Excerpts 3 and 4, Serialized Havana Dawn

Parts 3 and 4, Serialized Havana Dawn

Let's continue with the third and fourth installments of our series of the first chapter of Havana Dawn, my debut international spy thriller, serialized right here every two days. 

By sampling all of Chapter 1, you get a good feel for the rest of the novel. 

If you want to download the first two chapters of Havana Dawn FREE, go here.  

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You can go back and read Part 2 here.

Check out the second scene below.  President Emily Belling is preparing backstage for the first debate with her opponent, Vance Bimbaugh.

Belling's re-election is another thread of the plot leading to an exciting finish.

Chapter 1, Havana Dawn, Excerpt 3

 “You’re on in five, Emily,” Al Luziano reminded her, another fixture in “Emily World, stuffing his face with double bologna and brie on a hoagie roll, washed down with gulps of diet soda. Few opponents came away unbruised from campaigns he orchestrated. 

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She repositioned the gold broach on her kelly-green suit from the right to left side and adjusted her black knee-high skirt while tossing her platinum flocks in her mirror.
“You look stunning. Go get’em, babe.” Besides Syd, only Al could ever call her “babe.” Not even John tried that.

“Madame President,” Camila Ortiz entered the room, her Colombia-born leggy valet with flowing auburn shoulder-length hair with long bangs, a hold-over from the Senate staff.  Men turned and watched when Camila passed them in her tight, low-cut fitted dresses that were just business-y enough yet accentuated her boobs. Al checked out her curves without end as embers of lust burned in his eyes.

Everyone knew Emily Belling was headed for the White House. It was just a matter of timing like everything in life. Camila like many twenty-something groupies in Washington could not resist the opium of power and thus served her boss slavishly.

 “President Lizette Espada of the Philippines on the line.”
“Who?” Belling flashed a twisted expression and glazed eyes. “Camila, take a fucking message! Can’t you see I’m busy?”  She continued prepping for the TV cameras.

The debate TV director appeared in the doorway clutching a clipboard with a pencil behind his ear and gave her the 1-minute warning. The president appeared all smiles – just like a pro who had been at the game of politics ever since becoming sophomore class president at Township High in Evanston, Illinois.    

Chapter 1, Havana Dawn, Excerpt 4

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The broiling Havana sun started to slink away leaving a pall of darkness in its wake. Cade Forrester savored the welcoming aroma of bubbly black beans, white rice, and roasted chicken wafting from nearby cafés around the park teeming with people, especially couples walking arm and arm.  He filled out his white short-sleeved polo, and knee-length grey textured cotton shorts like a fitness model off the catwalk, the ultimate boy-next-door-type.  A well-tuned bod was a priority since running track at Georgia Tech – tall, amply chested, sinewy muscled arms, and legs to round off his rock-solid 29-inch waist. The blue-banded white Panama hat atop his super-cropped cut spiky blond hair helped him beat the Havana heat.

However, he was not just another gringo turista looking for fun and adventure, well, not that kind of adventure. He adjusted his specially-crafted Ray Bans stepping down from the Capitolio, with a Nikon slung around his neck, and set off in the direction of the Hotel Inglaterra. How cool to use the 4 gig RAM, voice-responsive CPU, and satellite-linked WiFi shades! he thought. Any advantage was indispensable to counter the highly-effective security forces of the tiny island, especially after replacing his close colleague, Esteban Echeverri, who was betrayed just over a month ago. 

Reopening embassies in Washington and Havana had promised a new chapter of diplomatic relations between the two countries. After the champagne corks popped, the day-to-day new US policy of engagement with Cuba took shape with increased interest in expanding economic ties between the two nations while soft-pedaling political reform. The dictatorship remained. Hopes soon faded of any material change in relations besides lip service from both sides because the ruling clique in Havana gladly accepted the unilateral US concessions and then steadfastly continued its tight grip on the Cuban people in defiance of Washington. 

President Belling played her cards early in her term by visiting Comandante Julio Fernando Arroyo in Havana and signing the US-Cuban Friendship Agreement – old wine in new bottles – which left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Cuban people who longed for freedom. The cultural and academic exchanges were nice, but Belling hoped to charm Arroyo to thaw relations further. Personal diplomacy rarely achieves more than cheap public relations points which are forgotten like yesterday’s newspaper. 

Cade glanced at his watch, and started to cross Avenida San Martin when the whir of heavy machinery and burning diesel filled the air.

Stay Tuned: Excerpts 5 and 6

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