The Teeth of the Tiger - Tom Clancy [66]
"Hey, Aldo, I'm not saying you're a wuss."
"I know what you're saying, but, look, I don't want to turn into one of them, okay?"
"That's not the mission here, bro. I got my doubts, too, but I'm going to stay around and see how it plays out. We can always kiss it off whenever we want."
"I suppose."
Then Derek Jeter doubled up the middle. Pitchers probably thought of him as a terrorist, didn't they?
On the other side of the building, Pete Alexander was on a secure phone to Columbia, Maryland.
"So, how are they doing?" he heard Sam Granger ask.
Pete sipped at his glass of sherry. "They're good kids. They both have doubts. The Marine talks openly about it, and the FBI guy keeps his mouth shut about it, but the wheels are turning over slowly."
"How serious is it?"
"Hard to say. Hey, Sam, we always knew that training would be the hard part. Few Americans want to grow up to be professional killers-at least not the ones we need for this."
"There was a guy at the Agency who would have fit right in-"
"But he's too damned old, and you know it," Alexander countered at once. "Besides, he has his sunset job over across the pond in Wales, and he seems to be comfortable in it."
"If only "
"If only your aunt had balls, she'd be your uncle," Pete pointed out. "Selecting candidates is your job. Getting them trained up is mine. These two have the brains and they have the skills. The hard part is temperament. I'm working on that. Be patient."
"In the movies, it's a lot easier."
"In the movies, everybody is borderline psychopath. Is that who we want on the payroll?"
"I guess not." There were plenty of psychopaths to be found. Every large police department knew of several. And they'd kill people for modest monetary considerations, or a small quantity of drugs. The problem with such people was that they didn't take orders well, and they were not very smart. Except in the movies. Where was that little Nikita girl when you really needed her?
"So, we have to deal with good, reliable people who have brains. Such people think, and they do not always think predictably, do they? A guy with a conscience is nice to have, but every so often he's going to wonder if he's doing the right thing. Why did you have to send two Catholics? Jews are bad enough. They're born with guilt-but Catholics learn it all in school."
"Thank you, Your Holiness," Granger responded, deadpan.
"Sam, we knew going in that this was not going to be easy. Jesus, you send me a Marine and an FBI agent. Why not a couple of Eagle Scouts, y'know?"
"Okay, Pete. It's your job. Any idea on timing? There's some work piling up on us," Granger observed.
"Maybe a month and I'll know if they'll play or not. They will need to know the why in addition to the who, but I always told you that," Alexander reminded his boss.
"True," Granger admitted. It really was a lot easier in the movies, wasn't it? Just let your fingers do the walking to "Assassins R Us" in the Yellow Pages. They had thought about hiring former KGB officers at first. They all had expert training, and all wanted money-the going rate was less than twenty-five thousand dollars per kill, a pittance-but such people would probably report back to Moscow Centre in the hope of being rehired, and The Campus would then become known within the global "black" community. They couldn't have that.
"What about the new toys?" Pete asked. Sooner or later, he'd have to train the twins with the new tools of the trade.
"Two weeks, they tell me."
"That long? Hell, Sam, I proposed them nine months ago."
"It's not something you get at the local Western Auto. They have to be manufactured from scratch. You know, highly skilled machinists in out-of-the-way places, people who don't ask questions."
"I told you, get the guys who do this sort of thing for the Air Force. They're always making up clever little gadgets." Like tape recorders that fit in cigarette lighters. Now, that was probably inspired by the movies. And for the really good