Tumult (TSS Series Book 1) by Lea Hart (1)

CHAPTER ONE

Friday, September 29^th

Audrey walked through the lobby of the Surf and Sand Hotel in Laguna Beach and wondered why she’d never relocated to California. It was a perfect eighty-two degrees and would probably remain that way for the next several months, which sounded a lot more appealing than another winter in New York.

Seeing her best friend and agent sitting next to the windows that overlooked the Pacific Ocean, she prayed for good news. She moved quickly through the clusters of guests and collapsed into a chair. “Please tell me the conference call went well.”

Kelly snorted and crossed her long legs. “When have I ever left a negotiation without getting exactly what I want?”

“Never, but there’s always a first time and I’d hate for this book deal to be that one time your amazing skills hit a brick wall.”

“There isn’t a brick wall strong enough to withstand my hard head. Or, as my mother likes to call it, my pigheaded obstinacy that makes angels weep. But that’s really a ‘tomayto, tomahto’ situation.” Smoothing out her lavender sweater, she then blessed Audrey with a satisfied grin. “We got everything you wanted.”

Leaning back, she covered her mouth with her hands and let out a silent scream as she stomped her feet against the marble floors.

“I see you’re doing the silent happy dance,” Kelly remarked as she looked over the top of her glasses. “Feel free to do it aloud because I got you a hell of a deal.”

Giving herself another couple of seconds to enjoy the news, she closed her eyes and murmured a silent prayer of appreciation. The proposal she’d submitted to the publisher was a long shot and she never really thought there’d be much of a chance of getting them interested.

But they were…and that meant she didn’t have to go back to practicing law full time. “Are we celebrating with champagne or wine?” Audrey asked as she watched Kelly stand.

“It’s definitely a ‘champagne celebration deal’ but they’re having a Spiced Infusions event down in the bar, so you can choose whatever you want.”

“Let’s have it all,” Audrey said as she stood. She took her best friend’s hand and squeezed it. “Have I told you how lucky I feel that we were assigned to be roommates freshman year?”

Kelly gave her a wink and then led her toward the staircase. “Yes, every time I have dispensed invaluable dating advice, made you wear something decent, and negotiated an eye-popping book deal.”

“Well then, I won’t do it again,” she replied as they descended. Once they were on the ground floor, a panoramic view of the waves and sand opened before them. “Guess this will do for a celebratory dinner.”

Kelly sniffed and then hiked her bag over her shoulder. “Yeah, it’s okay if you go for this sort of thing.”

They laughed together as they walked into the bar and Audrey led them directly to a table facing the ocean. She snagged it away from a slow-moving couple and collapsed into a chair. “Living in New York City for five years has taught me if you move slow, you lose out,” she said as Kelly joined her and sat in the chair facing her.

“I love that you look like a mild-mannered girl from Maine but you’re really a shark.”

Audrey gave a careless shrug and looked out at the fantastic view. “Can’t tell you how many times someone underestimating me has meant the difference between winning and losing.”

The waiter approached and described the artisanal drinks that were available and they both decided to start with a Bon Vie, which was Kettle One vodka, St. Germaine, grapefruit juice, and champagne. “Was anyone bloodied after the call with the publisher or is it a win-win for everyone?”

Kelly pushed her platinum blonde hair back over her shoulder, slid her eyes over, and smiled. “As far as I know, the paramedics were not called if that’s what you’re asking.” Leaning back, she swung her foot back and forth. “Jeezus, you give a guy one measly heart attack and suddenly you become the black widow of literary agents.”

“All that matters is you’re my black widow.” The drinks were delivered and Audrey lifted hers in a toast. “To the fearless women of the Kurdistan Resistance and my best friend.”

Kelly clinked her glass and then winked. “Thank you for including me in the courageous group of women whose story you’re about to tell.”

Audrey tried her drink and then smiled. “They’d totally let you join, should you ever decide it’s something you’re interested in. They have a good number of foreign volunteers, so it wouldn’t be like you’re the only one.”

“I’ll keep it in mind, in case the whole literary gig becomes too tame and I find the need to join a resistance movement.”

“Options, always important to have them.” Smoothing out her tailored white dress, she looked out the window and sighed. “I never thought a traditional publisher would be interested in this book and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share the women’s courage with the world.”

