The Hunt (Mike Greystone, Book 1) Read Free Page A

regardless of the result, even if they bankrupted the country, they still got a hundred grand pension in perpetuity, or were hired by big banks and corporates as consultants for a million a year, or as executives in corporate world for much more. Or, if they were high enough in the hierarchy, like a president or prime minister elsewhere in the world, they would give lectures for a bargain price of five grand per thirty minute speech. So these politicians wielded a big magnifying glass and had a big fine-tooth comb, and they went through every single detail relating to government agencies and asked difficult questions. To simplify things, the Research & Execution department was founded. As far as the public was concerned it was an agency exploring the synergies between the activities of the main security agencies – the CIA, NSA, HS, etc - to ensure the resources were channeled and coordinated without waste or effort. That was the PR line. In reality, R&E were dealing with, as Dermot put it, “hot potatoes.” Occasionally, hot potatoes were scalding hot, far too hot for Research & Execution, and that was when Dermot called me. He would also call me if he didn’t have adequate skills within his team or enough bodies on the ground.
    "We don't have any intel yet, my staff are working on it," Dermot said. "We should have some information in a few hours. It's not that difficult to track down an RPG purchase in most cases."
    "I'll get my guys working on it right away."
    "Do. Find and kill this motherfucker."
    I collected my thoughts and suddenly realized there was one more thing. "Haven't you forgotten something?" I asked Dermot.
    "No, I haven't. What do you mean?"
    "I expect a nice bottle of single malt Bushmills after this project is done. I wouldn't mind the 21-year-old one, but I would be okay with the green one too. You promised that a while ago. Have you made a trip across the pond to source some fine spirits recently?"
    "Yeah, I was playing golf in Ireland last spring. I may have brought some nice stuff back then. I'll see if I have anything left. I'm afraid after twenty something years of marriage my wife likes whiskey more than I do, and may have sampled most of nice stuff when I was not at home, which due to this job is not infrequently. If you do well, I'll buy you some online."
    "Appreciated."
    "And I'll add a little leprechaun as well," Dermot jested.
    "Deal."
    "But remember, no kill, no leprechaun. And no Bushmills."
    "Fine."

 
     
    4.
     
    Dermot didn't give me any intel whatsoever. I'd probably get something from him in the next few hours or in a day. These guys were really good. If there was something that looked like a terrorist attack and it wasn't done by professional, they would find the guy or his traces within an hour. They were really quite good at it. If it was an experienced pro, it would take a little longer, a day or a few days. If it was a mastermind, they may not find him. But regardless of that, Research & Execution had a pretty decent track record of finding terrorists and internal or external enemies of the state. Obviously, they sometimes needed help for whatever reason. And that’s when I was getting engaged. I had my own geek squad to do research for me, but I did use Dermot's guys as well. You know, I had to economize to stay in business. Still, I didn’t complain. The fee was generous enough. The fee for a job less expenses, less champagne, less staff costs still left a handsome profit that I could spend on girls and gadgets. Not that I actually spent it that way. And whiskey. I didn’t drink crap. I liked nice whiskey, especially if it was as old as I was. And I was in mid-thirties. I always got a nice bottle from Dermot after a successful assignment. Every assignment was successful. I didn’t make mistakes, or at least in most cases I didn’t.
    The great thing about working for Dermot was that I got a nice set of government papers with authorization for any inquiries in any