Viking Bay: A Kay Hamilton Novel

#29DaysofVikingBay
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Pr o logu e
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It began with a tex t message.
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Alpha texted Bravo and the burner phone in Bravos pocket vibrated.
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Bravo looked at the message: Transfer complete.

Bravo punched numbers into the same phone, calling Charlie. He let
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the receiving phone ring twice, then disconnected the call. No words
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were necessary.
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The man designated as Charlie removed his phone from a leg pocket
a trans-
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former at a substation half a kilometer away disintegrated, sending
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bolts of white light a hundred feet into the sky. Witnesses later said that
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lightningon a clear, cloudless n

ighthad struck the transformer.
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in his cargo pants, punched in five digits, and hit
call and
Delta didnt need a text message or a call to tell him to perform his
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task: the power going out in the compound was his signal. He put on
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night vision goggles and slipped into the house. He caught the old man
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just as he was coming out of his bedroom to investigate the power out-
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age, and Delta slit his throat as if the old man were a newborn lamb.
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Hedragged the body into a closet and left the house.
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Delta called Bravos phone and it vibrated twice. Again no words
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were needed to tell Bravo that Delta had completed his mission.
Bravo didnt use the burner phone for his next call. He used his per-
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sonal phone, because it didnt matter if his next call could be traced. He
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dialed a number and spoke for less than ten seconds. Then he counted
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slowly to sixtysixty seconds should be plenty of time. If he was
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wrong, a man Bravo needed to live was going to die. At the count of
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sixty, he reached into his pocket and, without looking, punched the #
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key five times.
VIKING BAY is on sale now!
9780399165740_VikingBay_TX_p1-342.indd 1
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The package erupted inside the house. Stainless-steel ball bearings
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and roofing nails spread outward faster than the speed of sound, and an
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odorless flammable gel inside the package ignited. The people in the
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room, some sitting no more than two feet from the bomb, were ripped
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asunder in an instant. Their flesh was burning seconds after that.
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Bravo was confident that no one had survived; nothing made of flesh
and bone could have survived.
Bravo was wrong.
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#29DaysofVikingBay
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W e n e e d a w o m a n , C a l l a h a n s a i d.
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As always, Callahan looked like an unmade bed: hair
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sticking up in tufts like small whitecaps on a gray ocean, a
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wrinkled blue suit, an unpressed white shirt. His ash-stained
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tie hung at half-mast, and his battered black loafers hadnt
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seen polish since the day he bought them. He was also one of the
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unhealthiest-looking individuals that Anna Mercer had ever known:
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overweight, pale because he rarely ventured out into the sun, bloodshot
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eyes from the booze hed consumed the night before. He had high
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blood pressure, high cholesterol, was probably diabetic, and should
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have been on a transplant list for a new liver. He was the only person
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Mercer knew with an IQ over one-forty who still smoked; she doubted
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that hed last much beyond sixty-five, and he was sixty now.
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She couldnt believe theyd once been lovers.
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She needs to be close to Aras age, Callahan said, and she cant
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come across as a corporate lackey. We need someone like whatsher-
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name, Aras roommate at NYU.
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Carolyn Harris, Mercer said.
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Yeah, Harris. She needs to be like Harris. Aggressive, funny, phys-
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ical. Sexually, ah...

Loose? Mercer said.
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I was thinking adventurous, not loose. Ara wouldnt find a slut
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attractive. And blond. Blond would be good. Harris was blond. I want
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her to make a subconscious connection.
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I guess I could dye my hair, Mercer said, primping her short,
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dark hair.
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Nah, youre way too old.
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Well, screw you, Thomas. That was a mean thing to say. Im only
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forty-five. And I was joking.
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Yeah, sorry. But she needs to be younger than you. Closer to thirty.
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He wasnt sorry; he was tactless.
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What had attracted her to Callahan in the first place was his mind;
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he hadnt really looked all that much different fifteen years ago when
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theyd been lovers. His cynicism, his quickness, his insights, his w
it
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a nd the fact that hed been going places and could take her with him
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is what had made him attractive. The funny thing was, other women
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had always found him attractive, too. Hed been married four times,
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wife number four dropped abruptly by the wayside a few years ago.
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Mercer couldnt remember if hed been married to wife two or three
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atthe time they were sleeping together.
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If Harris was available, Id actually try to recruit her, Callahan
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said. But since shes not, we need someone like her, somebody Ara will
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instantly relate to.
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As Carolyn Harris had died in a car accident a year before, Mercer
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saw no point in reminding Callahan that Harris had been a p

