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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Though the two men held enormous respect for each other’s professional abilities, Jake believed firmly in the concepts of right and wrong while Graves’s beliefs were more nuanced.
Significantly more nuanced.
“Which is what, exactly?” Jake asked.
“Making ships disappear without a trace.”
“How does that help the United States?”
“We pick the ships.”
“That sonofabitch has killed a hundred fifty innocent sailors plus who knows how many on land. I’m not working with him, Ted.”
“Watch yourself, Keller. You know that insubordination is cause for termination.”
Termination.
It was Agency-speak for firing someone. Foreign assets were terminated, employees and contractors were terminated. Their relationships with CIA ended, but their hearts kept beating.
It was widely suspected that Ted Graves had a different definition of the word.
The Special Activities Center had always had the highest rate of officers killed in the line of duty—it was the nature of the paramilitary mission—but three of Graves’s men had met unfortunate ends soon after known confrontations with their boss. Two had been killed by foreign intelligence services and the other had simply disappeared. Their stars had been etched into the Memorial Wall and their names inscribed in the Book of Honor. No accusations had been leveled, no connections had been found, but suspicions lingered.
Jake and Ted maintained an effective working relationship, but venom flew in both directions when Jake voiced any reservations about his boss’s questionable intelligence activities.
Unspoken threats lingered below the surface.
“The end always justifies the means, doesn’t it, Ted?”
“Well, look who took a philosophy course in college. Why don’t you ruminate on this: You’ve been chained to a ceiling, hooked up to a car battery, and seen your teammates die in front of you. You’ve seen what the other side is capable of, Jake, and you know that protecting this nation is bare-knuckles brawling, 24/7. So you can either stick your head in the sand and pretend it isn’t happening or get into the fight and do something about it.”
Jake wasn’t naïve about the evil in the world. He had indeed experienced it firsthand, but he didn’t like the idea of working with a warlord. There would have to be a damn good reason to partner with a man who viewed human life as a commodity.
“What do you have in mind?” Jake said.
“I’m glad you asked,” said Graves. The anger disappeared from his voice as quickly as it had come. Jake wondered if there was anything genuine about the man at all—anything Ted didn’t alter to suit his most immediate need.