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93 pages

English

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As Truth Squad fights MAX’s government takeover, Luke must decide whether to save Rebecca from danger or keep fighting for truth, even if he fails.
Luke Mason has been working undercover with Truth Squad to foil MAX operations as they continue to takeover powerplants. Luke’s girlfriend, Rebecca Sanders, is released from parole and made an official Truth Squad member, only to suddenly resign and disappear. Luke, Sarah, and Daniel track her down to the MAX headquarters. As the team learns more about MAX’s plans to takeover the government, Luke begins to find this mission harder than any he’s ever faced. His girlfriend is in danger, but so is his country. Luke wants to do whatever it takes to rescue Rebecca from MAX, but this desire begins to interfere with the mission. Is fighting for what he knows is right worth keeping Rebecca in danger? The stakes get higher when Luke is mistaken for one of MAX’s top assassins, and any wrong move uncovering his deception jeopardizes the mission. As the team tries to balance their precarious position, the questions get bigger—should they keep fighting against MAX’s tyranny, even if they fail? Should Luke keep standing for what he knows is right, even if it costs him what is most precious to him?

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Young Adult Fiction

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Publié par	WestBow Press
Date de parution	24 février 2023
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781664290457
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Truth Squad Trilogy:
Third Identity
Second Thoughts
First Priority
FIRST PRIORITY

KELSEY GJESDAL

Copyright © 2023 Kelsey Gjesdal.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-9046-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9047-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9045-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023901636

