Free The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition) by Gerard de Marigny Page A

Wang, The Watchman’s former Director of, and now new Vice President of Intelligence Services. Michelle came to the former agency from a successful career at Langley, where her human Intel expertise, in particular, went underutilized. Here, we will fully utilize that experience.”
    “ Rounding out our executive staff, you all know Les Pastak whose title and responsibilities have been refined. Les is now Vice President of HR and General Counsel for our agency. And last but certainly not least, Debbie Lynch who formerly served as Executive Assistant to the former president and who continues in that role for our new CEO and president. Debbie is the linchpin of this agency.”
    “ Now let me give you a little insight to why I acquired this firm, what I hope to accomplish with this A-Team of talented individuals and the reason why I renamed the agency, The Watchman.”
    “ After my wife Lisa died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11, my life underwent a number of changes. One of which, the most important of which was my rededication to my Judeo-Christian faith. To help me deal with the loss her loss, I turned to the Bible. I was drawn to one Old Testament prophecy concerning modern day Ephraim, aka the U.S.A. It captivated me. In the book of Hosea, the prophet spoke of the Watchman of Ephraim . In biblical times, watchmen, mostly soldiers but not always, were stationed in various places in a city and were responsible for keeping watch and reporting what they saw, to the kings and elders. Their duty was not to fight; it was to inform, particularly of some impending danger.”
    “ I felt that, of all the failures on 9/11, the biggest failure was that no warning was given. In my view, America had no watchman. While democrats and republicans argued along ideological lines – for and against the use of human intel – for and against the use of torture for interrogation – for and against Guantanamo Bay – for and against whether terrorists should be given rights and privileges outlined by the Geneva conventions, whether they were enemy combatants or just misguided zealots, etcetera. I knew that while the federal government acted like the “silly doves” spoken of in the Bible, America’s enemies continued relentlessly to plan the next attacks against innocent American civilians on our soil.”
    “ It is my intention to make this agency, the watchman for our country. Our job will be first, to keep watch over all of our national borders; second, when necessary, to warn our government of any threat; and third, in any instance where we, in this room, believe that our country is not acting to protect American citizens, American property and American territory … we will do whatever is necessary to protect and to defend our nation and its citizens.”
    “ Ladies and gentleman, we are not here to replace the military and civilian law enforcement agencies of our country. We are here primarily to advise them and to serve them in whatever capacities we can … but in any case; we will NOT ALLOW … another 9/11! We will NOT ALLOW another terrorist attack on American soil, not if we can help it, not if we can do something about it!”
    “ If any of you have a problem with anything I just said, speak now or come to me after this meeting ends. We’ll do all we can to find you a job with someone else. There will be no hard feelings, but for the rest of you who feel up to the challenge … Godspeed and God Bless! ”
    Everyone in the room stood and applauded, including Pastak, but his only reason for standing was so as not to be the only person left sitting. Pastak was fuming from what he considered to be a major snub and demotion, so much so, that he hardly heard anything De Niro had said.
    “ I would like to invite Captain Ricci to step up here and say a few words, Mugsy?”
    De Niro shook his brother-in-law’s hand then took a seat at the head of the table as Ricci stepped up to the podium.
    “ Thank you Cris