Prologue

It had been around 150 years since the war began. Time never seemed to go by when fighting took place. Muskets, bows and arrows had been replaced by AR-15 and AK-47 arms but the hate for the enemy was still as strong as ever.

The Hatfield–McCoy feud (started 1863) involved two families in the West Virginia(Virginia back then)–Kentucky area along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River. The Hatfield's of West Virginia were led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield while the McCoy's of Kentucky were under the leadership of Randolph "Ole Ran'l" McCoy. Those involved in the feud were descended from Ephraim Hatfield (born c. 1765) and William McCoy (born c. 1750).

Some folks thought that war was over long ago. Wrong, there was about as much chance of that happening as the other little scuffle ending; The War of Northern Aggression. (Civil War to you Yankees) Y'all been to "Lanna or Richmond lately. The South did rise y'know. So will our kind, someday maybe.

Just a bit of information as to why bring up those past wars, some say they are current though, it indicates the culture and history of much of the South. Fighting, honour and dedication to a cause was the way they were raised. If you don't believe me, try standing up in a bar or dance hall and call out for 'Dixie' to be played. South of the Mason-Dixon line things have not changed very much for 200 years or more. Many boys in the South were shooting from about the same time they learned to walk and talk.

Well, anyhow, those 'youngins' got a ton of training. No, not everyone got to go and train at VMI (Virginia Military Institute) you had to 'cipher' some but there was an unwritten code, none of that made up history stuff would be taught to a 'good ole boy' when they enlisted. Furthermore, Virginia was as far North and Texas as far West as they would go, if they did not adhere to that there would be Hell to pay, and even the 'Uknitted Fools' did not want that. Them 'pretty boy Occifers' from up North, made damn fine targets (can you say Frag).

Swamps, water, quicksand, 'Black Widows' and big Brown Recluse spiders, mixed in with two kinds of bad 'muther' snakes and you have an idea of the environment of the USMC Appreciation & Indoctrination course(USNA pre-selection). (Quantico Va.) I think if you survived that week you could do anything. Once they tell you to stop and drop you better hope you are not above some snake's nest, forget those spiders they are everywhere. If you can sleep during the night, they (Critters) just love the extra warmth you give off too. I guess that mantra that tells of the few, and proud is about the ones that lived through that training.

That kind of conditioning was repeated across the world. I found out there were some harder and more deadly ones too. Navy Seals, SIS(Formerly SBS and SAS), Spetnaz, Force Recon, Ranger, Mossad (Not Reg IDF), BIS(Czech) and FFL(French Foreign Legion) to name a few, trained just as hard and some harder, like the FFL Para, Russian Red Berets and Czech's Interdiction Squads, and some of which did not have PC limits placed on them (Real equality for you ladies out there).

What no one said was there were one or two others, still even a might tougher, but these really had no name. These guys and gals gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, 'Left my heart in Dixie!' A few stories about some of them will follow. Our people too had to adapt and learn, only we did it over many moons. One thing that never seemed to change though is that there was always somebody wanting to take whatever we had away from us.

One such group, albeit a small and irregular one, appears in this first portion of our story. Many of those 'official' type or military elite teams have one thing missing from what this one has. Most do not have the element of being unpredictable. Another, for us, there are no orders, guidelines, code of conduct or chain of command to hide behind. The job gets done or one dies, it is that simple.

Most of our jobs were the kind one could walk (Or Run) away from. They usually did not command the huge fees and many were done in teams of 2-6. When you absolutely, positively had to get a 'job' done you would send a very special contractor in, and damn the price asked. Not every assignment was so urgent, costly or so critical. Those simple hits you often read about are more the gang or local bad boys. For $500-$5,000 you can get someone to just about do anything. Of course they will get caught, even if successful; then tell anyone and everyone about it when caught, all about you and even make up a few things to get themselves a deal. So, dear would be assassins, unless you will only take a simple, straight-forward hit, you will probably not be the one chosen to get the big bucks.

