Protection For Hire
Creator: Camy Tang
Characters
Tessa Lancaster
Charles Britton
Ichiro
Uncle Teruo Ota
Wayne Lancaster
Paisley Kingsley
Evangeline
Alicia Kingsley
Eddie Britton
Elizabeth St. Amant
Karissa Hoshiwara
Nezuyabu (Nez or Nezumi)
Kenta
Ayumi Ota Lancaster
Tessa
Lancaster’s dark hair hangs halfway down her back, and twisted into a French
knot. Her eyes are dark brown with
flecks of green. She has long dark eyelashes, soft lips, full and pink. Half
Japanese, her father left them when she was ten years old. At age 16 she became
an enforcer for her yakuza mob boss uncle, Teruo Ota. She was trained in mixed
martial arts, Muay Thai & Brazilian jiu
jitsu, no holds barred street fighting, and tae kwan do. When her uncle’s son kills his girlfriend, Tessa takes
the blame to protect her uncle from the authorities investigation, and is sent
to prison for seven years. Her cellmate brings her to a saving knowledge of
Jesus, and she becomes a Christian. Upon release from prison she refuses to return
to the service of the yakuza and her uncle’s employ, yet she still loves him as
the father she didn’t have.
As an
ex-con she’s having a hard time finding employment, however, and volunteers at
Wings Shelter for abused women. It’s here that she meets her first client, and
becomes a bodyguard to protect her against an abusive husband.
Charles
Britton was the young court clerk who investigated Tessa during her murder
trial, and because of her criminal background encouraged the judge to add two
years to her sentence. But now, after meeting her again, and seeing the change
in her, he slowly falls in love with the woman he sent to prison.
Elizabeth
St. Amant is from a rich and powerful New Orleans family. She married a young
man against her family’s wishes, only to discover he was cruel and abusive.
After they moved to San Francisco, he began beating her, and when he struck
their son she left him in fear. Ending up at Wings Shelter she meets Tessa and
hires her as a bodyguard, then hires Charles Britton, a young lawyer to get her
inheritance back from her husband, setting the stage for her possible murder if
Tessa cannot protect her.
Wayne
Lancaster is never seen, but may still be around. Tessa doesn’t know why her
father suddenly left, and has mixed feelings about him. He is a mix of English,
Scottish, and Italian, we’re told. He married the San Francisco yakuza mob
boss’s sister, Ayumi Ota, and they had two daughters, Tessa and her older
sister, Alisa Lancaster Kingsley. Alisa and her daughter Paisley are separated
from her husband.
Evangeline
was Tessa’s cellmate, and responsible for bringing her to Christ. She now works
at Wings Shelter, and talked Tessa into volunteering at the shelter while she
looks for regular work.
Ichiro
(or Ichy) is Tessa’s cousin, and fellow yakuza soldier in her uncle’s mob. He’s
afraid she’ll beat him up if he doesn’t help her.
Kenta
is a captain in her uncle’s mob, and was once her boyfriend. He’s still there
for her, should she ever need him. But being high in the ranks of the mob, he
would have to pick someone else to marry, regardless of his feelings for Tessa.
Eddie
Britton is Charles’ younger brother. A sportsman, he also wants Tessa to train
him for MMA bouts.
Nez
runs one of Uncle Ota’s restaurants, and a close friend of her uncle.
Karissa
Hoshiwara is the daughter of a café owner, and helps out Tessa.
Uncle
Teruo Ota is the San Francisco yakuza boss. Although he is involved in many
criminal activities, he loves his extended family, and thinks of Tessa as his
own daughter, instead of granddaughter.
This
is a great new series. Tessa must go up against bad guys and trained assassins,
and her martial arts skills are put to the tests. Although she doesn’t work out
of an office yet, her Protection For Hire brings her up against criminals the
FBI has not been able to touch, and some may even connect indirectly to her own
yakuza background. As a Christian, she doesn’t wish to kill, but she can use
guns, knives, and her hands in deadly earnest to protect her clients. The
reader wont find sex and profanity here, but you will find a good story and
plenty of action. It shows that vulgar writing is not needed to tell a good
pulp yarn. There have only been two stories so far, but a third is almost
completed.
“Protection For Hire”
Zondervan Publishing
“A Dangerous Stage” Zondervan
Publishing
