THE GROUP

AuthorHouse

Contents

Chapter 1 Themala's Disturbing News..............................1Chapter 2 Bennie Gets Agitated...................................10Chapter 3 The Storm..............................................16Chapter 4 Themala is Crestfallen.................................21Chapter 5 Tobey Reminisces.......................................29Chapter 6 Health Problems at the Plant...........................38Chapter 7 Tobey Hires Zanderbar..................................45Chapter 8 Tobey meets his Adversary..............................49Chapter 9 Slick's Curiosity......................................57Chapter 10 Jonathan Change Plans.................................62Chapter 11 Electrical Power Complex EP54.........................71Chapter 12 Thaner is discharged..................................76Chapter 13 Tobey meets Sylvia....................................81Chapter 14 Thanksgiving Day......................................88Chapter 15 Natashe has the shock of her life.....................94Chapter 16 Thaner gets angry.....................................104Chapter 17 Sampsun Sorrowful moment..............................108Chapter 18 Sampsun curiosity probe...............................120Chapter 19 A Mission of Mercy....................................128Chapter 20 The Group Meeting.....................................134Chapter 21 The Plan in Motion....................................144Chapter 22 An uninvited guest....................................148Chapter 23 Pattie's Instigation..................................161Chapter 24 Sampsun is shocked....................................164Chapter 25 Sampsun lost his colleague............................171Chapter 26 Chief Mann gets a tip.................................179Chapter 27 Pattie is shocked.....................................185Chapter 28 The Interrogation of Johnny...........................189Chapter 29 A Perplexed Chief.....................................198Chapter 30 DeJa Ve...............................................204Chapter 31 Sampsun's Euphoria....................................208

Chapter One

Present year 2023, is at its end ...

We are further away from reality now then we were fifteen years ago; and nobody seems to care. In this searing and chaotic world, our way of life continues in awe. Preconceived notions and corruption continue to plague our society. This observable fact spreads like wildfire. It has destroyed livelihoods and caused many to falter for decades. Sheppardsville, your town, is even more susceptible; it cannot escape the wrath of its fury.

Early in the year, the group had all the evidence needed to prove Sheppardsville was corrupt; just like many cities across this planet, and need to change, but that plan was foiled. The raid on the suspected compound failed. The group found nothing out of the ordinary that could be proven to be illegal. Chaos evolved, and corruption spawned new direction. It caused a rain of problems for the group, and the city of Sheppardsville.

It's Monday evening August 21, 2023. Sampsun and Themala are sitting in their apartment, very much desponded. They are disheartened to see all the work that went into developing this feat destroyed. Now that the agony of defeat has the group reeling, they are forced to slow down and pull themselves together. They had to figure what went wrong. Very worried and pissed off Sampsun says.

"Our skillfully planned raid was exposed Themala. They had eyes and ears everywhere. They knew we were coming. Our security was not as tight as we thought. Somewhere down the line someone gained access to our plans; they took advantage of what they discovered and ran with it. They cleaned their act up in a hurry and disappeared off the face of the earth. Tha, Tobe, and Natashe put themselves in danger when they infiltrated their turf. That was a courageous act, but their efforts were in vain! They lost and paid dearly for it. Now there's no way we can prove illicit acts exist in Sheppardsville. If we want to finish what we started we have to regroup and try a different approach. This time, we will have to be little more careful when planning our next move!"

Downtrodden but not beaten, Sampsun heaves a deep sigh of disgust. He leans forward gets up from his chair, and paces nervously back and forth. He stops for a moment, takes a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe the sweat off his brow. He says to Themala:

"This is hard for me to believe, the people in this city allow this kind of disturbance in their community! They are decent fun-loving people. They don't take bias and wrongdoings cluttering their community. You know what I am talking about Themala, you lived here before too. You know what I think; they are scared to death of the people that run this city. They don't want to get involved. That is why they are tight-lipped. If they were to tell what they know, it could be devastating for them or their families. I don't blame them for keeping quiet. They want to live too. Without witnesses, it would be hard to prove unlawful activity exists here in Sheppardsville. I think the lack of personal interest at the top has a lot to do with this eyesore. If you are in someone's pocket it would be easier to turn your head then to lift a finger to help. This is scary to have someone you trust turn their backs on you."

Sampsun stopped pacing. He is overflowing with anger. He is panting so hard he has to pause to catch his breath. When he turns to face Themala, she sees the most ferocious expression on his face. A look she has never seen before and it pierced her heart. She is hurt to see the crazed state that he is in. She's thinking: "If he doesn't calm down this could lead to a stroke or a heart attack. Lord, please help him."

"You want something from the kitchen?" He asked. "I'm going for coffee."

She is concerned over the way he is carrying on, and confronts him.

"A glass of water will do me just fine honey. Please do me a favor, calm down; you are scaring the shit out of me. You are letting your emotions get the best of you. If you keep this shit up you might pop a blood vessel! I agree with you baby. I'm in your corner. Those who are in charge need to come down off that tower. They need to stop catering to those who are defiant and unruly. This kind of behavior is dishonest and disheartening. It is mentally unstable for humankind. It really needs to stop. Not just here in Sheppardsville but the entire world! The people that we put in office need to listen to the citizen's cry for justice. We need to do something Sam! They need a spark under their butts to wake them up. For starters, how about changing the guards from the top to the bottom at the polling booths? That ought to knock their socks off. What do you think Sam?"

"Clean house, that's a good idea! It might turn some heads." Sampsun says. "Present it to the group at our next meeting. Maybe we can get enough people around this crazy world to go along with that idea."

Sampsun takes a deep breath and shuffles toward the kitchen; his attitude is not his best. He is slowly losing hope. Everything seems to be blowing up in his face. He's thinking: "She is right; our leaders need to step up, and stop this shit. I hope the information I am to pick up will provide me with an answer, because right now, I...