“And you’re sure there are no surprises, Thomas? No one’s having a party? Nothing out of the ordinary that could throw off tonight?” Griffin Huntsmen asked Thomas Cartman, the Amazon impersonator who’d been driving the neighborhood for the past two days. His brown eyes—so dark they almost appeared black—bored into Thomas, as if the strength of his gaze would pry any remaining secrets from the team member. While he spoke softly, there was nothing soft about the operation’s intimidating leader.

At six feet one inch, Griffin was built like a world-class boxer—all sinew and muscle—but he moved with the speed and grace of a dancer, a fact that no one mentioned, lest they incur his wrath. He was physically intimidating, with stern features that rarely broke into a smile, but he had one redeeming feature that set people at ease: his long, thick, blond hair, which hung just a few inches above his shoulders. When he parted or pulled it back in a short ponytail, he looked like an angry surfer, just as ready to hang ten as to beat someone to death with a surfboard.

Griffin Huntsmen was the owner and CEO of Huntsmen Enterprises, an intentionally innocuous name. His background remained a mystery even to the few dedicated employees he had, except one—Barrett Connolly, an eccentric Irishman who’d been with Griffin since the inception of Huntsmen Enterprises. While Griffin was the CEO and face of the company, Barrett was the chief of operations, responsible for day-to-day planning and execution of the contracts.

For those in their circle, Huntsmen Enterprises had become known as one of the most successful private military and security contractors in and around DC. They didn’t operate in the open like some of the other major companies. Their area of expertise lay in the shadows of covert and clandestine operations, and their success was a direct result of how they conducted their affairs. While Griffin and Barrett were the leads on every job, they hired different former operators for each, based on specific criteria, objectives, and skill sets. They’d used some personnel on multiple jobs, but they tried to limit their overall exposure. The less their subcontractors knew, the better it was for all involved. The fact that they also doled out some of the highest fees in the business helped ensure discretion.

The rarely whispered rumor was that Griffin and Barrett had been part of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Operations as paramilitary operations officers in the agency’s covert Special Activities Division, amusingly monikered SAD. Whether they’d been Navy Special Warfare Development Group, 1st Special Operations Detachment Delta, a different unit from Joint Special Operations Command, or just college kids with a desire to deliver justice to the enemies of America before joining the CIA, no one was certain, and more importantly, no one was brave enough to ask.