could off of tourists. His attitude of I’ll take any job brought him to the attention of the criminal element of Athens who were always looking for some fool to do the job. Surprisingly he was better, much better than the usual fools they hired for murder and subsequently became known as the go-to guy for the Greek mob. Whenever a hit or a particularly high-profile job came up, the call went out, call the Greek! Xander Naoussa was the Greek.

It took him three weeks of careful observation once he found her to decide the exact time and place to make the hit. The woman, whom he had no doubt was the one known as The Bolivian, would spend most days out on the beach and would occasionally stop at the bar in the Hotel Londos for a glass of wine. She would travel to and from her condo to the beach on her Vespa. She always parked her Vespa in an alley only a few hundred feet from the back door of the hotel bar. She would exit the bar and disappear into the shadows and watch before walking to her Vespa. There was a dead-end alley 50 feet before she would reach her Vespa. He would take her there and leave her body in that alley. It wouldn’t be found until the next day.

The day comes when he is satisfied the time is right. He watches her go into the bar and he heads for the little dead-end alley. He doesn’t hurry because he knows she will have at least one glass of wine. The sun has gone down and the shadows are dark. He is invisible in his dark clothes. He decides as soon as she passes he will step out and take her from behind. He waits and thinks she must have decided to have a second glass of wine. Suddenly he is grabbed from behind and he can feel the point of a knife in his neck and he hears looking for me you amateur?

CHAPTER 1

Life does not play favorites, or maybe it does. I’ve been buried alive, shot at numerous times, rode a nuclear bomb down to the last second, had my boat blown out from under me just as it exploded, and helplessly watched as an assassin pointed a gun at the love of my life. The love of my life has been there with me on most of these memorable occasions. Who is she? The beautiful Afghan Princess I call my wife, Marina Noor Ryder. She’s not really a Princess except to me. Who am I? Why I’m surprised you haven’t heard of me. I’m Marc Ryder, Deputy Director, Defense Foreign Liaison, United States Department of Defense.

Our three-letter acronym is DFL and it has made me an easy mark for the smartasses of the world! I had just returned to duty after being shot at my wedding in Mazatlan, Mexico by a notorious assassin named The Bolivian. A female killer without peer! She somehow managed to escape and has not been heard of since. There are numerous theories as to what happened in Mazatlan. One is, that although she escaped, she was seriously wounded and did not survive. Who knows, we may never know! Gone without a trace!

I am brought back to the present by the booming voice of Major General Parker, Director, DFL. Ryder I’ve just received a message from the On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA) team in the USSR and they want you over there yesterday!

Well good morning to you too sir. And what do I owe this splendid moment to? I love to do that to him.

Ahem, ah yes, well top of the morning to you also, and don’t think you can pull the wool over my eyes as to what you’re trying to do here Ryder!

To do.

Yes, to do.

To do what?

You know bloody well what. He loves to talk like an Englishman even though he was raised in Minnesota.

Well sir if you are going to keep me guessing I give up. I was just on my way down to your office to tell you I have ordered to rejoin the On-Site Inspection team and report to Frankfurt, Germany for briefings prior to travel to Votkinsk, USSR. But you already knew that.

"Of course I knew that. I recommended you. I thought it would be a safe place for you to continue your recovery. When would you expect to travel and what is the duration of this boondoggel?

They said they wanted me as soon as possible and I would expect to spend about three weeks with stops in Frankfurt and Moscow.

I see. Well I took the liberty of telling them you would be available as soon as you return from your honeymoon.

My honeymoon?

Yes, your honeymoon. That wife of yours is like the daughter I never had and it’s about time you started paying more attention to her and treat her right. She’s had a difficult life and being married to you has not made it any easier. So as of tomorrow, I don’t want to see you for at least two weeks. And if you want me to approve your grade increase you will be gone for at least three weeks. Are we on the same page here Ryder?

Yes sir! Thank you sir!

You will give me your word you will not engage in any cloak and dagger adventures and get yourself shot.

I so swear.

Well then at sixteen hundred hours we shall retire to Lombardos to engage in a bit of the bubbly. The lovely Mrs. Ryder has consented to join us so be prompt.

Yes sir!

