Chapter 23

In the bunkhouse operation center, Max examined the assembled men. Despite having been woken up less than ten minutes earlier, in response to the alarm sounded by the nighttime phone operator, they were alert and ready.

He reveled in the pre-operation adrenaline surge. Max never slept deeply. He was out of bed and ready to go in less than two minutes. Six years running black ops in the jungles of Latin America taught him to wake and respond at the slightest hint of trouble.

His men were trained to sleep lightly. Max ran drills at all hours of the night to keep their instincts honed and sharp. Tonight they wore black urban assault gear and watched him with anticipation.

Their faces were painted black to complete the pack's nighttime stealth abilities. Most carried a Heckler and Koch MP-5 submachine gun with EO Tech sights and a suppressor fitted to the barrel. The deadly submachine gun was the top choice of assault teams worldwide because of its flexibility, accuracy, and lightweight nature. The wolf pack was ready to hunt; they wanted blood.

Two of the men carried high powered, Barrett fifty caliber rifles. The anti-material weapon could accurately hurl a massive slug at targets up to a mile away. They were devastatingly effective on vehicles and people.

If things got really ugly, Max would make use of one of the group's rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launchers. Unlike the Desert Eagle, the RPG was not one of Max's over the top accessories. Neither Max the Enforcer nor the man playing the part liked having the Russian-made RPG around. It posed many risks if a legitimate authority figure ever stumbled across it. The fully automatic weapons the men carried were legally owned by the mining security company, but the RPG was another matter. However, a drug deal gone horribly wrong had convinced him of its necessity.

For Max, mining was a side business; Conroe's personal obsession and a front that helped cover the organization's true purpose. The real money came from brokering drug and arms deals. After 9-11, heavier banking and import regulations made it difficult to move large amounts of money, weapons, and drugs into the United States. However, there was no less demand, so a golden business opportunity was born.

For a hefty fee, Max and his men arranged every detail. Drugs and weapons were tested in a state of the art laboratory, and Max's group personally guaranteed the quality, ensuring buyer confidence. The group worked on commission, 15% of the total contract value. Deals were negotiated between multiple buyers to ensure the highest return. Minimum bidding started at one million, but lately, fifteen to twenty million was the norm.