The Mouth of the Cat
by
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"This bastard's no dummy,' Bill thought as he rolled and followed the Snake in his dive. He was determined not to give away the altitude and speed advantage and anticipated that Nordin would try to lure him into a turning contest that he knew he would lose.
As Mike started to pull up out from his vertical dive, Bill continued diving the Dart to pick up speed. He expected that Mike would go vertical in his climb and he planned a high angle deflection shot. As the T-34 with the golden snake flashed upward, Bill closed his range and, placing the sight reticle two ship lengths in front of the plane, depressed the trigger, releasing a hail of lead. The shells smashed into both wings and the rear cockpit of the Snake with explosive force.
Mike heard and felt the impact and saw flashes on both wings followed by the tremendous roar and surge of wind rushing through the rear cockpit which startled and confused him for a moment. Then he realized that he was still climbing vertically and kicked in right rudder so violently that the plane snapped into a spin. As it jerked around, he saw a flash of red go by as he made an immediate recovery but continued diving.
Then Mike fully reduced his power and dropped half flaps in a desperate attempt to slide behind the Dart that was now turning with him but in a vertical dive. Both aircraft swirled around like squirrels in a rotating cage. Mike and Bill grimaced at each other, wild-eyed, through the tops of their canopies; sweat soaking their bodies, curses spitting from their mouths, as they swung around in a vertical diving circle. Sweat rolled into Bill's eyes as he hit at it with his left hand and the thought flashed in his mind that they would still be in the squirrel cage when they hit the ground.
The two planes shuddered and bucked as they twirled through the clouds. With the planes now pointed at the ground, the smaller and faster Dart started to pass the Snake.
Bill retarded his throttle immediately but when he saw the Snake's flaps extend, he knew that he had to change his tactics. Back to idle throttle, he rolled out of the squirrel cage and started a recovery from the dive.
'Jesus, don't fly into the fucking ground, Scott,' Bill shouted as the airspeed passed the redline set at 305 knots and he tried to bring the nose up with out creating a high-speed stall. The trees were filling the windscreen and his mind screamed like a bullhorn, "CRASH! CRASH! CRASH."
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About the Book
This story revolves around the rising flood of drugs flowing from Mexico into South Texas and the men who risk their lives in an effort to stem the tide. Intercepting and trailing planes loaded with valuable cargoes of cocaine and heroin into dark isolated landing strips, these dedicated men engage in battles with desperate and dangerous renegades. Enraged by their disruption of his business, an ambitious and ruthless drug lord plots an aerial assassination of his adversaries as part of his grandiose scheme to organize a drug cartel that will rule throughout Mexico and Central America. Jerry R. Houser weaves a tale of intrigue and danger that is fiction combined with factual events. As a former fighter, interceptor and acrobatic pilot, his aerial sequences are as graphic as they are exciting. Intertwined with the action is a moving story of gentle and caring families whose lives are changed forever by the cowardly acts of the drug czar and his henchmen. You will laugh with them in their moments of camaraderie and cry with them at the time of their tragedies. From his fortress deep in Central Mexico, the cunning drug lord, Quintardo, directs the execution of Drug Enforcement and Custom Bureau Agents in his demonic drive to dominate drug trafficking. After the murder of his brother, Bill Scott, retired fighter pilot and Special Forces warrior, sets forth on a trail of vengeance. The reader is placed in the combatants' cockpits in a wild aerial battle ranging from the height of the skies to the floor of the desert. Ultimately, Scott's quest for vengeance takes him on a suicide mission into Quintardo's heavily defended lair-into The Mouth of the Cat. 480 pages
About the Author
Mr. Houser has enjoyed the pursuit of many careers throughout his life. A former USAF fighter pilot, he also holds a Commercial Pilots License and has owned and flown private planes ranging from bi-wing acrobatic planes to the Sia Marchetti, an Italian fighter craft. His airborne experiences range from the U.S. thru Central America to two military tours in the Far East.
Also an avid sailor and scuba diver, he has held Coast Guard Captain and Rescue Diver ratings. For an idyllic year, he and his wife, Kelley, lived on their sailboat, Galatea, while cruising and diving the barrier reef and coasts of Belize and Guatemala. Kelley is also a licensed pilot, diver and reticent sailor.
Prior to his retirement, Mr. Houser practiced law in Texas and Colorado. Largely, this story is based on actual events which occurred while he was living and practicing in San Antonio. He now lives in the beautiful mountains of Western Northern Carolina where he has two other books in progress.