“Warriors are big right now and being on the right side of the fight is never going to be unpopular.”

“But women Amazons aren’t what people think of when they picture the Kurds’ resistance.”

Kelly pointed her glass at Audrey and winked. “Which is why your book is being optioned. The world needs to see it’s not just men who fight the terrorists of the world. The publisher couldn’t understand the difference between the YPG and YPJ and it took me about ten minutes to ensure they understood the difference.”

“Makes sense. The SDF oversees the YPG, which is the men’s fighting forces as well as the YPJ, which is the women’s and it’s easy to get confused.” Audrey set down her glass. “What kind of restrictions did they write into the waivers on the travel I need to do in the next month?”

“Well…”

“I don’t like when you use that word.”

“Let’s order another drink and then I’ll fill you in on all the particulars.”

“That means there are some and I’m not going to like it.”

“There’s a hefty advance being offered, so we should consider their demands. You can’t tell the story of these amazing women if you’re dead, and traveling to Syria almost guarantees it if you don’t take the proper precautions.”

Audrey signaled the waiter for another round and then slipped her pumps off. “Am I going to hate the precautions?”

“You’ll probably not love them, but mad and alive is better than happy and dead.”

“I hate when you’re so logical and reasonable.”

Snorting loudly, Kelly shrugged. “Yeah, it’s a real pisser.”

The second round was delivered and Audrey ordered the charcuterie board and the molcajete ceviche. “Can’t be lit when I hear the terms.”

“I know you’ll go through the contract tomorrow with your fine-tooth comb, so I’m not real worried about your mental acuity tonight.”

A group of men entered the bar and Audrey was momentarily distracted as she perused the group. Once she had determined they were no more interesting than the many attorneys she had worked with over the years, she returned her attention to Kelly. “Sorry, I was trolling for a hot second.”

Kelly glanced over at the group of men and then raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t seem to be one interesting man in the bunch.”

“When did we become so cynical and dismiss the possibilities after less than a minute?”

“It was so long ago that I can’t recall.”

Their food was delivered and they both filled their plates and Audrey tucked in and enjoyed the salty warm air flowing in through the open windows. “Maybe if we lived here, we’d become relaxed and open to life’s possibilities and not dismiss a whole group of humans based on a thirty-second assessment.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t even sound the slightest bit appealing.” Lifting an olive, she popped it into her mouth and chewed slowly. “I like being in New York and living up to every stereotype that exists about single thirty-year-old women. I’m basically living Sex in the City part ‘deux’ and loving every minute of it. The whole marriage, kids, and carpools holds absolutely no appeal, and I don’t know that it ever will.”

“I’m ready to try something new and wouldn’t mind finding a life outside the city.”

“The upcoming trip to a war-torn country in the middle of a civil war should do that for you,” she replied before eating a big bite of ceviche.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” She layered a piece of prosciutto and then a slab of buffalo mozzarella on crostini, ate it in two bites, and decided she’d made fantastic strides away from her former life and should be satisfied. Three years as an associate in one of the most prestigious law firms in the country didn’t exist on the same plane as where she was now and that’s all that mattered. “So, what’s the publisher asking that I do for the book?”

“You have to travel with security.”

“Okay…exactly what does that mean?”

“It means you have to have at least one private security contractor escorting you into Syria.”

“They can’t require that in a contract.”

“Yes, they can. If you accept the advance, you’re an independent-contractor with the company and thus fall under certain employment laws in the State of New York.”

Sitting back, she crossed her arms. “That’s a very narrow view of the existing law.”

“Do you think they’re going to take a chance and not cover their asses? If you die and someone in your family decides to sue, they’re ensuring the check they write is a small one.”

“Is there a company they want me to work with?”

Kelly leaned forward and gave her a satisfied smile. “I gave them a suggestion and they approved it.”

“Who?”

“Titan.”

“Going to need more than just the one word to understand.”

“It’s a private military company my cousin signed up with last year when he retired from the Teams. They have offices in Virginia, San Diego, and North Carolina. They’re one of the top dogs in the industry and when I spoke with Locke earlier, he agreed to meet with you on Monday in San Diego.”

“Private Military Contractors…like Blackwater or Dyna Corp?”

