BRIEF SYNOPSIS
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American journalist, Jenny Osborne, will not let fear stop her from getting a story. She accepts her first big assignment abroad to report on the war that is causing political and social turbulence between the government and rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). But after she and her photojournalist, John Spencer, arrive in Kinshasa, they soon discover that things are not as they seem.
Monsieur Lance Lemmand, a veteran French Intelligence Officer in DRC suspects the hand of "The Helpers" in the current political unrest. He enlists his protégé, the brilliant and handsome Pierre-Jean Philippe, to help him investigate. When Kai, a local schoolgirl, who is hiding a deep, dark secret, decides to take action, she seeks out Jenny for help. Kai gives Jenny damaging information that could bring down "The Helpers." Can Jenny's fulfill her duty to Kai and fight her feelings for Pierre, while trying to achieve her greater goal?
"The Helpers" find out that Jenny has obtained damaging information about them and will stop at nothing to prevent Jenny from exposing them. Jenny finds herself on the run, caught in a web of intrigue, espionage and assassinations, spanning from Congo to Europe, and as far reaching as the United States. Her only hope is Lance and Pierre. But will they find her before it is too late? Or will "The Helpers" silence them once and for all.
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CHAPTER 1
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“I knew this job wasn't going to be easy,” thought Capt. Pierre-Jean Philippe as he looked at his floor full of scattered papers. He had been stationed in Congo for the past two years, working as the French Military Intelligence attaché. He sat down and started sifting through the large pile of papers. The papers contained information on people who were believed to be working for the rebels. They were organized according to the level of importance and the date the information had been received. He picked up one of the papers and read a few lines.
“Damn this war!” he shouted. He had never seen anything like it. There was deep ethnic hatred in the population that made reconciliation almost impossible. Matters were made worse by elements within the government that didn’t go along with the central command and ultimately made their own decisions.
He went to the kitchen, grabbed a beer, and gulped down almost half the bottle. He thought about the latest information he had on some so-called political parties. People were being massacred in the countryside without the government batting an eye because the very people who ordered the killing worked for the government. Morale among the troops was down. The only way to bring the situation under control was to negotiate with the rebels and discard the bad elements in the government.
“Enough of this nonsense,” thought Pierre. It was time he got to the bottom of this.
Pierre stood by the window, lit a cigarette, and stared at the beautiful grounds, in a setting of green grass and lush trees that surrounded the compound of his house. He really liked his quiet residence. It was an ideal place for his covert operations. He inhaled deeply and felt the frustration ease. The smoke started to swirl, evoking images of his past and the events that had brought him here.
Pierre had attended Pantheon-Sorbonne in Paris, where he had studied political science and graduated with honors. In his early twenties, he had moved to New York to study for his undergraduate degree at Columbia University, but when he decided to join the Foreign Intelligence, he moved back home.
After the military training, he was posted to Special Forces in various Francophone countries around the world. His dream finally came true when he was selected to study counter-intelligence. He’d been sent for training to a little farm in the north of France but, to this day, he couldn’t tell you the location, since he’d been drugged on his way to and from the place. His qualifications and language skills were good, so he easily landed jobs in various embassies abroad as a military attaché. Now, here he was stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
