[Excerpt]

JAMES MCCRAY (MACK) was more than the 'run of the mill' Federal undercover narcotics agent stationed in Chicago assigned to investigating organized crime drug trafficking.

MACK was well-suited for the role because he had served in one of the four top secret paramilitary units stationed in Laos under the direction of the CIA and assigned to Operation Phoenix. The mission of the elite units was to capture key political figures from hostile villages and bring them to a central location for debriefing by CIA personnel. The men were 'sheep dipped' to remove all possible identification that could tie them to the United States. The only identification carried by the team members was a South African One Rand coin imprinted with a numeral which identified their team and themselves. For many of the men it was just a coin, but to James McCray it was his tie to his past and unknowingly it held the key to his future in Florida.

His CIA handler orders him out of Chicago telling him, "People are getting too close to you." Given a new identity as JAMES McARTHUR, Mack is told that he was being placed in a witness protection plan and ordered to Stuart, Florida for his own safety. To insure that he wouid leave town someone informs the mob that he was a goverment agent and also tells the cops that he had double-crossed them. He flees Chicago in fear of his life in a bedraggled blue pickup truck. The next morning a headless body found floating in Lake Michigan was identified by a 'friend' of his.

For several years Mack had experienced flashbacks of his milítary exploits which scared him. He had reported his dreams to doctors at various VA hospitals. They told him that he suffered from a severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that his mind was making up things. But to Mack the dreams were real! He could feel, taste and smell the events. He felt that his missions had been so secret and such political 'bombshells' that if they were revealed the integrity and security of the Uníted States would be compromised. He believed that he had been treated with mind-altering medication and shock therapy to erase those portions of his memory that the goverment did not want him to ever recall. The VA doctors told him that there were no records in his military file of any convert activities and that he was prone to hallucinations. Mack tried to reason it out. How could he be suffering from PTSD if he hadn't been involved in the covert activities that he dreamed about? Why did he continuously experience vivid 'flashbacks' of events that included specific people and places? Why did phrases in Japanese, Spanish, German and Russian pop in and out of his head?

When he arrives in sleepy Stuart, Florida he meets her! His new handler, TINA McSHAY, is a feisty, red-haired, green-eyed, alcoholic assistant state attorney whose favorite saying is, "Boys are dumb!" She calls him YANKEE BOY and in thirty seconds flat lets him know in no uncertain terms that she's in charge and that he will do exactly what she tells him to do or there wíll be hell to pay. His new assignment is to go undercover as a fishíng guide to observe and identify drug runners who are transporting cocaine from a mother ship offshore in the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lucie lnlet. As part of his 'official' cover he is also assigned to manage Port Sewell Marina which was built by Tina's parents in the late 1940's.

Mack has no inkling that BEAR, a close friend of his from his teenage years on the west coast of Florida was living in Stuart. Bear, a commercial fisherman, also suffers from severe PTSD caused by his own experiences in Southeast Asia. Frustrated over having his illegal gill nets continuously run over by the drug runners, Bear attempts to corral them by himself in the North Fork of the St. Lucie river. He is gruesomely murdered in the process. Mack must not only identify the drug runners, but is personally committed to solving Bear's murder.

Mack returns to Fort Myers and Sanibel Island on Memoríal Day in an attempt to glean information that will help him solve Bear's murder. He gets his answers, but suffers a severe flashback about his childliood and the death of Bear's parents in a fish house fire. Ultimately Mack identifies Bear's executioners, locates the drug king pins and watches as 'back country' justice is meted out in the North Fork of the picturesque St. Lucie River: Tina, the red-headed she-devil assistant state attorney takes the credit for the drug bust because Mack has to remain low profile or compromise his position.

Because of an increase in frequency and intensity of his flashbacks Mack decides to visit the VA Hospital in West Palm Beach for an evaluation. But he walks out of the examinafon room when he discovers the facts contained in his military medical records. He returns to Port Sewell Marina with the intent of just being a low-key fishing guide.

Mack is relaxing in the warm afernoon sun on a wooden boat dock and dreaming about better times when his siesta is interrupted by footsteps on the dock and a man's voice screaming, "Mack. Wake up! There's three tough-looking guys at the marina right now asking questions about you.

"I don't think they're your friends."

The next tale, TREASURE COAST ARCHIPELAGO, begins with those six ominous words.