Yep, one, it was all you would need to eliminate a selected mark. By the way, that one they sent could be man, woman and even a child. What was also not talked much for the big deals like JFK or a 'Jimmy' was how many would make it back, alive. Nada, that was the kicker. Even after success, which was in the high 90%'s on the first attempt, no chance could be taken on their capture, turning or taking damage knowing their identity could cause. The ones you could walk away from rarely were over $250,000.

German, Russian, Czech, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Chinese and Arab made up the most common nationalities. To use one the price was high, $1 to $10 Million, to all involved(It was a 1 way trip for the person 9 out of 10 times). Jihad had made many of the IRA, Chechen and Moslem sanctions far less costly now, dying for a cause is pretty damn cheap. (Can you say WTC, Russian Schoolhouse, or Nuclear Reactor)

"Why, would they do it?" You say!

Hate, vengeance, illness, revenge, blackmail, coercion, brainwashing, drugs, money, even social or political in-justice can be used. Lot of kids and old people were/are walking bombs, even today. Can you spell, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Phew, just to name a few of the well-known ones. Most often it is money though, the good ones, cannon fodder ones are cheap...

The money, usually low but could be as high $1 million, goes to someone or something the martyr holds dear. (I say martyr because they often think they are dying for a cause or a good reason) There is little an un-warned mark can do to prevent someone willing to die from killing them. It is commonly done with a poison or bio-agent (Ton of them if everyone dies), hairpin, silken cord, bomb, booby trap, knife, sharp blow, soda straw, etc. you get the point. (Was that a PUN?) Usually something non-metallic, that would not show up on a scan or detector.

Unless the mark and everyone associated that he holds dear, stays in a secure locked room for the rest of time, he or she will be dead within a year or two. That is why attention is paid to family, friends, vices or passions the mark may have, men, girls, boys, even animals have been used.

Again, the preferred hit by the hitter though, is where you have a good chance of staying alive. (This is where 'trust' comes in)

There are a thousand different reasons why one person or group wants another gone. I'll not include most of the political or government ones, since those usually are not contract opportunities. Inheritance, revenge, coercion, a show of strength, and just simple expedience can trigger(no pun intended) a paid hit. I know of a few Lear Jet's or Gulfstream's that just blew up un-expectedly (A G-650 ER is like $70 Mil folks, what a waste).

Another reason costs might get high is that one or more pre-events needed to occur. Wife, son, daughter, brother, sister, mistress, boyfriend, girlfriend even a cherished pet might need to be killed or kidnapped, in order to get the main mark rolling.

Remember, if something like this needs doing, do it right. Don't use amateurs, hire a professional. Do not attempt to do these things yourself, they can be hazardous to your health.

Let me go back a bit and tell you some of the story of my own experiences and why, after awhile I became a 'Broker'. See if you agree why or not. The things that lead up to it will also be related as well as a few tales (Assumptions really) of how and why some of those 'specials' met their end.

Me first, I had only a couple of years in this career but a damn fine front man(Broker). One assignment, tells a common but good story, in this case a hit, which had about a 30-40% chance of survival, not that it was that hard, but because of time, location and circumstances, one would have to be off-the-clock for a bit when it was over.

As the professional, I relate:
This story begins with it starting to get cold. Pretty soon, it was going to snow and snow hard. (Part of that timing thing, and I hated snow) In this neck of the woods that usually meant people were not running about though. That was a double edge sword for me. If I ran fast, there would be enough distance between me and where I did not want to be. There was a bad part though, two actually. Depending on which way I would go, time and distance to traverse the distance would work against me. If the snows came too soon I would be, ostensibly, in 'no man's' land, stuck with little food, water and no shelter and leaving tracks and scent.

The snow would cover my tracks if it came after I was done, though dogs would be following, eventually, even they would not pick up and keep my scent.

