The Douglas Document: Betrayal, and a sequel, The Douglas Document: Redemption, are fictional historical thrillers based on the Douglas Treaties of Vancouver Island.
Both books are completed and are in the final stages of preparation for publishing. Following are the synopses for each of the books.
The Douglas Document: Betrayal
Aboriginal graduate student, Elora Lamont, discovers a letter written by James Douglas, the Colonial Governor of Vancouver Island, exposing an 1854 land swindle. But instead of bringing justice to a First Nation, the document becomes her death warrant. A trusted professor betrays her to Edgar Simmons, an unscrupulous land developer who has staked his family’s future on the ill-begotten land. Edgar will stop at nothing to get the compelling document—and silence the professor and Elora. Desperate, Elora hides the document in the city’s commemorative time capsule, which is undergoing repairs. She then puts her trust in her brother and a man she only knows as Sam Smith, who agrees to retrieve the letter and deliver it to a national Aboriginal organisation. A plan is put in motion, but her trust is broken when Sam disappears and her brother’s body is found in the harbour.
Caught in the middle is a construction contractor, Mike Petrosic, only visiting Victoria to rescue his cousin, Julie, trapped in a toxic relationship. Mike is tricked into participating in a failed plan to retrieve the document. He learns too much and narrowly escapes a fiery death. Believing that a killer is still after him, Mike confronts Elora and saves her from an abduction attempt by Edgar’s thugs. After Julie finally contacts Mike, Mike, Julie, and Elora flee Victoria and take refuge in a hideaway where Julie reveals a deep secret about Mike’s past. Soon Julie’s enraged ex-partner finds her, and a life and death confrontation ensues.
Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Scott Rockland and his partner Liz Bailey are investigating the murders of the professor and Elora’s brother. The only tenuous link is Elora Lamont. When assailants in a white van attempt to abduct Elora, Liz Bailey is seriously injured and coroner Mary Forbes teams up with Rockland to solve the murders. A smouldering romance ignites as Forbes and Rockland tease out the clues and uncover where Elora has hidden the document. At the same time, Edgar stages a bold, early morning raid to steal the document, but his plan fails. Rockland recovers the document and Coroner Forbes seizes it as evidence. The contents will not be revealed until the coroner’s inquest into the death of Elora’s brother. Edgar’s development is safe—at least until the hearing.
With the killer, or killers, of the professor and Elora’s brother unknown, Elora goes into witness protection. Several months later, the day of the hearing arrives. After Elora testifies, the mystery of the Douglas document will be revealed. For Elora, the danger will be over and long overdue justice for the First Nation looks promising.
The Douglas Document: Retribution
It is the day of the coroner’s inquest into the death of Elora Lamont’s brother, and Elora is waiting to testify. Today, the contents of the Douglas document will become public, and Elora will be free to get on with her life, but a last-minute visit from a government lawyer changes everything. Elora is served with a court order, forbidding her to divulge the contents of the Douglas document. Enraged, Elora decides to defy the court order.
Meanwhile, Edgar Simmons makes a plan to steal the document and silence Elora himself until he learns about the government gag order. His suspicions that someone else is also after the Douglas document are confirmed.
As Coroner Mary Forbes prepares to open the hearing, Detective Sergeant Scott Rockland is on a ferry, returning from a drug raid in Vancouver. Rockland and Mary have been living together, but Mary has just been offered a lucrative position in Toronto. They’ve been putting off a decision, but Rockland is now clear about what he wants and hopes that Mary is of similar mind. At the inquest, as Elora waits to testify in a back room, smoke fills the building. Believing it to be a fire, she escapes amid mass panic and meets up with Mike Petrosic, his cousin, Julie, and his girlfriend, Crystal. Rockland receives a brief, terse call from Liz Bailey about the fire and he learns that Mary is seriously injured. Rockland agonizes over Mary and wastes no time racing to the hospital.
