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  NO GOOD DEED

  A JAMES ACTON THRILLER

  J. ROBERT KENNEDY

  About the James Acton Thrillers

  "James Acton: A little bit of Jack Bauer and Indiana Jones!"

  Though this book is part of the James Acton Thrillers series, it is written as a standalone novel and can be enjoyed without reading the other installments.

  What readers are saying about the James Acton Thrillers Series:

  “A great blend of history and current headlines.”

  “You stop breathing from the first page.”

  “If you like Indiana Jones then you will love these stories.”

  “The Acton series is one of the most entertaining and enjoyable series I have read.”

  “Non-stop action that is impossible to put down.”

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  BOOKS BY J. ROBERT KENNEDY

  * Also available in audio

  The Templar Detective Thrillers

  The Templar Detective

  The Templar Detective and the Parisian Adulteress

  The Templar Detective and the Sergeant's Secret

  The Templar Detective and the Unholy Exorcist

  The Templar Detective and the Code Breaker

  The Templar Detective and the Black Scourge

  The Templar Detective and the Lost Children

  The James Acton Thrillers

  The Protocol *

  Brass Monkey *

  Broken Dove

  The Templar’s Relic

  Flags of Sin

  The Arab Fall

  The Circle of Eight

  The Venice Code

  Pompeii’s Ghosts

  Amazon Burning

  The Riddle

  Blood Relics

  Sins of the Titanic

  Saint Peter’s Soldiers

  The Thirteenth Legion

  Raging Sun

  Wages of Sin

  Wrath of the Gods

  The Templar’s Revenge

  The Nazi’s Engineer

  Atlantis Lost

  The Cylon Curse

  The Viking Deception

  Keepers of the Lost Ark

  The Tomb of Genghis Khan

  The Manila Deception

  The Fourth Bible

  Embassy of the Empire

  Armageddon

  No Good Deed

  The Special Agent Dylan Kane Thrillers

  Rogue Operator *

  Containment Failure *

  Cold Warriors

  Death to America

  Black Widow

  The Agenda

  Retribution

  State Sanctioned

  Extraordinary Rendition

  Red Eagle

  The Delta Force Unleashed Thrillers

  Payback

  Infidels

  The Lazarus Moment

  Kill Chain

  Forgotten

  The Cuban Incident

  The Detective Shakespeare Mysteries

  Depraved Difference

  Tick Tock

  The Redeemer

  The Kriminalinspektor Wolfgang Vogel Mysteries

  The Colonel’s Wife

  Sins of the Child

  Zander Varga, Vampire Detective Series

  The Turned

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Table of Contents

  The Novel

  Preface

  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

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Acknowledgments

  Don't Miss Out!

  Thank You!

  About the Author

  Also by the Author

  For Brian Fraser.

  The CFRA Nation will miss you.

  “In the past, millions of German men shed their blood for this Reich. How merciful a fate to be allowed to create this Reich today without a suffering. Now, rise, German Volk, subscribe to it, hold it tightly in your hands! I wish to thank Him who allowed me to return to my homeland so that I could return it to my German Reich! May every German realize the importance of the hour tomorrow, assess it and then bow his head in reverence before the will of the Almighty who has wrought this miracle in all of us within these past few weeks.”

  Adolf Hitler, addressing the annexation of Austria. Vienna, Austria, April 9, 1938

  “The man who dies thus rich, dies disgraced.”

  Andrew Carnegie 1889

  PREFACE

  In June 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, two of the world’s richest people, started a campaign called The Giving Pledge. It was meant to encourage the world’s wealthiest to donate the bulk of their fortunes to charities and other philanthropic causes, either before or after their deaths.

  As of this writing, there are 220 pledgers from 25 countries, who have committed to donating over $600 billion. It’s a massive commitment, and if followed through, could change the lives of millions if not billions of people around the world.

  It would also represent one of the greatest transfers of wealth in history.

  Many laud the effort, though some oppose it. All have their reasons, but when billions are involved, the question begs to be asked.

  How far would someone go to get their share?

  Especially when they feel justified in taking it.

