looking for instructors: guys who can teach our applicants everything from infiltration to extraction; how to prepare mental y; how to perform physical y; how to face death without caving; how to stay patient when the enemy seems to be closing in; how to play the game; but most of al , how to win the game. You know how many guys fit that bil ?”
“A short list, my friend?” Herb said, knowing ful wel how short the list would be.
“It’s not just finding the right candidates; it’s finding candidates that are both capable and available. I talked to fifteen possibles. They’re al right there.”
He al owed them a moment to peruse the list: three former Army Rangers, two Navy Seals, a former West Point dril instructor, two former members of the Israeli Mossad, an MI-6 agent two years into retirement, and six mercenaries with experience ranging from the Sudan to Bosnia.
“I don’t like the idea of mercenaries,” Alan said dubiously. “They’re just guns for hire. Their God is the almighty dol ar.”
“Wel , the truth is, mercenaries have the advantage of being total y objective,”
Brian reminded him. “But I’ve narrowed it down to three candidates, and none of the six mercenaries made the cut. Captain Jamie Whyte, the Navy Seal, can instruct in virtual y al the areas we require. He’d be ideal. Same for Major Yitzhak Hardi of the Mossad. Not the most objective of the group, but committed. Dr. Peter Flue is my first choice. He’s West Point, a tactical genius, and an expert in counter terrorism. We couldn’t go wrong with any of the bunch.”
“Yes, indeed.” Herb said.
“Then we make an offer to al three,” Alan said, “and let’s make it worth their while, Brian.”
Alan turned his gaze on Herb Bentz. “So how did you find Paris, Herb?”
“Paris was as expensive and as romantic as ever. Unfortunately, I was there without the benefit of female company, so who cares.” He heard Marie chuckle and rol ed his eyes. “Sad, isn’t it? On the other hand, our intel igence meeting was a good one. There were representatives from forty-three countries. They were al pumped up after the Air France bombing and making lofty promises about being more open in exchanging information in the future. We’l see. The big guys were al there. The Russian FSB. Our CIA, MI-6, France’s DGSE, The Mossad. I’m pretty confident they’ll al pitch in on our operation, even if it’s on the sly; however, there was a consensus among the men I talked to that we’l need two assassins for every target.”
“Explain,” Alan said.
“First, we’l need a front man, let’s cal him an OWL; someone who goes in ahead of time and gets everything set up for the arrival of the second man, also an OWL. Both men, however, are trained assassins. The second man comes in under the radar, very low key. He establishes con-tact with the first OWL, and together they plan the assassination. The man actual y performing the assassination we’l cal the HAWK.
When the plan is decided, the OWLs decide which of them, or perhaps both of them, is to perform the kil ing. Whatever the decision, the OWL or OWLs selected are then referred to as HAWK or HAWKs. Al HAWKs must be extracted immediately. Al OWLs, if undetected, may remain undercover for future assignments.
“Makes sense,” Brian said. “Makes a lot of sense.”
“We can go into it more at our next meeting because I’m stil putting together the logistics,” Herb told them, “but it’s worth keeping in mind.”
“Okay. Let’s do that,” Alan said. And then he turned the meeting over to Marie.
“How are things on the real estate end?”
“I’ve been meeting with our real estate department here, but they haven’t come up with a thing. I think it’s safe to say that Manhattan is not in the cards. The training site we’re talking about may require housing for as many as twenty-five. We’l need instruction facilities, housing, equipment and storage, and remote facilities for things like explosives instruction and combat simulation. So far nothing we’ve found fits the bil ,” she admitted. “But I have an idea. We could look out west where there’s a bit more space to spread out. I think we’l need 10,000 acres. That sounds like