Chapters (96)
- Cover
- Berkley titles by David Ricciardi
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- CHARACTER LIST
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EIGHTY-FIVE
- EIGHTY-SIX
- EIGHTY-SEVEN
- Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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“Listen, brother,” said Pickens, “you’ve got to trust me on this. Yaxaas is not going to negotiate. He’s going to kill you.”
“Not if we kill him first,” said Jake.
“Graves won’t like that,” said Pickens.
“Fuck Graves,” said Clap. “He’s lost sight of why we’re here.”
“But he’s still our lawful authority,” Pickens said.
“Is Black Flag lawful?” said Clap.
“Probably,” said Jake. “We’re not directly involved with piracy.”
“But we’re perpetuating it,” said one of the other Ground Branch men. “What was Dante’s line? ‘The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain neutrality in times of moral crisis.’”
“Look, if it’s not Yaxaas, it’ll be somebody else,” said Pickens. The discussion was getting heated and he was pacing around the room again.
“Are we going along with Graves because it’s the right thing to do or because it’s the path of least resistance?” Jake said.
There wasn’t a man in the room who thought Graves was doing the right thing.
“OK,” said Pickens, “but what can we do about it? Yaxaas has the entire clan militia behind him.”
“I don’t think there are many problems that the men in this room can’t solve with a little cunning and a lot of force,” Jake said.
Heads nodded.
“This is outside our orders,” Clap said, “so I can’t speak for the men on my team, but I’m in.”
The other Ground Branch men nodded without hesitation.
“All right,” said Pickens. “I’m in too.”
It was unanimous.
Jake looked around the room. He was a solo operator, and a damn good one, but it felt good to be part of a team again.
“So what’s the plan?” said Pickens.
“We snatch him and force him to trade the weapon for his life.”
“Or call our bluff,” said Pickens.
“He’s a megalomaniac, not a martyr.”
“Agreed,” said Clap. “Saving his own ass will always be his primary objective.”
The tension left the room as everyone coalesced around the new plan. Jake looked over at Clap.
“There’s one thing I’ve been meaning to ask you . . . What kind of name is ‘Clap’? Is it short for something? A nickname? What’s the story?”
Clap rolled his eyes. The rest of the guys on his team snickered.
“It’s a nickname—a gift from the cadre at my operator training course. My initials are V.D.”
Pickens broke into a wide grin.
“You could be Somali with a nickname like that,” said Jake.
“So . . . about Yaxaas,” Clap said, eager to steer the conversation elsewhere.
“Right. I’d like you to plan the operation,” Jake said. “We’ll probably be outmanned and your team has ten times the experience I do.”