Freezing to death became a real possibility then, if I had to wait it out. Several choices, move and die, not move and freeze to death, what a wonderful choice. Why, I often asked myself, did things seem to work out this way. Well there was a reason. Any damn fool knew no one in there right mind would try for a 'hit' under these conditions. Of course, initially the fee put a whole lot of incentive to do the job just then and made this the right time for me.

It was not anything political or drug related so getting an exclusive on it was not difficult. Some drunk driver (Four DUIs) had killed a man's wife and son. The 'Asshole' ran and the LEO's were just 'too busy' drinking coffee and eating doughnuts to get off their 'fat asses' and search in the wintertime for him, they had a lot on their plates, they indicated. (Jelly and custard ones) The man's wife herself did not have that much money. The woman's grandfather though did. He was intending to put out an 'open' contract, for $500,000.

My 'broker' instead arranged an exclusive 10-day deal for $1,500,000 for me, $100,000 for expenses and $350,000 for himself for guaranteed results(The mark would die, one way or another within the 10 days. (Some 'special' assignments can take 3-5 years, a very expensive proposition though, $5-$10 million). This one would have been a sweetheart deal, except for the time window and bad weather. Why was he willing to pay the huge difference in price, you might ask? The man was dying and wanted to be certain justice was served so he could see it happen. Could not fault him on that. My broker took the money, I took the Assignment and I had never, ever failed in any Assignment that I took since becoming a professional. I stayed away from Africa after a couple bad experiences, more on that later. You could count on it.

I would not fail on this one either. Before I took the shot (Hell yes, I did not want to get close), I recognized a kind of fear. Hell, I almost knew once the round hit, his 'protectors' would be after my ass, big-time. Oh, forgot to tell you. When he ran, he ran to the U.S. Marshall. In exchange for 'immunity', he said had some information to trade. (We were close to Mexico.) People who were worth more than some guy's wife and kid, to them anyway. I would never say Mr. Sanchez was dumb. He paid the same amount in taxes that I did. I just happen to know that taxes was not a State El Paso was in. He just would have been a lot smarter, in my humble opinion, heading South and spending the $50 or $60 bucks and hire himself a dozen or so of his Amigos to protect him, but you know what something is worth when it is free don'tcha, right. Got it in one, Nada! Just saying.

The 'safe house' was probably more than adequate if Mr. Sanchez had just pissed off a few druggies or the boys in Vegas. Nope, he was not that lucky, for the amount T. J. Malone was paying the job would be done right the first time, no matter what. If I got 'lost' someone else would be around, messy but ... C-4 was cheaper by the case. Toss a coin, win or lose, heads or tails, any way was as good as a done deal. One shot, one kill now, then to get out of Dodge.

New Mexico was a big State; Texas was close enough and that was where I selected to head. East or Southeast offered me cover, high and low ground, as I needed, and hills, valleys and water to throw the dogs off some. The damn cold, ice and snow, if it came, would be a showstopper. I needed about ten days, and then would be free and clear. I planned for thirty. Mr. Malone, as part of our agreement, would notify the media, the Texas Rangers and his lawyers that he had made the 'Bastard' who murdered his family pay. Of course, no one would believe him but it would start Local, two State groups and Federal officials at each other's throats. The poor slob who actually pulled the trigger (me) would just be rolled up in this bigger battle and way before anyone could be determined to have jurisdiction, Mr. Malone would be dead. It seemed a good plan and a fair trade, like the 'good book' says, an 'eye for an eye'.

I could have a lot of respect for a man like that.

As I said before, this was not any 'Company' sanction or 'Family' vendetta, so I was alone (More money for me to go-away some). It did not seem likely that anyone was going to pull all the stops out on this one either, but to be safe, rather than sorry I did the following: Lose the rifle, scope, ammo, boots, outerwear, parka and added some phony ID, DNA, prints and more clues for the trackers and dogs to find. All would buy me time.

Chapter 1 »