“The Teeth of the Tiger” by Tom Clancy (Chapter 5 – Chapter 9)

Mohammed and his allies had taken to using their own code words (which was another trap in itself, since codes gave a false sense of security). So when Hassan’s leader received e-mail ("And, Juan, Maria is pregnant. She's having twins"), he had to tell his guest that the operation could begin at once. The guest’s name was Pablo and he ensured the 16 Colombians’ transportation in America.

    Meanwhile, the company Hendly Associates found the men, they were looking for: people who could think on their feet, who were self-starters, and who didn't faint at the sight of blood. Brian (the Marine) and Dominic (the FBI guy) Caruso had killed people out in the real world; in both of cases, they were faced with the unexpected, and both of them handled the situation efficiently. Neither of them had any regrets. So that would be their job: the brothers were going to become professional killers, and their targets would be those who killed innocent people in such a way that conventional procedures cannot handle them. For that reason Pete Alexander trained the brothers. Their first mission was shadowing, though the men nearly failed it, as they were a little close, but only a really sharp-eyed target would have noticed, given the limited time. Besides that Dominic and Brian ran and shot, though the three-mile run wasn't a big deal for the Marine, but for Dominic, who had just maxed out his PT test for the FBI, it had been a bit of a stretch. So they were both doing nicely with the tracking and tailing drills; helped that they were ordinary-looking; the only problem was their conscience, as what they were asked to do was a premeditated murder. Brian usually went into the field with an exquisitely trained sniper under his command, and he knew what they did wasn't far removed from murder, either. But being in uniform made it different. It put some sort of blessing on it. So it wasn’t going to be a fun job, but it would be a job which would serve the interests of their country. Besides, they would have a good cover legend, but no diplomatic protection of any kind; the brothers would live by their wits.

    Hendly Associates picked up not only the two agents, but also Jack Patrick Ryan, Jr, son of the former President John Patrick Ryan. Jack was the job to review known or suspected stringers for unaccountable money transfers. But he was working on eleven different people, all but one of them Middle Eastern, all in the money business, and one of them (Uda bin Sali, an international banker) drew his attention.

Individual Reading: "The Teeth of the Tiger": part 2