  1 |

  Grieshof Alley Vienna, Austria Present Day

  Officer Heike Karner lazily guided the squad car toward the service yard. Her senior partner had noticed a wobble toward the end of their shift, and she had “volunteer
ed” to take their unit to the garage. It meant an extra hour added to her shift, but what did that matter? Her husband was with the children at his parents’ place for the weekend. She was supposed to have gone with them, but then everyone was called in because of the charity event and the added security required. She hadn’t minded. Her in-laws weren’t big fans of hers, not since she had become a police officer, and she could use the overtime to pay down some bills.

  Everything seemed more expensive these days. If inflation were running at 2% a year, why did everything that mattered seem to be going up by ten? Her father was convinced it was a government conspiracy. If they admitted what the actual inflation rate was, then all the pensions and government programs indexed to it would go up by more than they could afford.

  Her eyes were burning from fatigue when the calls started coming in about the detonations. She wasn’t sure what to do. She was off duty, her car might have a problem, and she was well away from the action. She had radioed in and was ordered to return the vehicle then report back to her station in case she was needed.

  A black SUV with tinted windows blasted through the intersection. She glanced up to see the traffic light was red, though so was hers, suggesting the light had just changed. She could forgive that at this time of night, but he had to be doing double the speed limit, and that was too damn dangerous.

  She eased out into the intersection, checking to the left. Another SUV was heading toward her, but there was plenty of space and they had a red light. She gunned the engine and took off in pursuit. She reached over and threw on her lights and sirens, then radioed in the call. She received a quick acknowledgment and nothing more. They were obviously too busy dealing with whatever was happening in the city. From the bits and pieces on the radio, it would appear her family being away for the weekend was fortuitous timing.

  Something caught her attention and she glanced in her rearview mirror. There was another vehicle behind her, closing in, its lights flashing. She rolled her window down slightly and the blaring of a horn could clearly be heard.

  “What the hell is that all about?”

  She stared ahead at the speeder, still driving dangerously, but now, so was the person behind her, and they appeared to be trying to get her attention. She cursed. She was chasing a reckless driver, though this person could urgently need help. She weighed her options and decided she had only one choice. She radioed in that she was breaking off the pursuit, then pulled her vehicle over to the side, putting it in Park and throwing open the door. She directed them to pull over and the SUV stopped behind her unit. The engine shut off and its tinted windows dropped.

  Her heart rate picked up a few beats as she gripped her pistol, still in its holster. “What has you chasing down a police cruiser?”

  A woman leaned out the window, speaking English. “I’m sorry, we had to get your attention.”

  “Why?”

  “The vehicle you’re pursuing is involved in the bombings, and there are armed men inside. They would have shot you if you stopped them.”

  Heike’s eyes bulged and she paused for a moment. Tires squealed ahead and a man in the passenger seat pointed.

  “Call for back-up!”

  She spun and reached for her radio as the vehicle she had been pursuing returned then came to a halt, all the doors opening. Four men stepped out with weapons, and the passenger shouted, “Get down!”

  Gunfire erupted and something slammed into Heike’s shoulder, sending her to the ground in a heap of pain. As the bullets continued, she dragged herself behind her cruiser when the passenger grabbed her and pulled her the rest of the way. He reached for her gun and she panicked, struggling to fight him off, but she was rapidly losing strength and couldn’t resist when he pressed her back down with a hand to her chest.

  “I’m here to help you.”

  The woman arrived a moment later and hauled her by her vest, pulling her farther from the gunfire as the man retreated along with them, now in possession of her weapon, but holding fire.

  “Ammo,” he whispered.

  Heike had to trust them. She had no choice. She tapped one of her pockets and the woman retrieved her two spare magazines, handing them to the man.

  “Do you have a backup weapon?” she asked.

  “This isn’t America.”

  “Three of them are coming. They’re going to try to flank us,” said the man.

  Heike closed her eyes. This was it. She was going to die. She reached up and grabbed the woman’s arm, opening her eyes and staring at her. “Leave me. Save yourselves.”

  The woman clasped her hand. “That’s not who we are, dear.” She pulled the baton off Heike’s belt and extended it, crouching behind the rear bumper.

