CHAPTER 34

XXX Black Site

Near XXXXXXXXXXXXX

July

WITH THE XXXXXXXXXXXXXX VISIBLE to the north and the rocky terrain flanking each side of the road, the XXXXXXXXXXX looked like some of the Nevada training sites where Reece had learned to call in aircraft for bombing runs known as Close Air Support.

Strain slowed the Hilux as they approached a stone-walled compound surrounded by open fields. He tapped the horn and, a few seconds later, the corrugated metal gate was pushed open by a muscular Westerner wearing hiking boots, desert tiger-stripe pattern camouflage pants, and body armor over a brown T-shirt. Topped off with a thick reddish beard, Oakley sunglasses, and a battered ball cap, his appearance screamed “private security contractor. ” His Glock sidearm was visible in a holster at his waist and Reece was sure that a long gun was somewhere within arm’s reach. The contractor returned Fred’s wave as they rolled through the open gate.

“Welcome to Falcon Base, Reece. ”

Reece took stock of the compound and saw a large two-story stucco building at the center surrounded by several single-story concrete structures of various sizes.

Bringing the Hilux to a stop, Freddy said, “That main house is home base. We’ll bunk in there. It also has a mission planning space and classroom where you’ll have your lessons. ”

“Lessons? ”

“Yeah, they’ve lined up an Islamic studies teacher to bring you up to speed on culture, language, all that. Make you stand out like less of an infidel when we get to work. ”

“Interesting. How long am I supposed to be here? ”

“Not sure, buddy. As long as it takes for our intel guys to get a solid location on Mo. My guess would be anywhere from two weeks to a month, but you know how this stuff works. We could get a call to go tomorrow or it could be a few months. ”

“Wonderful. ”

“Over there is the arms room. ”

“You sleep in there with your toys? ” Reece asked.

“No, but it’s not a bad idea. The big barn-looking building is where we work out, keep our gear, all that kind of stuff. ”

“How’s the gym? ”

“Not bad. We’ve got a big Rogue rig with ropes, bumper plates, kettle bells, a rower, VersaClimber, assault bike, all that. We could start our own CrossFit box here. We have a couple of Woodway treadmills and some mats, so we can roll. I’m sure you can still kick my ass in jiujitsu, but I’ve been training, so we’ll see. ”

“I’m pretty rusty, brother. You may have me. ”

“I’m not buying that, Reece, not at all. ”

“Ha! Guess we’ll find out. ”

“We have a range a couple klicks south of here, but I put some steel out back so we can shoot handguns without going anywhere. ”

“Great. I haven’t been shooting much, so I’ll need the tune-up. ”

“We’ll get you dialed back in. ”

Freddy pulled the pickup in front of the main structure and both men climbed out. Reece grabbed his duffel from the bed of the Toyota and followed his Agency handler toward the entrance.

Freddy stopped abruptly at the door. “I almost forgot, your name is ‘James Donovan’ while we’re here. We’ll get you a full identity worked up but that’ll do for now. ”

“Donovan, huh? As in Wild Bill? ”

“I don’t know. The computer picks the names based on an algorithm that keeps your first name and doesn’t repeat last names. It could be much worse, trust me. Some poor guy got ‘John Holmes’ recently. ”

Reece just shook his head.

As they entered, a slightly built man with dark features and a neatly cropped beard, wearing a clean white djellaba robe and red fez, greeted them politely in British-accented English.

“Welcome, gentlemen. You must be Mr. Donovan. I am Maajid Kifayat. ”

“As-Salaam-Alaikum, Maajid. ” Reece extended his hand.

“Wa-Alaikum-Salaam, Mr. Donovan. Please, come in. ”

Reece bent down and untied his boots, leaving them outside the door in the Islamic tradition. Maajid walked gracefully through the foyer of the large home, as if in deference to its grandeur. The zellij mosaic tiles in bright blues and yellows, elaborate furnishings, and arched doorways represented classic XXXXXXX architecture. Reece guessed that the home was hundreds of years old, or was at least designed to look that way. It was like a scaled-down version of the Alcá zar palace in Seville, Spain, which was built during the days when the XXXXX occupied much of the Iberian Peninsula. “Not like the plywood shitholes we lived in in Afghanistan, is it? ” Freddy quipped.

“I’ve stayed in worse. ”

“Let me give you a quick tour, and then we can get settled in. ”

Maajid faded off to another part of the house as Freddy led the way through the foyer, which opened to a large living area adjacent to a stone and grass courtyard. A second-floor balcony overlooked the enclosure on all four sides. Freddy showed Reece the common areas of the home—the kitchen, bathrooms, and study that would serve as a classroom—before heading up a marble staircase.

“Maajid is cleared TS/SCI, but even so, this is need-to-know and he is not on that list. Upstairs is off-limits to the rest of the staff, so all our planning will happen up here. ”

Strain hit a succession of numbers on a cypher lock to open a series of rooms along the balcony hallway. One had been converted into a mini briefing room with a large LCD screen on the wall, while two other adjoining rooms would be their sleeping quarters. They were small but clean and had been retrofitted with LG mini-split air-conditioning units. The last room was secured with a heavy wrought-iron gate as well as a steel door that bolted shut from the inside.

