Borderline [On hold for major revision]

Prologue

The man’s phone vibrated on his desk and he answered it immediately, not bothering to look at the Caller ID. Only three people knew this number and all of them knew not to bother him unless it was important.

            “Yes?” he said, masking his deep Southern accent. It had taken him months of coaching and practice, but he could now make himself imitate the accent of almost any state in the US.

            “Sir, I think we’re running out of time.” It was a woman’s voice, which he easily recognized as belonging to his third-in-command.

            He leaned back in his chair and absentmindedly glanced at the clock, pausing a moment to listen to the steady ticks marking the seconds. It was late; his wife would be expecting him home soon. “What makes you say that?”

            “There’s been a dramatic rise in criminal activity along the border. Such an increase could set him off—“

            “We need to control him!” he snapped.

            Her voice slowed and became more enunciated, as if she was speaking to a child. “I know, sir. What do you suggest?”

            He thought about it for only a second, making a decision almost instantly. Such quick thinking was what got him where he was today, and it was all that was keeping him in control. “Test him. Tucker is like a ticking time bomb. If we don’t time it perfectly, we could get destroyed by the blast. If he’s progressing, we need to know when and how much. We need to push him to his limits. You know what to do.”

            A slight pause. “Yes, sir.” The woman hung up and he replaced the phone to its proper place on his desk.

            Things were moving faster than he intended.

            Things would therefore have to be changed.

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There's a map of where this book takes place if you're curious. It's not a real city, but this is where it would be if it were real (the red oval is roughly what the city limits would be). The red line extending out of it is the made-up road connecting the city to El Centro, California. The road only shows up in Ch. 4 (as far as I can remember) but I thought I'd add it anyway. The red dot outside of the circle is where Cal Tucker's (the main character's) house is.