  Then the unthinkable happened. The man engaged the gunmen, expertly, rapidly firing in bursts of two shots. “One’s coming around the front,” he warned, and the woman readied the baton.

  “Just who are you people?” gasped Heike. “Are you law enforcement?”

  “No, dear. We’re archaeologists. I’m Laura Palmer, and this is my husband, James Acton.”

  Archaeologists? What the hell kind of archaeologists, dressed as if they were going to some fancy function, act like soldiers?

  Her eyes bulged as she realized what was going on. They must have been at the charity gala that was attacked, and these assailants must be the terrorists responsible for the bombings across her city.

  The man leaned out to fire when another torrent of gunfire erupted, unlike anything she had ever heard. He cried out and retreated, shaking his now empty hand. A man appeared with the most terrifying weapon she had ever seen, aiming it at them.

  “Drop the weapon,” the man ordered, and the woman dropped the baton. She indicated Heike.

  “She needs medical attention.”

  The man with the gun raised it toward Heike and she opened her mouth to scream as the trigger squeezed, leaving a husband without a wife, two children without a mother, and a wounded city without one of its selfless defenders.

  2 |

  Vienna, Austria March 9, 1938

  “I’m scared.”

  Those two words out of all spoken finally gained Daniel’s attention. The toy car he had been racing around the oval patterned rug froze as he listened to the conversation between his mother and father in the next room. Something was going on. What, he didn’t know, but everyone was on edge. When his father had friends visiting, they would be in his office for hours, the conversations sometimes whispered, other times heated. His mother had cried more in the past several weeks than he had ever known her to, and it was disturbing, but the bits and pieces he could remember being said meant nothing to him, so he ignored it.

  His mother and father would take care of it.

  They always did.

  He was nine years old. The world’s troubles were nothing to him, but this was the first time he had heard either of them say they were scared. If his mother were, then something terrible was going on.

  “I’m scared too,” said his father.

  Tears welled in Daniel’s eyes. If his father were scared, something truly horrible must be happening, for his father wasn’t afraid of anything. He was the strongest man he knew.

  He crept closer to the door, his toy forgotten, the conversation more interesting than any handcrafted car.

  His father continued. “We’re all scared, but we have to keep calm in order to think straight.”

  “Maybe we’re just panicking over nothing. Maybe it won’t happen.”

  “The referendum has been announced. This is happening. It’s inevitable, even if the government doesn’t want it to happen. There’s no stopping that man.”

  “Do we know when?”

  Daniel crept a little farther ahead, peering around the corner of the door, just catching sight of his parents sitting in the drawing room, facing each other.

  His father shook his head. “The referendum is in four days. How long after that, I don’t know, but it will be soon. Days, may
be weeks, but definitely not months. Peter says shipments of flags have already arrived for the occasion and are being distributed throughout the country.”

  His mother’s chin dropped to her chest and she closed her eyes. “I can’t believe this is happening.” She sniffed. “What are we going to do? You know how they feel about us here. In Germany, it’s even worse. If they bring their hatred with them, how will we survive?”

  “I’ve already put all my business affairs in order, and I’ve handed all my cases to other partners in the firm. I’ve begun liquidating as many of our assets as I can without raising suspicions. If they think we’re going to run, we’ll be the first they come after. We can’t trust anyone anymore.”

  His mother’s eyes widened in shock. “Do you really think someone at the firm would betray us?”

  His father grunted. “We’re Jewish. They’ve barely tolerated me this long. I’m there just to get the Jewish clientele. Once the Nazis arrive, I fear that clientele will be rounded up and they’ll no longer need my services. Most of my coworkers will be happy to hand me over.”

  His mother wailed, falling into his father’s arms. “But these people are supposed to be our friends!”

  He hugged her, patting her head. “You’re old enough to know by now that the only real friend a Jew ever has is another Jew.” He released his embrace and handed her his handkerchief. She dabbed her eyes dry as she sniffled.

  “What are we going to do?” she finally asked.

  He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. There’s really nowhere for us to go. It’s too late. The border is already closed, probably to stop people like us from fleeing. You know they’ve rejected our application to leave the country every time I’ve applied. I don’t know why, but I must be on a list for some reason.”