rotest-
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marching liberal who would never have gone along with Callahans
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plan.
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So, you got anybody in mind? Callahan asked. We need to get

moving on this. Ara will be in New York in less than a month.
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The original plan had not been to approach Ara Khan in New York,
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but when Callahan found out she was coming to the United States he
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decided to change the plan.
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Actually, I do, Mercer said. And I suspect you know who it is and
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youve already decided shes the one, even though she hasnt completed
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her training. Why are we even having this conversation?
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Maybe I just enjoy your company, Callahan said.
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He was such a bullshitterbut it was almost impossible not to
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like him.
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#29DaysofVikingBay
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B o w m a n s t r u c k fa s t e r t h a n a r at t l e s n a k e a n d h i s
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right hand darted out and grabbed Kays sweatshirt, his big
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hand clutching the material between her breasts. As he
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jerked her off balance, she slashed downward with her right
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hand to break his grip, but all that did was hurt her hand;
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hitting Bowmans forearm was like hitting a baseball bat.

Bowman quickly shifted his grip and started to turn to his leftthe
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move a precursor to his tossing her over his shoulderagainand as
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she began to counter the move, she realized, too late, the move was
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a feint. Bowmans right leg snaked behind her left calf and he sim-
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plysmacked his hand into her chest, knocking her down, and then he
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belly-flopped onto her, knocking the wind out of her. His forearmthe
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baseball b
at
slammed across her throat and started to crush her
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larynx.
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Stop! Simmons said.
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Simmons was a tough little nut in his fifties, about five-foot-six,
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int-sized version of Superman. He was an exMarine

built like a p
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master sergeant and in charge of the handtohand combat course. For
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some reason, hed matched Kay up with Bowman, who was six-foot-
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four
eight inches taller than she
was
and weighed two hundred
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thirty poundsalmost exactly a hundred pounds more than she did.
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On top of that, Kay sensed that Bowman liked to knock women
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aroundhis way of demonstrating that they shouldnt be on the same
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playing field with the boysand he was just beating the shit out of her.
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She already had a mouse developing under her left eye when he
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accidentally hit her with his elbow, and she knew tomorrow there
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would be a bruise the size of Bowmans big paw in the center of her
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chest.
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Hamilton, Simmons said, how many times do I have to tell you?
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You cant let him get ahold of you first. You gotta be quicker than him.
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Kay just shook her head; she didnt bother to say that she wasnt
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intentionally letting Bowman maul her.

Okay, lets try it again. This time, Hamilton, circle to his left. Hes
right-handed. And when he reaches for y ou
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Yeah, I got it, Kay said, but she was thinking that this whole thing
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was total bullshit. It was only in movies that women beat up men who
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outweighed them by a hundred pounds. For that matter, that was
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why they had weight divisions in boxing, because, in general, big guys
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beat little guys. If a monster like Bowman had attacked her on the
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streetout in the real w

