"I tried that," Vaughn said.

"Then you tried to kill me and I barely made it out alive."

"But you saved Honolulu. We saved Honolulu. That was good work."

"We were lucky," Vaughn said.

Royce nodded.

"All right. We were lucky. The Organization – while most of the missions I've run for it have been illegal, they've always had a goal that made sense in terms of defending the United States. But…" He trailed off into silence.

"But you want me to work for the Organization?"

Royce shook his head.

"No. The Organization thinks you're dead. I want you – and her," he added, nodding at the body lying between them, "to work for me. To find out who and what the Organization is. It's going to be very hard and very dangerous. And I'll still be working for the Organization while you're doing it. So things might get confusing at times. But I want you two to be my ace in the hole."

"And if we find out the Organization is really our government, trying to do the right thing, via shady means?"

"Then I'll cut both of you loose and you can start new lives with new identities."

"And if we find out the Organization is bad, doing the wrong thing?"

"Then we take it down."

About the Author

ROBERT DOHERTY is the covert name of a USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty books. He is a West Point graduate, commanded a Special Forces A-Team, and taught at the JFK Special Warfare Center amp; School at Fort Bragg. For more information, check www.bobmayer.org.

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