With that the General comes to attention, does a perfect about face and marches out the door. I hear him say Amy you look lovely today and at 4 pm you will close up shop here and proceed to join us at Lombardos for a toast to the newlyweds. Lombardos is an Italian restaurant on the first level of our building that is a very convenient place to find a bit of the bubbly as the General would say.

Yes sir.

Amy comes running into my office Mr. Ryder, the General knows my name! He actually called me by my name! He’s never called me by name before.

Well you are the Regional Administrative Supervisor, for the Defense Foreign Liaison Office, United States Department of Defense.

Oh my, that sounds impressive. You should probably start calling me Mrs. Ornasis.

Oh for crying out loud!

CHAPTER 2

Dmitri Ivanovich Shepelova was a Russian, more so a Chechen. As much as he thought he could move and live elsewhere it just didn’t work and he was always drawn back to the motherland and Moscow. He could make a living there without hardly lifting a finger, of course lifting the wrong finger could send him to the gulag for the rest of his life. He considered it a very fortunate day when he met Marc Ryder whose life he had saved after a foolish move to Mexico. He had shot the notorious assassin The Bolivian at Marc Ryder’s wedding in Mazatlan. He saw the bullet holes in her white blouse. Unfortunately the police thought he was an assassin trying to kill the governor of Sinaloa, Mexico and arrested him.

Ryder was also shot in the melee as was his good friend, Estavan Rodrigues, Commandante of the Policia Federales in the State of Sinaloa. When everything was finally sorted out as to who actually did most of the shooting, Dmitri was cleared of all charges and released and given a more than subtle piece of advice that he should consider moving somewhere else like back to Moscow which he did. His cousin, who he had more or less given the taxi business, reluctantly gave it back. His apartment which Dmitri had loaned to him when Dmitri moved to Mazatlan was also given back and presto Dmitri Shepelova was back in business.

It didn’t take long for Dmitri to resume his search for The Bolivian whom he was certain survived the shootout in Mazatlan. His main goal in life was to find her and slowly kill her. Whoever murdered his brother Sergey has never been identified. It does not matter to Dmitri. Dmitri knew it was The Bolivian. His gut feeling tells him she is somewhere in the Greek Isles. This is not a small area but he has narrowed it down to the Island of Paros. But he cannot just get up and go to the Island of Paros because he has been warned never to return by the Greek National Police.

It only takes a couple of phone calls and he has the right person working on his new passport and identification. Getting out of the USSR in the 1980s required knowing the right border people and having enough rubles assuring exit. That was no problem because he also knew the best counterfeiter in the USSR.

I’m sitting at my desk at my office in Long Beach, California which overlooks Ocean Boulevard. I’ll admit my thoughts were not on work but the puzzling trouble I was having with my golf game. I’m sitting with my eyes closed and going over everything, my stance, my grip, my takeaway, and I’m reminded of the fact that the hitting of the golf ball is but an incident in the golf swing. Oh sure easy to say.

I’m shaken out of my golf lesson by the phone ringing. Before I can reach for it I hear Amy, my newly promoted administrative assistant answer it. Oh hi Dmitri! How are you? You want to take me to lunch? Terrific, where are you. Athens? Oh I would love to go lunch in Athens!

I grab the phone and punch line one, Amy I’ll take over.

I never get to do the fun things! Click!

Dmitri where the heck are you and what are you doing inviting my girl Amy to lunch?

Amy comes back on the line I heard that Mr. Ryder.

Heard what?

My girl!

Sorry.

Just wait until Marina hears I’m your girl.

OK, could you please get off the line now?

Hey I was kinda enjoying this says Dmitri.

Bye Bye Dmitri whispers Amy.

Amy!

Bye Amy chimes in Dmitri.

Yes, for crying out loud, bye Amy!

OK, now what do I owe the pleasure of this call and where are you? Please don’t say Long Beach.

I’m in Athens getting ready to board the ferry to Paros.

Paros? What are you going to do on Paros?

Marc, she is there.

Dmitri, this is a really bad idea, give me the information and I’ll have the Greeks check it out.

Come on Marc. Those guys couldn’t find a picture in a frame.

I almost forget myself and tell Dmitri that Marina and I will be on Paros