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/21/2023
CONTENTS
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 1
“Hold it! Where do you think you’re going?”
My heart skipped a beat as Daniel and I turned to face the security guard. “We were instructed to report to Mr. Greyson,” I said, squaring my shoulders and raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think it would be wise to keep him waiting.”
The guard rolled his eyes. “I need to see your badges.”
I grabbed my wallet from my back pocket and pulled out the fake badge with the name Jason Leanord I’d been using for the last three months. The guard grabbed my badge and looked it over, glancing at us with suspicion. After examining Daniel’s badge, he shrugged and waved at the door. “Go ahead.”
Daniel grabbed the handle and pulled the door open, and we hurried inside. “That guard is getting annoying,” he muttered as we sped down the hall.
I shrugged. “Let’s just hope we can get some good evidence today. I’m not sure how much longer this operation will last before we’re caught.”
Daniel nodded. We stopped talking as we reached the door for the manager’s office. I knocked lightly on the door. I heard a grunt from inside, and then heavy footsteps coming toward the door. The door opened and Mr. Greyson waved us inside. “Come in,” he said, his voice gruff.
We walked past the giant, red-bearded man and stood in front of his desk. He slowly closed the door and lumbered over to his desk, plopping down into his large, leather chair.
“You called for us?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
Mr. Greyson nodded his balding head. “Have a seat. I have an assignment for you two.”
I glanced at Daniel as we sat down. Maybe we will get the evidence we need, I thought hopefully.
“I’ve seen your hard work and determination, and I believe you are the right fit for the job.” He paused and leaned forward, resting his crossed arms on the edge of the desk. “But first, tell me what you know about our parent company.”
“You were formerly affiliated with the Patrick Brian Power Company and are now under the East-West Nuclear Company,” Daniel said.
I nodded. “And that company is headed by MAX.”
Mr. Greyson was silent for a moment, his eyes wide. Oh, no. Should I not have mentioned MAX? Did I just blow our cover? I thought.
After an agonizing ten seconds, Mr. Greyson smiled. “Yes, I believe you two are right for the job.”
Thank You, Lord! I prayed as I slowly released the breath I was holding. “What would you like us to do, sir?”
“I’m in need of some, shall we say, cover for some recent mishaps,” he said slowly, obviously choosing his words carefully.
“Mishaps?” Daniel asked.
Mr. Greyson nodded. “We have some financial issues to smooth out and some fired employees to keep quiet. I’ve already got someone on the financial side of things, so I need you to keep these former employees quiet.”
“How do you propose doing so?” Daniel asked, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.
He shrugged. “Money is usually a fine starting point.”
“And suppose they won’t take money to be quiet, or keep asking for more?” I raised my eyebrows. “How would you like it handled?”
“I’d hate to do anything drastic, but if it must be done, it must be done.”
Daniel and I made eye contact, and I knew we were thinking the same thing. Daniel pushed the record button on his watch, and I quickly said, “Do you mean…”
“I mean whatever is necessary to keep them quiet,” Mr. Greyson interrupted.
That’s not a confession, I thought, trying to think up a question that we could get evidence from. “Has this ever happened before?” I asked.
Mr. Greyson’s face grew stern. “You seem hesitant, Mr. Leanord. Are you telling me you don’t want this job?”
I shook my head, trying to think fast. “It’s not that. I just don’t want to do anything too, you know, risky.”
Mr. Greyson’s face softened, and he rested his elbows on the desk, leaning toward us. “Look, I don’t really like to order anything extreme. MAX prefers we ‘eliminate’ anyone who could be a potential threat, but I don’t feel that way. That’s why we always start with money. Most people are satisfied with a little extra cash, and we don’t have to do any dirty work.”
I nodded slowly. “So, have you ever had to do any ‘dirty work?’”
He looked away and sighed. “I wish I could say no, but, well, MAX….” He sighed and ran a hand over his beard. “MAX is particular. If MAX finds out that I’ve been paying people off instead of ‘eliminating’ them, I could get in deep trouble.”
“So, if MAX finds out about someone, they’re eliminated?” Daniel asked.
Mr. Greyson nodded. “Precisely.”
I glanced at Daniel. He nodded his head slightly and tapped his watch. The man had just confessed, and we recorded it.
“I need you two to keep on the low about this conversation, and get to work on bribing,” Mr. Greyson said, standing. “Can I count on you?”
We stood and shook his hand. “Yes, sir.”
After being handed a list of names, Daniel and I hurried out of Mr. Greyson’s office and out of the building. Once we were safely in our car and driving away, I let my celebration loose. “Yes!” I said, doing a fist-pump. “We have our evidence! Have you sent the recording to Truth Squad?”
“I’m doing that right now,” Daniel replied. “But why don’t you keep both hands on the wheel, Luke?”
“Oops, sorry about that,” I said, placing my hands in their proper ten-and-two spots. I didn’t feel like driving with one hand was a bad idea, especially since most vehicles had at least partial, if not full, autopilot, but Daniel preferred to be a little less risky than me.
A couple minutes later, Daniel’s smartphone rang. He put it on speaker, and Mr. Truth’s voice rang out. “Great work, Luke and Daniel. This recording is exactly the information we needed. We got the information to the FBI, and we will be meeting with them to plan our next move as soon as you get back to base.”
“Yes, sir,” Daniel said.
“Great work, agents. See you in an hour.” Mr. Truth ended the call.
“Bummer. He didn’t even give us time to stop for a doughnut or ice-cream celebration or anything,” I said, my shoulders drooping.
“We could save that celebration till after we’ve finished the mission entirely,” Daniel said, running his hand over his light brown hair.
“Hey, every small step is worth celebrating,” I replied, grinning.
“If I celebrated every small step with doughnuts, I don’t think I could stay fit for my job,” Daniel replied, patting his stomach.
“If we threw vegetables on top of our doughnuts, we’d be good to go.”
Daniel laughed. “I don’t think Rebecca would fall for that one, but it’d be worth a shot.”

After our short flight from Colorado to Truth Squad’s base in Oregon, Daniel and I hurried to the conference room to meet with Mr. Truth and the FBI. As we sped-walked through campus, I breathed in the damp fall air with a smile, having missed this beautiful campus I called home. Daniel and I had spent the majority of the past three months in Colorado as we worked undercover at Mr. Greyson’s power plant. Our flights back to base were always short and work-related. More than missing Truth Squad’s campus, I missed a special someone. Rebecca.
Inside the conference room we found Mr. Truth, the president of Truth Squad, my good friend Matthew, who was the vice-president of Truth Squad, and our FBI contact, Agent Brandon, along with Agent Holton, a younger agent who’d been working with us and Brandon on the MAX case.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” I said as I took my seat at the large table.
Mr. Truth nodded. “Glad to have you two back. We’re waiting for the rest of Squad 4 to arrive, and then we’ll begin our meeting.”
I smiled, excited to plan the next steps in our mission, but also excited to see all of my colleagues and friends. Truth Squad was an amazing organization to work for. I’d practically grown up at Truth Squad, having attended Truth Academy for all of my schooling and living on campus since my high-school years. Truth Squad was a private organization whose mission was to defend the truth