When Mary regains consciousness in hospital, she recalls that someone emerged through the dense smoke, hit her hard, and snatched the Douglas document from her hand. The terrorist-like nature of the raid summons Chief Inspector Bill Cameron of the RCMP Integrated Domestic Terrorist Team (IDTT). The disappearance of Elora Lamont is also an immediate concern, finding her a priority. She could be in danger—or perhaps was involved in the raid.
After watching enhances coverage of the raid with the help of Julie’s computer-savvy daughter, Elora is shocked to recognize Sam Smith, a man she had once trusted, as one of those involved in the raid. Elora is crestfallen knowing that her ordeal is not over. To avoid exposing her friends to danger, Elora leaves Victoria. She decides to travel to Prince George, and then to the remote northern community of Wishing Lake with her friend, Lena. Despite being careful to cover her tracks, Elora is followed by Sam Smith and his accomplice, George Thomson. They’re unprepared for winter in the frigid north, and Sam is deeply conflicted by the abrupt change in his organization—a clandestine group that he has been in since childhood.
Soon Detective Sergeant Rockland and Liz are seconded to Bill Cameron’s IDTT. Rockland is furious, but soon finds that it’s a sweet deal. Their first priority is to find Elora
Lamont. Julie, her daughters Meghan and Ashley, and Mike and Crystal are despondent over Elora leaving, but have no idea where she will go. Bill Cameron recognizes Meghan’s advanced computer skills and invites her to Vancouver. Meghan is a quick study and fits right in with the team. After speaking to Elora’s friends and foster parents, Rockland and Liz find Elora’s location and head for Prince George. At the same time, the IDTT sets up a task force to uncover the true identities of Sam Smith and George Thomson.”
After an all-night stake out in frigid temperatures at Wishing Lake, Sam reluctantly follows orders, and along with his three other “brothers,” storms the cabin, taking Elora and her friend, Lena, hostage. Sam and George force Elora to leave with them. Believing that she is about to be murdered, Elora runs into the bush in bone-chilling temperatures, with a faint-hope chance of survival. Unexpectedly, Sam runs her down, but doesn’t shoot her. Instead, he takes her to a meeting where Elora learns the truth about Sam and Moksgul, the secret organization he belongs to.
At the Wishing Lake cabin, Rockland and Liz are confronted with ransom demands, but as they wait for reinforcements, Lena’s enraged husband charges the cabin to save the women. Her husband and one of the hostage-takers are shot. At a cabin on a remote west coast island, Cameron and Sarita visit a dying man who reveals the secret of the Mogsgol.
After the meeting with Moksgul, Elora “escapes.” Relieved that her ordeal is over, she calls Julie’s house only to learn that, Ron Kramar, Julie violent ex-partner, has escaped from jail and abducted Julie. Recently returned from the north, Rockland and Liz race against time. With help from the IDTT, they locate Ron’s hideaway, but the outcome is unexpected.
While Rockland was tracking Elora, Mike Petrosic and his fiancée Crystal link Edgar Simmons to the Douglas document’s land claim—an almost fatal discovery for Mike. The fate of two missing pimps and a dead archivist, terrorized into committing suicide, also bear Edgar’s deadly trademarks. Rockland traps Edgar’s younger brother, Jared, into giving up Edgar for the pimp’s murders, but a fiery car crash claims Edgar first. The Douglas document is mysteriously returned to government, but government reneges on their commitment to negotiate with the First Nation, leaving the land ownership issue in limbo. With Edgar’s death, his sister, Fiona, is heiress to Simmons Enterprises, but when the investors in their development plan flee, the development stalls and Simmons Enterprises faces bankruptcy. Fiona contacts Elora and offers a deal to the First Nation.
Two years later, Professor Elora Lamont is on a speaking tour to promote her book, The Social and Economic Progress of First Nations in Canada. CSIS has her under surveillance, certain that she is in league with wanted terrorists, Sam Smith and George Thomson. Sam Smith turns the tables and brings a dramatic end to the surveillance detail. Elora is convinced that she will never see Sam again—but an unexpected call in the middle of the night rouses her from a troubled sleep and into Sam’s arms.
John R. Paterson, Author 