“This organization is referred to as AFJ. That’s it. It’s easy to remember. It stands for Americans for Justice.”

“In other words, vigilantes,” a man’s voice said from the front of the room.

“If you like that word, use it. I prefer the word operative.”

The same devil that perched on Sam’s shoulder earlier moved to her other shoulder. Her voice was loud and strong when she said, “What about mercenary? Isn’t that what we’re here for, or did I miss something?”

“Mercenary is good if you like that term, but you have to earn that title. Call yourself whatever you like. I still prefer the word operative.” Pappy smiled, his strong white teeth glistening against his exceptionally suntanned skin.

The devil was still perched on Sam’s shoulder. “It’s not a question of whatever we like. I want this clarified right now. Are you going to train us to be mercenaries? For the good guys, of course. I don’t have a problem with the term. When questions like this are answered outright in the beginning, there’s no room later for misunderstandings, or anything ugly cropping up. In the real world down below this mountain it’s simply called covering your ass. If we aren’t on any radar screen, and this organization can abandon us at will, I think we have every right to know every single nit-picking detail.”

“You’re big on words and details, is that it, Rainford?” The bronzed man sounded frustrated.

He remembered her name. “Damn straight, Mr. Havapopulas.” The loud murmurings from the others sounded like they were in agreement with Sam’s statements. “If there’s even the remotest possibility I’m going to be hung out to dry, I want a fighting chance before I get off the ground. You haven’t mentioned any kind of confidentiality agreement, so if we do…get caught…how do we explain all this?” Sam said, waving her arms about to indicate the elaborate compound. “Suppose we do get caught and we tell people about this place. Assuming you and your people abandon us.”

“If you adhere to the rules, do what you’re told, work as a team, that’s not going to happen. That I can guarantee. If it does happen, you will have no one to blame but yourself and your team members. We haven’t lost an operative yet, and we’ve been an organization for over ten years. I’m sorry I can’t give you personal testimonials, so you will have to take my word for it.”

The same devil was still dancing on Sam’s shoulders. She bristled as her jaw set in a grim line. “I don’t find that reassuring enough, Mr. Havapopulas. I have no desire to spend time in a federal slammer. I know how the system works.”

“Yeah, I know how it works, too,” Hawkins said loudly. More murmurings could be heard from the others.