another gets out of bed every morning at a certain time.
When I was with the Delta Force, we took out a guy one time … I can’t say where or who, but our intelligence boys told us the target had this habit. He would get out of bed every morning and the first thing he would do was open the shades of his bedroom window. People, especially successful people, are habitual creatures. They’re organized.
This makes them more productive. I would be willing to bet you that this Koslowski character opened those shades every morning.
I’d also bet Downs walked his dog in the park every morning.”
“They did,” answered McMahon. “After you find the targets, the most difficult thing to do is to pick a window of opportunity to take them out. Now, when you’re looking at three big hitters, like these guys, that would be tough. As politicians, they travel on short notice and are always going in a million different directions. Downs may walk his dog every day, but only when he’s in town. Koslowski may open those shades every morning, but only when he’s in town. Fitzgerald may sleep in that house, but only when he’s in town.
As the assassin you have to pick a time when you know all of your targets will be where you want them to be, and you have to do it in advance. The day the President’s budget was to go to the House for a vote would be the perfect time. None of them are traveling. They all stay right here in town so they can influence the outcome.” McMahon nodded. It made sense. How else could you be sure these guys would be where you wanted them? Mitchell took the cap off the marker and circled the times of the deaths. “If
I were running this operation, this is how I’d do it. The local news is at eleven P.M right.
well, at around ten P.M I’d put one team into action and they’d drop the drugged-up meat into the backyard for the dog. Either before then, or shortly after, I would send one or two guys into Fitzgerald’s house and wait for him to come home. I’ve got another team playing backup nearby. They’re probably sitting in a car a couple of blocks away, monitoring the local police scanner. Fitzgerald comes home and my guys take him out.
They slide out of the house and are picked up by their backup. They hold their breath and wait to see if anyone saw them and called the cops. If all goes well and the cops don’t
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show up at Fitzgerald’s, I proceed with phase two. Some time between one A.M. and four
A.M another team breaks into the house across the street from Koslowski’s. They take care of the old man, but don’t kill him or the dog. This definitely offers some valuable insight into the minds of the assassins. Let me finish and we’ll go over it later. They set up the shot and wait. Now, these guys could be the same guys who took out Fitzgerald, but I doubt it. If I’m short on assets, I would have the first team take care of Fitzgerald and then have them get set up for Downs. I would use the second team only for
Koslowski.
“This is where timing is crucial. These guys know that once Koslowski is killed, they only have twenty to forty minutes before the news spreads all over town. Team Two kills
Koslowski and clears the area. Team Three or Team One, depending on how many assets you have, is now risking exposure. They wait for Downs, knowing that the clock is ticking. The assassin may be the guy these people saw loitering around the park. He waits for Downs while his backup is nearby. Downs shows up and the assassin pumps two rounds into the back of his head. The assassin clears the area, and all the assets are undercover before anyone knows what’s going on. It’s a very smooth job. The only thing I
would have done differently is use a sniper shot on Downs. It makes no sense to expose one of your men like that. Did any of those witnesses get a good look at him?”
“No, not really, their descriptions were pretty vague. Black male, between five feet nine and six feet tall and between one hundred and sixty-five and two hundred pounds.
Approximate age thirty. No one got a real clear look at his face.”
“Well, whoever planned it seemed to do everything else right, so I have to assume he had a reason for killing Downs the way he did. Anyway, what you’ve got here is a minimum of four people and a maximum of maybe ten to fourteen depending on how many backup assets he had available.”
“So you think these guys are commandos?” McMahon asked.
“Well, you can never be sure, but my instincts tell me they are. If they were terrorists, they would have killed that old man, and besides, why would terrorists send a letter stating that we need to start reforming our government or the killing will continue? I
mean, who’s to say who’s a terrorist and who’s a commando? These labels can get real sticky. The IRA for years was considered, and by some people still is considered, a paramilitary group. They achieved that status by attacking only military and government targets. Well, as soon as they started setting off bombs and killing innocent civilians, they became terrorists.
“These people haven’t killed any civilians. They’ve killed three politicians. They even took extra steps not to kill that old man by drugging him. In my book, they’re commandos. They didn’t kill any civilians. One thing is for sure, they’re not terrorists in the Middle Eastern or European sense. Irene is right. When those nuts go after a target, they do it very violently and with no concern for noncombatants.”
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“Then who do you think did it, an American paramilitary group?”
“You mean like those white-supremacist idiots that live out West?”
Mitchell shook his head.
“Those clowns don’t have the skill to run an operation like this. They could have killed one or maybe two of these guys with a rifle shot, but they don’t have the kind of talent to break a man’s neck bare-handed.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to do that with your bare hands?
It’s not like it is in the movies.” McMahon and Kennedy shook their heads.
“Let me tell you a little story.” Mitchell smiled. “I really shouldn’t be laughing about this, but it’s kind of funny.
