The HBS Author's Spotlight SHOWCASES Luana Ehrlich's New Book: Three Weeks in Washington.
Author Luana Ehrlich is the author of the Titus Ray Thrillers series. She is a Christian, Fiction and Thriller author.
Three Weeks in Washington
A Titus Ray Thriller
Author: Luana Ehrlich
Book Trailer: Three Weeks in Washington
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Encountering a Shooter . . .
CIA intelligence operative, Titus Ray, arrives in Washington, D.C. on the day a terrorist enters the Washington Navy Yard and murders five people. Convinced the incident is connected to a Hezbollah plot to use chemical weapons on an American city, Titus jeopardizes his own career to interrogate the killer and learn the truth.
Exposing a General . . .
After the shooter reveals the identity of an Iranian deep-cover operative living in Washington, D.C., Titus embarks on an intelligence operation spanning two continents and exposing an Iranian general obsessed with destroying America.
Engaging an Enemy . . .
As time runs out, Titus engages the enemy in a treacherous game of cat and mouse to save the lives of thousands and defeat the terrorists. Can his faith sustain him as he faces his greatest challenge yet? Is he willing to lose Nikki to save his country?
Excerpt from Three Weeks in Washington
Chapter 1
Monday, June 22
The shooter was just around the corner from me. To get to him, I would need to cross N Street. If I crossed N Street, he would have a clear shot at me.
I decided to wait him out.
He had already eluded several SWAT teams in the Washington Navy Yard, the home of U.S. Naval Operations, and now he was hunkered down inside the entryway of Building 175. I suspected he was trying to find an exit out of the former shipyard.
If I remained at my present location, at the corner of Building 172, he would walk right into my waiting arms when he crossed N Street.
I stayed put.
I wasn’t exactly sure how the shooter had end up at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. on a summer morning in June, but I’d arrived at the location after driving non-stop from Norman, Oklahoma.
* * * *
Douglas Carlton, my operations officer, and the head of the Middle East desk at the CIA, had called me the day before and given me the surprising news I’d been restored to active duty status by the stroke of a pen from Robert Ira, the Deputy Director of Operations at the CIA.
Three months earlier, the DDO had placed me on medical leave after the two of us had engaged in a very public spat regarding his competency. I’d questioned him about his ability to run Operations, because I’d discovered his political games at the Agency had brought down my network in Tehran.
Needless to say, things had not gone smoothly for me after that, and, except for a brief run into Caracas to capture a Hezbollah assassin, I’d spent the last two months in Norman, Oklahoma on medical leave.
Ostensibly, I’d been there trying to recuperate from shattering my leg while trying to escape the clutches of VEVAK, the Iranian secret police. But, in reality, everyone at the Agency knew my medical leave was simply Ira’s way of punishing me for berating him in front of two division heads during a debriefing.
Immediately after Carlton had called to tell me I’d been reinstated, I’d gotten in touch with my property manager in Norman. After that, I’d reluctantly said goodbye to Nikki Saxon, a detective in the Norman Police Department, and I’d made my way across the southern states to the east coast.
An hour before arriving at Building 172, I’d been cruising along the interstate outside of Fairfax, Virginia. That’s when I’d called Carlton to let him know I’d be in his office at Langley within the hour.
My boss didn’t sound happy.
“Don’t bother,” he said. “There’s been a shooting at the Washington Navy Yard and all federal agencies within a fifty-mile radius of Washington D.C. are on lockdown.”
“Are you telling me you’re not allowed to leave the grounds?”
“Not just the grounds. We’re being told to stay inside the buildings.”
“Doesn’t that strike you as a little strange? You’re supposed to be providing intel for any threats to the homeland. How can you assess threats when you’re not allowed to leave your own backyard?”
“We’re being told it’s for our own safety. The feds believe the shooters could be part of a coordinated attack against all government agencies in the area. The CIA is an obvious target.”
He was quiet for several seconds, and I imagined him aligning the corners of the pile of papers in front of him—a compulsive habit and one of his many idiosyncrasies.
“One of the shooters at the Navy Yard has already been taken out, but the feds believe the other one is still somewhere in the compound.”
“What nationality is the dead guy?”
