The Choices of Adam Bailey
Book III of the Minnesota Lake Series
by
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Speaking brusquely with no pretense of respect, the German official barked at me, “Where are the conductors? Who are you and what are you doing here?” Bailey knew the next thing this pompous guard was going to ask for his papers and passport. Then all hell was going to break loose. That was it. Bailey was faced with the most pivotal judgment in his life. He would often think back how he nodded, got up from his chair, approached the arrogant guard as if to give him papers, and instead pulled out his luger placing it against the man’s thick coat. He then unhesitantly pulled the trigger twice with the coat muffling most of the noise created by the firing pistol. The entire episode lasted just seconds. The startled German was thrown back against the door his eyes ablazed in horror. During his last moments of life, he attempted to pull out his own gun from his chest holster but that was as far as the mortally wounded man got. He slid down the caboose door and landed on the floor with a deadening thud. There was no movement. His eyes had gone blank into a death stare. To Bailey it seemed abnormal to see a human being so still...not even a twitch. He would recall how he felt no remorse. There had been no decision to make...no other choice to consider. Seconds later the circumstances would have been reversed.
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About the Book
In 1931, five individuals who met by happenstance one weekend in Glenwood, Minnesota secretly brought down a clandestine mob-run enterprise at a nearby remote lake resort. They wisely and determinedly stayed quiet about their success to thwart probable underworld reprisal; yet, in the months and years that followed they often were called upon to save each other from rumors and inquiries as to their possible involvement. They did so by whatever means or methods were required. One of the conspirators, Adam Bailey, about to enter college at the time of the original mob bust, luckily faces little anxiety or threats compared to the others....that is, until graduation. That’s when his good fortune sours. He unexpectedly crosses paths with one of the key gangsters from that extraordinary incident four years before. The encounter leads Bailey to take on a job that requires international travel, particularly in Italy, France, and Switzerland. Through 1937 he builds a profitable clientele base until the war in Europe gradually depreciates his hard work. His experience, though, brings him a new opportunity....with the U.S. Defense Department ...to observe any military build-up in Italy as he carries out his regular business. The additional job carries seemingly only marginal risk until the spring of 1940 when he suddenly finds himself in a Milan, Italy jail ...the charges undefined. Shortly, he realizes he’s being framed. The situation worsens and he escapes. In his quest to flee to France, he gets even deeper into his dilemma now having to outwit Italian and Swiss pursuers as well as those who framed him. Life and death choices are nonstop as he seeks his freedom. In this third addition of the Minnesota Lake Series, the original story is once again enlarged showing how that chance meeting of those five individuals years before...and the actions they took against the mob... continues to have serious impact on not just Adam Bailey, but on all the lives of his fellow conspirators who defied the mob that weekend.
About the Author
J. L. Larson, a graduate of the University of Minnesota, worked in legal publishing and business consulting. He is the author of The Raid at Lake Minnewaska and The Disappearance of Henry Hanson, the first two books of his ongoing Minnesota Lakes series. He and his wife currently reside at Lake Norman in North Carolina.