“This is the Alamo; if any Benghazi-style shit goes down, this is our fallback position. ”

“What’s the threat environment? ”

“XXXXXXXX a stable country, at least for this part of the world, and we have a good relationship with the XXX, that’s their secret police. We keep a very low profile here. We’re also a good distance from town and the cover story for this place is that it’s used by the XXXXXXXX government to house visiting dignitaries. We built it under the guise of training host nation counterterrorist units, which we’ll end up doing eventually. ”

“Got it. How much security do we have? ”

“We have four XXX guys assigned. They’re all solid: three Rangers and a Marine. All of them have multiple deployments. You and I can help in a pinch. We’re a long way from reinforcements if something really goes sideways. ”

“Thanks, Freddy. This place will work just fine. ”

“Let’s grab your stuff and get you squared away in your room. Then I’ll show you my toys. ”

• • •

Freddy led Reece to the padlocked storage building that would serve as their small armory. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead in the long, narrow room where he had arranged various weapons on a stout wooden table. Reece recognized most of them, though a few were clearly more exotic than what he’d been issued in the Teams. They were arranged from smallest to largest, starting with handguns and ending with belt-fed machine guns. Most of them had been spray painted in mottled camouflage patterns.

“Okay, here you’ve got handguns: even though you like the Glocks, I’d like you to try the new SIG 365, especially for work in low-vis environments. It holds more rounds than your 43. ”

“I heard a lot about this during development. I’ll give it a run, ” Reece said, immediately impressed by the subcompact pistol.

While Reece loved his subcompact G43; the unprecedented 12+1 9mm capacity of the SIG 365 along with its surprisingly smooth striker-fire trigger and night sights made this one a winner right out of the box.

“And this is the SIG P320 with upgraded triggers by Bruce Gray, ” Freddy said, picking up the SIG’s new 9mm pistol. “I think you’ll like her. ”

“I like her already, ” Reece said with a smile.

SIG had recently won the highly sought-after, nearly decade-long process to replace the Beretta 92F and supply the U. S. armed forces with a new advanced pistol, a variant of the SIG 320, now adopted as the M17/M18.

“Is Mato still running training up at SIG? ” Reece asked, referring to their old SEAL master chief who could probably still out-PT the newest BUD/S graduate.

“He sure is. They have an incredible facility up there. He’s crushing it. ”

“Well, if we make it through the next few months and the tumor doesn’t do me in, let’s go pay him a visit. ”

“Done deal, brother. ”

Freddy motioned toward a small, blocky, futuristic-looking submachine gun that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. A curved magazine protruded out of the weapon’s pistol grip and a smaller foregrip folded down from near the muzzle. A tubular suppressor extended its length, and the entire package was dappled with a brown and tan homemade camouflage scheme.

“Next, we’ve got some MP7s like we use at Dam Neck. You ever shot one? ”

“I got to play around with one when I augmented you guys a few years back, but I didn’t spend enough time on it to get proficient. We don’t get that high-speed stuff on the West Coast. ”

“Roger, pretty slick little gun. Compact and has a really high rate of fire. Great for close-in stuff that needs to be done quietly. When you use the subsonic ammo you can hardly hear it. Easy to shoot with this Aimpoint Micro red dot. Just be aware that its terminal performance isn’t what you’re used to due to the little 4. 6 cartridge. ”

“In English, Freddy, English. ”

Strain exhaled and feigned an eye roll. “It uses a really little bullet, so if you shoot a guy with it, put half a mag into him. ”

“That, I understand. ”

“Next, for rifles we’ve got HK416s that we’ll use instead of the M4, both ten-inch and fourteen-inch models. It works just like an M4 but it’s a lot less ammo sensitive and more reliable due to the piston system, especially when it gets dirty. We can mount whatever optic you want. ”

Reece could sense his new partner’s excitement as he described the various weapons and their features: “Now I see why you really went over to the dark side. ”

Freddy smiled. “Dude, this is the coolest part of my job. I can pick any guns I want and trick them out to my heart’s content. Kid in a candy store, bro. ”

“You’re like a whiskey-tango version of ‘Q’ from James Bond, ” Reece joked.

Strain broke into his best English accent: “Double-oh-seven, here are your sniper options: a LaRue OBR in 5. 56 and a gun that I built myself in. 260, ” dropping the accent and continuing the description like a proud father. “It’s got a carbon-fiber barrel from Proof, so it keeps cool and it’s light. You’ll notice that I put the same flash hiders on just about everything so we can mount the same suppressors across the board. The. 30-cal cans work just fine on the 5. 56 and the. 260. ”

“Is the. 260 like a. 308? ”

“Fills the same role but it’s better in nearly every regard. It shoots faster, flatter, and with less recoil. Same mags as a 7. 62, but has the dope of a. 300. I’ve been trying to sell everyone on this round for years, but the military is slow to move on anything. ”

“I’ll take your word for it. ”

“How did you ever make it through Sniper School? ” Freddy asked in feigned astonishment.

“I must have had a good spotter. ” Reece smiled back.

“Must have, ” Freddy agreed. “Anyway, I doubt we’ll do anything super long-range, but we have an Accuracy International in. 300 Norma and even a Barrett M107. 50 if we need it. We’ve got some belt-feds as well as a bunch of anti-armor stuff. Plus we have demo. ” He pointed to a row of tubes leaning against the back wall of the room. “LAW rockets, AT-4s, even a Javelin in that case back there. Those things are like a quarter mil a pop but certainly do the job. ”

“Well, I’ll be sure to use those sparingly. ”

Reece noticed a row of Ops-Core ballistic helmets fitted with L3 Technologies GPNVG-18 night observation devices hanging on the wall; the best NODs that money could buy. The devices were easily recognizable thanks to the four panoramic lenses that gave the user better peripheral vision than with other models.

“Four-bangers, huh? That’s rich-kid shit. ”

“Taxpayer money spends easy, man. Those things are so much better than the stuff we used to use. ”

“You’re kind of a gear snob, Freddy. ”

“I like nice stuff, man, what can I say? ”

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