“He wasn’t from the Middle East, if that’s what you’re thinking. He’s been identified as Reyes Valario, and he’s been here on a student visa from Venezuela for at least a year. The FBI is sifting through the intel on him as we speak, and our own analysts are scanning the data banks as well.”
“Did they call Salazar for his input?”
Carlton made some kind of strange noise at the back of his throat.
I didn’t think the timing of his guttural utterance was coincidental with the mention of Salazar’s name.
C.J. Salazar was the head of the Latin American desk at the Agency. He wasn’t known for his astute grasp of the region. Instead, his focus was on the drug cartels operating in his territory, and, for that reason, everyone around the Agency called him Cartel Carlos.
Not to his face, though.
I’d experienced his ineptitude firsthand on my recent run into Caracas during Operation Clear Signal. Both Salazar and Carlton had been part of the Clear Signal team directing Ben Mitchell and me as we tried to stop a Hezbollah assassin from murdering a high-profile government official in Caracas, Venezuela.
Carlton said, “The Department of Homeland Security called C.J., but he didn’t give them anything.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Well, he did have our analysts run down Valario’s prints and the origins of his visa. He also called Ben Mitchell, who was in D.C. at the time, and sent him over to the DHS Command Center in the Navy Yard. He said since Ben had recently been in Venezuela, it made sense for him to serve as the Agency’s liaison with DHS.”
“Ben’s over at the Command Center? I might head over there myself. I’m not that far away.”
“You haven’t been reinstated yet, Titus. Officially, you’re still on medical leave.”
“I’ll keep my head down. It won’t be a big deal.”
It wasn’t.
But then, it was.
Author Genre: Christian, Fiction, Thriller
Website: Luana Ehrlich
Author's Blog: Luana Ehrlich
Titus Ray Thrillers
Twitter: @luanasbooks
E-Mail: Author@LuanaEhrlich (dot) com
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Author Description: Luana picked up her first adult spy novel when she was eleven years old. Today, she continues to have a passion for the thriller/suspense genre of fiction. In addition to being an avid reader, she is also a news fanatic and follows events around the world on a daily basis, particularly the Middle East.
Luana is a minister's wife and has lived in Norman, Oklahoma for the past two decades. Previously, she resided in several states in the South and Midwest. Along with her husband, she also served as a missionary in Costa Rica and Venezuela.
Occasionally, she reports on the experiences of newly converted Christians for Baptist Press, a national news service for Baptists. She was also a weekly columnist for The Indiana Baptist, where she told the stories of ordinary people who became followers of Christ. Luana is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers.
Author's Book List
Two Days in Caracas
- A Titus Ray ThrillerTitus Ray faces a threat he never imagined.
Can he overcome the obstacles and capture Ahmed Al-Amin before it’s too late?
In this pulse-racing Christian thriller, CIA intelligence officer, Titus Ray, travels from Costa Rica to Venezuela in an effort to stop Ahmed Al-Amin, a Hezbollah assassin, from murdering a high-profile government official. Along the way, a family crisis jeopardizes his mission, and an Agency division head threatens to destroy his career. As the danger mounts, he’s forced to partner with an untested operative to complete the mission and bring Ahmed to justice. Will he make it in time?
•Can his newfound faith heal his past wounds?
•Can he build a life with the woman of his dreams?
Book Trailer: Two Days in Caracas
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One Night in Tehran
- A Titus Ray ThrillerIn Tehran, while hiding out from the Iranian secret police, CIA officer, Titus Ray, finds shelter with a group of Iranian Christians. Compelled by their unwavering faith, the battle-hardened agent becomes a believer shortly before they smuggle him out of Iran to freedom in Turkey.
Returning to the States, he discovers his Iranian mission failed because of political infighting within the Agency. After delivering a scathing indictment against the Deputy Director of Operations, he’s forced to take a year’s medical leave in Oklahoma.
Before leaving Langley, however, he discovers a Hezbollah hit man has targeted him for assassination. Now, while trying to figure out what it means to be a follower of Christ, he must decide if the Iranian couple he meets in Oklahoma has ties to the man who's trying to kill him, and if Nikki Saxon, a beautiful local detective, can be trusted with his secrets.
•Trained in lies, he learns the truth!
•Will it help him escape his past?
•Can it change his future?
Book Trailer: One Night in Tehran
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