Black List

Staring at the final photograph that showed Harvath climbing into the truck branded with the Three Peaks Ranch logo, Middleton smiled and said, “Gotcha,” as he reached for his STE.

CHAPTER 35

TEXAS

It was late. They sat with untouched plates of food in front of them at a desk in Nicholas’s room while Nina slept down the hall. Storm cases and various pieces of computer equipment were stacked about. Harvath watched across three linked monitors as the little man walked him through Caroline’s data. As Nicholas spoke, his tiny hand worked a wireless mouse, opening folder after folder, bringing up articles and notes for Harvath to read.

“This was one of the most interesting things I’ve found on the drive,” said Nicholas as he clicked on a file labeled Roundup. “Have you ever heard of something called Main Core?”

“Only in passing,” Harvath replied. “What is it?”

“Since the 1980s, there’s been an allegation that the United States government actively maintains a database of U.S. citizens it considers a potential national security risk. Some say there are more than eight million names on the list. Supposedly, it’s part of the government’s highly secretive continuity of government plan. The idea behind Main Core is that if there should ever be a major national emergency, the government would have a list of people it saw as potential threats and could zero in on for additional surveillance, questioning, or even detention. For each name on the list, there was a full dossier, and the database could ID and locate any perceived enemies of the state almost immediately.”

“So that’s what it is, an enemies list?”

“Precisely,” replied Nicholas as he pointed to the screen. “But there’s something beyond Main Core, something that predates it by decades and doesn’t need a national emergency to be activated. It’s called the Black List. This list is much more than just citizens the government feels need tracking, questioning, or detention. This is a kill list, and once you’re on it, your name doesn’t come off until you’re dead.”

“Now I know what the operative in Spain meant when he said that I was on the list.”

“According to the data Caroline gathered, treason is one of the reasons you can be placed on the list.”

“There’s no review? It’s completely extrajudicial? That’s insane,” said Harvath. “The American government doesn’t just accuse a citizen of treason or terrorism and then go out and kill them.”

“That’s not what these files say.”

“Then the files are wrong. Even Americans who have left the country to support al-Qaeda against the U.S. have gone through a vetting process before being targeted.”

“That’s true,” replied Nicholas. “But this is something different. You yourself have been sent on multiple assignments to kill persons hostile to the U.S. Was every one of those sanctioned at the top?”

“No comment.”

“See. You know how compartmentalization works. It’s like a dresser divided into multiple drawers and subcompartments. Controlled access programs and special access programs exist not only to keep things secret but to keep politicians and agency heads in the dark. Not even the handful of ‘superusers’ in D.C., who supposedly have access to everything, have a full grasp of everything that’s going on, particularly in the clandestine world.”

Harvath shook his head. “Even so, the majority of people I’ve been assigned have not been American citizens. Those that were, had their cases reviewed and sanctioned.”

“I’m simply telling you what Caroline discovered. According to her data, the Black List is real. It exists.”

“Who’s behind it? Who makes the targeting decisions and has the final judgment?”

“From what’s on the drive,” replied Nicholas, “it dwells in one of those divided-off subcompartments. They meet in secret and no one knows who makes up the panel.”

“Are they intelligence people, or are they from DOJ? The White House?”

“It appears to be a mix.”

“Do you have any idea how many of them there are?” Harvath asked.

“No. Caroline doesn’t say.”

“When someone has been found guilty and is targeted, who carries out the sanction?”

“A kill team of some sort,” Nicholas replied. “They all have military training at the Special Operations level.”

“Who runs them? Are they active military? Do we have any idea where they’re based?”

Nicholas shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Why the interest in me?” said Harvath.

“From what I can gather, it wasn’t specifically you, it was the Carlton Group in general and the fact that it employs former military and intelligence personnel.”

“There are plenty of private groups out there who do that. Why would ATS come after us?”

“None of those groups match your size or proficiency. You’re a threat. You operate outside the system and they can’t control you.”

Harvath was incredulous. “And they can control the CIA or the FBI?”

“Those are organizations inside the system, and yes, they can control them. They have enough influence to steer anything in D.C. in any direction they want it to go. It’s all done covertly, quietly behind the scenes, but it’s done.”

“But we’re small-time.”

“No you’re not. Not anymore,” said Nicholas. “You’ve disrupted several international terrorist attacks, you conduct your own, unilateral clandestine operations, and what’s probably most dangerous of all to them, you don’t answer to anyone in the United States government. They know who you are and they know the trouble you can cause for them. The Carlton Group is the only organization they mention by name in the file. That’s why I wanted you to get back here as soon as possible and make sure you stayed off the grid. I didn’t know anything about Paris and Spain until you told me.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t try to just gobble us up.”

“They did. On two separate occasions, ATS tried to purchase the Carlton Group. And both times, Reed Carlton said no,” replied Nicholas as he pulled up a memo Caroline had downloaded. “They were not at all happy about it—you can see here some of the thoughts they had about your group afterward.”

Harvath leaned toward the screen and read several of the remarks aloud. “… A danger to the intelligence community if left unchecked, zero accountability to any authority or governing body, a collection of renegade cowboys imbued with an excessive sense of nationalism, significant diplomatic and national security risk, if this group cannot be brought under control other steps must be taken…” He stopped reading at that point. “So those steps mean splashing all of us?”

“I’m not sure,” Nicholas replied. “Caroline developed the impression that at some point ATS and the Carlton Group crossed swords, but that Carlton didn’t realize it. Somehow, your group tripped up one or more things ATS had been working on.”

“Like what?”

“Ops of some sort. She was trying to figure it out as part of what ATS was up to, but she was killed before she could get to the bottom of all of it.”

“Did Caroline know that you were working with us?” Harvath asked.

“I never told her. I kept it a secret. In fact, I kept it a secret from everyone. I didn’t even let Caroline know that I was in the country. ATS knew, though, and my name appears in their files, so at some point she found out.”

Harvath studied the man’s face. “Could she have been setting you up?”

“It crossed my mind, but I don’t think so.”

“Why would she want Nina to bring that drive to you?”

“Because,” he replied, “Caroline and I were friends. Because she knew I’d do the right thing with it. She knew I’d warn the right people and that I’d help stop whatever it was that ATS has