“What do you mean by dark operations?” asked Tim. “Covert operations that are funded from nongovernment sources and run without the official knowledge of the President and the Intelligence Committee.”
“Have you ever been involved in one of these operations?”
“No.” Coleman shook his head. “They use mercenaries . . и former commandos. These things can’t be connected in any way to our government.
The whole reason they are run as a dark op is because the spooks know they could never get official approval. They have to have complete deniability if anything goes wrong. The money can’t be traced back to the U.S. and neither can the soldiers. Before the SEALS or any other
American military personnel can be sent into a foreign country to conduct a covert operation, the CIA or the Pentagon has to get approval from a ranking member of the Intelligence Committee and the
President.
Dark operations completely circumvent the chain of command. It’s a strange world, very secretive and risky. Everything is done unofficially and without a paper trail. All you ever hear about these people are whispers and rumors. I actually know some former SEALS who have worked for Higgins.”
“Do you think you could talk to them and find out what they know about him?” asked Michael. “I could, but Higgins is the type of person you don’t just start asking questions about, or you might end up as shark bait.”
“I thought you SEALS were a tight group. Can’t you ask them a few questions without raising too much attention. “Maybe, maybe not. This isn’t like calling up an old high school buddy and asking him about a girl he used to date. These are serious people and they don’t like questions. They prefer to stay anonymous and quiet.”
“What in the hell are a couple of former SEALS doing working for a guy like Higgins?” asked Tim. “What do you expect them to do when they leave the service . ии go sell used cars or program computers? We are trained to do a very specific job, and trained to do it better than anyone else in the world. If you’re a SEAL, you’re better than ninety-nine point nine percent of all the soldiers who have ever laced up a boot. You are the best of the best, and do you know what you get paid?… You max out at about forty grand a year. Then one day you
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leave the service and you’re confronted with two options. You go to work in the private sector in a boring nine- to-five job and get paid about the same as when you were in the military, or you go to work for some guy like Higgins and get paid six figures plus for working about fifty days a year. And guys like Higgins aren’t the only people who want you. Big-time drug dealers, oil sheikhs, third-world governments, international bankers, they’re all willing to pay big bucks to have a
SEAL on their security staff. I know guys that are getting paid a half a million a year to sit around and play bodyguard. For a lot of these guys it’s a status thing to be able to say their bodyguard is a SEAL.
In the Middle East our reputation alone scares the shit out of people.”
“I understand your point, but I thought you guys had an honor code,”
said Tim. “We do, but we’re not an infallible fraternity. We have our bad apples just like any other organization. The reality is there are people who are willing to kill for money, and once they cross that line, they are no longer part of our brotherhood. they are assassins and mercenaries.”
“So you don’t think it would be wise to start asking questions about
Higgins?” asked Michael. “From what I’ve heard about the man, no, I
don’t. What has got you so interested in him?”
“Seamus and I took a little trip down to Georgia yesterday to talk to
Augie Jackson.”
“Seamus’s friend who used to work for the CIA?”
“Yes …. Augie told us some pretty interesting stories about
Higgins.
He’s convinced that he’s responsible for the killing of Erik and
Congressman Turnquist.” Coleman grew cautious. “So he buys into the idea that there are two separate groups doing the killing?”
“Yes.”
“Did he ask any questions about who the first group might be?”
“Yes.” Coleman stared at Michael for a long time. “You told him, didn’t you?” Coleman looked to Seamus, and neither he nor Michael answered the question. The former SEAL shook his head and swore. “He only knows that I’m involved,” said Seamus. “Scott, we can trust
Augie.”
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Coleman looked at his watch. “Well, we’ll know the answer to that any minute. If you hear any choppers overhead, we can all kiss our asses good-bye.”
“Scott, he believes in what we’re doing. He hated Fitzgerald and
Koslowski more than we did, and he was very convincing with the stuff he told us about Arthur.”
“Why does he think Higgins killed Erik and Turnquist?” Michael spent the next several minutes telling Coleman Augie’s story. He relayed the story of the covert mission that Arthur had masterminded to get rid of the French politicians back in the early sixties and then went on to explain Arthur’s hatred for Senator Olson.
Coleman asked few questions. Michael told him how Arthur was forced out of the Agency by Stansfield and ordered to cease any involvement in intelligence and national security issues. When Michael was done recounting
