Dale Brown
The Tin Man
"A fast-paced action thriller which would make one hell of a movie! Patrick MacLanahan, ongoing hero of Dale Brown's novels, must go into action when his rookie cop brother is seriously wounded in a shootout between police and mercenaries at a robbery which goes wrong. His friend Jon MAsters, inventor of high-tech military weapons, has devised the ultimate body armour – an electronic suit using nanotechnology and composite materials which can instantluy harden into stronger-than-steel armour for his Ultimate Soldier project for the US Army. Patrick and Jon go into combat, blowing the city of Sacramento wide open on the train of Gregory Townsend, an ex-SAS soldier who buys out all the California drug gangs and forms the ultra-right-wing Aryan Brigade, causing terror and mayhem. But what are his real motives? Highly enjoyable in a ROBOCOP way, this is a fantastic holiday read, in spite of some farfetched ideas. But then again, you never know what military secrets exist!"
The seventh book in the Patrick McLanahan series
DEDICATION
This novel is dedicated to my wife, my confidante, my best friend, and my lover, Diane; to our son and first child, Hunter; and to my old buddy Saber.
The soul truly has no beginning and no end; I’m glad these three souls touched mine.
It is also dedicated to the memory of Sergeant George Sullivan, University of Nevada-Reno Police Department, brutally killed in the line of duty in January of 1998, and to all the other men and women who wear a badge and put their lives on the line to protect ours. Thank you for your service.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Very special thanks to my wife, retired Sacramento Police Department Narcotics lieutenant Diane Joelson Brown, for her encouragement, support, and technical advice. This book would not have been possible without her patience, insight, and expertise. The mistakes are all mine, but the credit goes to her.
Thanks also to Lieutenant John Kane, disaster-preparedness expert, Sacramento Police Department; Lieutenant Leslie Brown, watch commander, North Patrol, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department; Detective David Cropp, Narcotics investigator and expert, Sacramento Police Department; and Officer Vonda Walker and Corporal Paula Gow, Sacramento Police Department, for their technical assistance.
I also thank retired Sacramento Police Department officer and fellow pilot Bert Sousa for his help in profiling and helping to gather information on outlaw motorcycle gangs. A source of information on biker gangs, which Bert encouraged the author Yves Lavigne to write, was Hells Angels: Into the Abyss (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996). Hells Angels is a registered trademark of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corp.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any actual persons or events is purely coincidental and is a product of the author’s imagination. Although I endeavor to be as accurate as possible, the use of actual places and organizations is meant only to enhance the authenticity of the story. It is in no way intended to depict, represent, or describe any real-world person, organization, agency, or the procedures they follow.
Similarly, the information regarding the manufacture of methamphetamine has been included to enhance the authenticity of the story. The drugs produced, their byproducts, and the compounds used in their manufacture described herein are deadly. Do not attempt to duplicate these procedures.
Your thoughts and opinions about this or any of my works are welcome! Please e-mail your comments to me at: Readermail@Megafortress.com or visit my Web site on the Internet at: http://www.Megafortress.com
Because of the tremendous number of messages I receive, it may take a while for me to reply, but I read every one. Thank you!
Dale Brown
Lake Tahoe, Nevada, USA
REAL-WORLD NEWS EXCERPTS
– San FranciscoExaminer and AP, 11/26/97
No one was in the room at the Motel 6 at Richards Boulevard and Jibboom Street in central Sacramento when officers served their search warrant at 3:30 A.M.
Oakland police were not immediately available for comment on the motel search.
“To have that one person who you trust to back you up, turn around and take your life is a very scary thought,” said Dan Connolly, chairman of the Independent Car Operators Association. “It leads more and more to the adage that you trust no one in this business…”
4 SUSPECTED OF BREWING DRUG AT MOTEL
Studio City, Calif. -Four people were arrested on suspicion of running a methamphetamine lab in a motel room by
… The LAPD’s Hazardous Materials section also responded to the scene because of the toxic chemicals used to produce methamphetamine. “This stuff is so toxic that it penetrates through the walls and carpets,” said Sgt Michael Linder, one of the arresting officers.
… Larger-scale meth production is carried out in rural areas where producers can run electric generators and the noxious fumes can go undetected. “You have to be pretty brazen to cook in the city because the smell is so strong,” said Linder…
TRAFFICKERS HIRE FOREIGNERS TO TRAIN PRIVATE MILITIAS IN FACE OF REFORM EFFORTS, OFFICIALS SAY
Mexican drug-trafficking organizations are hiring foreign mercenaries to strengthen their paramilitary forces, heightening the threat that traffickers pose to U.S. security interests, senior law-enforcement officials said yesterday.
… Knowledgeable sources said the mercenaries are largely from Colombia, Britain, and Israel and are employed to train the militias in the use of more sophisticated explosives and combat techniques.
– Sacramento Bee, 10/4/96
In a White House Rose Garden signing ceremony, Clinton said the new law would stop what primarily is now a West Coast problem from becoming a nationwide epidemic.
Law-enforcement officials have identified methamphetamine as the fastest-growing drug problem in the country…
Prologue
Portola, California
September 1997
Those in the business call it the pour-and-run method, and it is one of the most dangerous and explosive chemical processes ever practiced. But Bennie the Chef was the master of this dangerous, arcane art:
In a large glass tub, Bennie mixed seventeen pounds of ephedrine-crushed over-the-counter diet pills dissolved in chloroform-with a toxic, corrosive chemical liquid called thionyl chloride. The combination immediately produced toxic sulfur dioxide, corrosive hydrogen chloride gas, and a substance called 1-phenyl-1-chloro-2-methylaminopropane, or chloropseudoephedrine for short. They call it pour-and-run because even in the open air only a full-body antiexposure suit and an industrial-strength ventilator or positive-flow breathing system will save anyone within fifty yards from being asphyxiated by the sulfur dioxide fumes or severely burned by caustic acid. Bennie never used any of this gear, so it became a test to see if he could run at least half the length of a football field while holding his breath. He ran the race with a towel over his face, because if the hydrogen chloride gas touches any water, even the tiny bits of moisture in the eyes or nostrils, it instantly produces hydrochloric acid so corrosive that it will eat away an eyeball in seconds.
If he survived the test, he’d be several thousand dollars richer. If not, he’d be alive just long enough to taste the blood in his throat as his lungs dissolved, like a sheet of paper thrown into a fire.
Fifty-year-old Bennie, withered and emaciated-looking, was nearly exhausted after his dash to the edge of the trees-but he made it. His mixing tub was under a lean-to facing into the wind, and he could see the poisonous gas streaming out from the tub and collecting under the shelter. Ten minutes later, it was safe to approach the tub, and he began stirring the mixture.