Killfile: A Novel by Christopher Farnsworth

Author:Christopher Farnsworth [Farnsworth, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-08-09T04:00:00+00:00

[12]

I’m not exactly sure when I joined the private sector. One day I checked the bank account where I direct-deposited my paychecks. The money just sat there most of the time. I traveled in government transports and ate in army mess halls. My clothes came from uniform stores, and a packet of spending cash was always included in the kit for any mission. But this time, when I checked my bank’s website, I noticed that my account had more money than I expected. A lot more. I looked at the last few transactions, and discovered that my paychecks were no longer coming from the government, but from a private company called Global Travel, LLC. And they were much bigger.

I asked Cantrell about this the next time I saw him. He gave me his usual smile and said, “You complaining?”

We’d turned into a private military contractor somewhere along the line—or, more accurately, mercenaries. I’d done three tours in Afghanistan and Iraq by then. Suddenly I was officially a civilian again.

Other than that, nothing really changed.

We were still backstopped by U.S. soldiers. We still used the CIA’s jets wherever we went, or hitched a ride on military transports. And our security clearances still got us into every base, government building, and top-secret black site.

The main difference was that I was now free to go back to the States whenever I wasn’t on a mission. I began commuting to the War on Terror.

A lot of the money budgeted for fighting bin Laden and other bad guys went in big crates direct to the Middle East, but there was still plenty left over for salaries and contracts. Cantrell secured us brand-new office space in Crystal City, Virginia, in a corporate park filled with CIA front companies. I found an apartment near Dupont Circle, at the center of a cluster of trendy spots populated by hipsters and young professionals.

I did my best to rejoin the outside world. I studied civilian life like I was reading a mission brief for hostile territory. I learned how to wear a suit instead of a uniform. I began to drink decent whiskey instead of whatever was cheapest on the shelf. And at night, I went out to a lot of places where I faked polite conversation with people while pretending I didn’t know exactly what was going on behind their eyes.

One night I was at an embassy party that Cantrell insisted I attend. It was filled with old, very rich men who talked quietly in small groups, dividing up the globe between dirty jokes. Most of the women were escorts, but there was a small group of civilians: interns, think-tankers, and policy wonks who stuck close to the food trays. They were making the Ivy League equivalent of minimum wage, but they all had big plans. This was the ground level for the New World Order, and they intended to gnaw their way to the top.

That’s where I met Whitney. She was a low-level staffer in the State Department, but already eyeing her path over to Defense or the White House, where the real power flowed.

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