#1 - BOB AND THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

Once upon a time -- we'll call him Bob -- but Bob found himself at a loss for what to do. He had the entire day to himself and, for a change, he wanted to shake things up a bit. A little before nine in the morning, he decided to choose a book and head out for the local coffee house. Without delay, he grabbed The Moment of Truth off his bookshelf, a book that, when he bought it, he didn't bother to read the description of the story. He simply liked the sound of the title and figured he might as well give it a shot. After all, with a title like that, how could it miss?

So, off he went to The Coffee Beanie, a name thought up by the husband/wife ownership because, as the wife said, "It just sounded cozy."

And there's no doubt they went for a cozy atmosphere, with a fireplace, curtains on the windows, carpeting, and a little living room set in the corner. When Bob arrived, he ordered himself a cinnamon roll and an iced white chocolate mocha, because they were the first two items he saw.

Bob took a seat at a small table in a corner with a realistic looking fake, green, potted, plant-thing, that took the shape of a small Christmas tree, behind him. Once he sat, it surprised him, the shadow that cast itself over his chair and most of the table. He felt hidden, to the point that he feared the server would not find him when she brought the food out. So he sat and waited, keeping a lookout for his food.

As soon as he saw the girl come out from behind the counter with his order, he flagged her down the server, eyes down cast. When she walked toward him, she smiled sweetly, something that scared him. He took the food and drink without raising his eyes to the server and set to arranging his mocha, top left and his cinnamon roll in front of him. Only after he had the napkin on his lap, took one drink of his mocha and one bite of his cinnamon roll, did he finally open his book to the first page of the first chapter.

The Moment of Truth took no time throwing Bob into the action, which always alarmed him. The opening scene found the main character in a moment of indecision. Should he finish the book he had just started or help save the woman who he noticed in danger of being killed. What made Bob even more nervous: The plot occurred at a coffee house known as the The Coffee Bean! No, not and exact match, but close enough to give Bob the chills.

Bob had always been one for safety. Take the safe approach. Make sure to eat all his vegetables and drink milk for strong bones. Study hard, get a good job and save like you'll live forever.

The main character of this book, though, didn't play it safe. 'After all,' the character, Jack Bishop thought, 'we're talking about life and death here.'

So, Jack jumped from his seat, sending his laptop crashing to the ground, sparks flying, and he launched himself at the woman, grabbed her and pulled her down. The woman screamed, the gun fired and the bullet grazed Jack on the arm. The woman lived. Jack whipped out a gun and put a bullet in the shooters head. Once he knew the woman was safe, Jack said, "I'm CIA young lady and you're going to have to come with me."

Exhaustion came over Bob Sebastian. He looked up and began to survey the coffee house, wondering if such a plot threatened to carry itself out. When he felt certain that everything was safe, Bob sucked down his white chocolate mocha and ate his cinnamon roll. When he finished, he ordered another of each.

He arranged everything just as before on the table, drank half his white chocolate mocha, ate half of his cinnamon roll, and began reading. Chapter two began with Jack Bishop taking the woman to his Head Quarters before he had instruction for his next move. Once there, Jack notice the beauty of the woman, Ariel Redfeather, an American Indian and target of a group that called themselves, Ethnic Cleansing or EC for short.

More of the plot had been laid out for Bob in chapter two, letting him know that this book would not give him a break because, amidst the plot direction, three double-agents for EC pulled out their weapons to kill Redfeather. Fortunately for her, Jack had been faster and took out all three, a bullet to the head, a death blow to the throat and a knife to the heart of the other. Bob quickly finished his mocha and cinnamon roll at the end of the chapter and, consequently, ordered a third of both.

Now, at this point, even though I realize I could be giving some things away here, but the mocha had a fair amount of sugar and was loaded with caffeine, and the cinnamon rolls had more sugar than I care to even mention in each of them.

The third chapter found Jack and Ariel in his car and on the run with nowhere they could go for safety. Nowhere, that is, accept Ariel's neighborhood of American Indians. The problem here came in the fact that the neighborhood existed in Oklahoma and they were in New York.

A moment of a blackout occurred for Bob. When he came to, Bob looked around disoriented as the server asked him if he was okay. At that moment, Bob didn't feel the same. Something was very different. His usual safe existence disappeared, because he could feel in his bones that something was very wrong. He noticed the man at a table near the door stand and reach into his coat as he stepped forward.

Bob didn't think. He just reacted. The man began to hurry forward. Bob pulled out a Sig Sauer and, as the man pulled out his gun, Bob shot it with the first bullet. The man cried in pain as he dropped the gun. He turned angry and ran at Bob and pulled out another gun. Without hesitation, Bob dropped him with one shot to the middle of his forehead.

The server screamed in terror and began crying uncontrollably. Bob went to her. "Relax, you're safe with me."

MORE TO COME......