“Yes, but those companies have been sold and swallowed up by big conglomerates and the whole rogue warrior thing is no longer how the companies operate.”

“Maybe because the men who were part of the Nisour Square debacle in Iraq went to federal prison.”

“That could be your next book…the truth and history of private military contractors in the United States.”

“Don’t think so.” Draining her glass, she looked out the window and knew gaining wiggle room on this part of the contract was going to be damn near impossible. And really, she did need to be traveling with someone who had experience in the area because she wasn’t foolish enough to think she was going to land in Ankara, Turkey and then leisurely drive into Kobane.

The year of research she’d done let her know in no uncertain terms this was a trip she may not survive and if the unthinkable happened, then the women’s stories would never be told.

So, she’d do the smart thing and travel with security because there was no way she was going to let some ISIS gunfire get in the way. “Okay, I’ll go down and meet with Locke and figure out what I need to do for the trip.”

“You’ve always gotten along with him and since he’s a retired SEAL and one of the finest human beings we know, it should be painless.”

“Will he be the one traveling with me?”

“I’m not sure. The company has a full team, so I imagine it will depend on the timing of the trip and what other commitments they have going on.”

Lifting her hair off her neck, she twisted it into a knot and then sat back. “I’m smart enough to know that traveling with someone familiar with the area is prudent, so I guess it doesn’t matter who’s available as long as he has experience.”

“You can’t even get into Syria without the right permits and the only place to enter the country without being shot the moment you walk out of the airport is Aleppo. Or was last week. Who knows what the latest developments mean, which makes traveling with an operator who can get you in and out of the country alive the only option. I think the men from Titan can do that.”

“If I accept the advance the publisher is offering, are they paying the tab or is it something that I need to cover?”

“I made sure it fell on their side of the balance sheet and convinced them it was a small price to pay to keep a writer alive and themselves well on the other side of a nasty liability suit.”

“Sometimes I wonder why I was the one who went to law school and not you.”

“I had no patience for it, and Lord knows my relationship with rules can be described as casual at best. As far as I know, that’s not how a successful lawyer thinks.”

“Not necessarily, all you have to do is understand the hard black and white lines before you get your pencil out and begin shading in gray.”

“And, we both know how much I like the gray area.” Kelly took Audrey’s hand and held it tightly. “All kidding aside, are you sure you need to speak to these women in person?”

Sliding her feet back into her pumps, she nodded. “For this book to be worth anything, I need to meet the women in person and hear their stories firsthand. If I don’t, then it’s just another academic treaty on the war against ISIS. I want the personal details of these heroines to shine through because it’s the part of the story worth telling.”

“I know, it’s just that the idea of you in Syria makes me very uncomfortable.”

“Now that I’m going to have my own personal guard, what could go wrong?”

“Do I give you the first twenty things or would you like the whole list?”

“The risks are balanced out with what can be accomplished.” Seeing the waves crash against the shore made Audrey think of all the times she’d swam in the ocean as a child. It was always scary at first, but once you understood what Mother Nature was trying to do and didn’t fight it, it became entrancing and thoroughly relaxing.

Which could also describe life.

This next adventure in Syria was going to require her to accept circumstances beyond her control and go with whatever the universe had in store. The trip was risky, but so was living in a major metropolitan city anywhere in the world, and she’d been doing that for years. “We have the women’s symposium tomorrow in Costa Mesa and then the dinner. Are you flying home on Sunday or do you have other meetings?”

“I see we’re done discussing the trip and, to answer your question, I’ve got several meetings on Monday and Tuesday in Los Angeles. One of my clients’ series is up for consideration at CBS for a TV show, so if all the stars align, this could be my first writer with a television contract.”

“Kelly, that’s amazing.”

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes. “Let’s not talk about it anymore because I don’t want to jinx it.”

“Of course.” Audrey filled her small plate with ceviche and thought about what was in front of her. It was so bloody exciting that she could hardly contain herself. Eating a piece of the fish on her plate, she closed her eyes and thanked God for the opportunity to do something worthwhile.

It wasn’t every day that someone could crawl out of their routine and forge a new path, and she appreciated the fact that she’d somehow managed it.

Now all she had to do was survive the experience.