orldshe would have pulled out a gun and shot
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him or hit him with anything that would dent his thick skull. Or shed
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kick him in the nutsa move not permitted in this particular course.
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Bowman came toward her again, and Kay circled to his left as Sim-
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mons had told her. Then, when Bowmans back was to Simmons so
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Simmons couldnt see his face, Bowman made a smooching gesture
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with his lips.
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And Kay kicked him in the nuts. As hard as she could.
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Bowman fell to the mat, grasping his crotch, and Simmons started
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screaming at her. Well, fuck them both.
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Are you okay, Bowman? Simmons asked.
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I think she crushed my testicle, Bowman said. At least thats what
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Kay thought he said. It was hard to understand him with his teeth all
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clenched.
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Simmons turned to one of the other s tudentsthere were only four
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people in the class, and Kay was the only womanand said, Connors,
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go get the medic. And Hamilton, you get your ass to my office and wait
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for me there.
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Si m m o n s s o f f ic e , just down the hall from the gymnasium, looked like
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a high school coachs office and not a coach who taught at one of the bet-
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ter schools. There was a battered metal desk, a wooden chair behind the
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desk that swiveled and could be tilted back, and a couple of straight-
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b
acked chairs in front of the desk. On the walls were charts showingpho-
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tos of men in various judo and karate positions. In one corner was a set of
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weights for doing curls, which explained Simmonss hard little arms. Kay
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shut the door and noticed a small mirror on the back of the door.
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She looked into the mirror and touched the blooming mouse under
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her eye. It wasnt too bad and could be covered with makeup. She was
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lucky her eye wasnt swollen shut. She was also lucky Bowman hadnt
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broken her nose. Shed had her nose broken once before and it had
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really hurt.
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She didnt know what she was going to say to Simmons. She knew
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he was going to chew her out, but she also knew thats all he was going
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to do. They werent going to fire her for kicking Bowman; she was more
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valuable than Bowman to the Group.
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Bowman was muscle, pure and simple. He was good with his fists,
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okay with a pistolalthough he wasnt any better than Kay with a
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pistolbut he was exceptional with a rifle. She wondered if Callahan
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was grooming Bowman to be his designated sniper. Bowman, however,
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didnt have her language skills; in fact, he had an accent like the guys
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who hawked the beer at Fenway and was barely understandable in
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English. Kay could speak Spanish like a native, and in a few months
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would be passable in Farsi. Bowman was also slow when it came to the
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technical stuffalarms, computers, listening devices, GPS systems
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anything with a microchipand Kay outscored him in those classes.
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The door opened and Simmons stepped into the room and slammed
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the door shut behind him. Hamilton, he said, I dont know what Im
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gonna do with you.
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Kay almost smiled. She remembered her last boss saying the same
thing to herright before she was fired.
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T h r e e a n d a h a l f m o n t h s e a r l i e r , Kay had been an agent with the
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Drug Enforcement Administration. Shed enjoyed the work and had
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been a good agent; she made a name for herself in Miami after she
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killed a major player there named Marco Alvarez and three of his men.
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Marco was the one who broke her nose when he tried to beat her to
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death after he found out she was an undercover cop whod penetrated
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his organization.
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After Miami, she was transferred to San Diego, placed in a vacant
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supervisors spot, and put in charge of her own teamand she immedi-
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ately set her sights on the brother of Caesar Olivera. Caesar was the
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leader of the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico, and his little brother,
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a moron named Tito, ran his North American operations. Kay eventu-
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ally arrested Tito for murdering another San Diego drug d

ealera
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murder she could have prevented had she chosen to. Unfortunately, it
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didnt end there.
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Caesar Olivera kidnapped Kays daughter, Jessica, and forced Kay to
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break his brother out of jail in return for her daughter. By the time it was
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all over, Tito Olivera had died in car accident, Kay had killed Caesar Oli-
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vera and one of his top guys down in Mexico, and a colonel in the Polica
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Federal had died assisting her. Then the United States Coast Guard vir-
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tually committed an act of war by sailing into Mexican territorial waters
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and killing more of Caesars people to help Kay and Jessica escape.
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Kay could have been prosecuted for breaking Tito Olivera out of jail,
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but the DEA wanted to keep what she had done in Mexico under wraps
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as much as possible and didnt want the publicity that would accom-
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pany a trial. On the other hand, the DEA at that point didnt want Kay
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Hamilton anymore, either.
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Kay had made the mistake of not informing anyone in her chain of
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command that Caesar had kidnapped her daughter, and she didnt get
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permission to go into Mexico on her own to save her. Shed already had
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a reputation for being insubordinate and playing loose with the rules
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before she killed Caesar, and killing Caesar the way she did was the last
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straw: The DEA fired her.
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Ironically, the person who fired her was the best friend she had in
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the DEA, a woman named Barb Reynolds, who was a deputy director
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back in D.C. and who had been Kays mentor. After Barb fired her, she
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took Kay out for a drink. While Kay was sulking, wondering what she
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was going to do for a living and how she was going to support her daugh-
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ter, Barb told her that she might be able to get Kay into a certain orga-
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nization in Washington who valued her talents.
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Do they know what I did in Mexico? Kay had asked, and Barb had
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responded by smiling and saying, As far as this particular organiza-
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tion is concerned, Mexico was your job interview. Believe me, they
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want you.
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When Kay had asked if the unnamed organization was the CIA,
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Barb had said, Not exactly.
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Not exactly turned out to be one hell of an understatement.
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Si m m o n s c h e w e d h e r o u t as expected, essentially giving her a lecture
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on fair play and sportsmanship as if she and Bowman were a couple of
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f ive-year-olds on a Tball team. Kay pretended to be contrite and Sim-
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mons pretended to believe her. After Simmons finished, Kay showered
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and had just exited the gym when her phone rang. It was Anna Mercer,
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Callahans deputy.
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Drop whatever youre doing and come to my office, Mercer said.
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Im down at the gym in Alexandria, Kay said. I just finished with
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that stupid handtohand combat course youre making me take.
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Yeah, well, drive fast.
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A w e e k a f t e r s h e wa s f i r e d f r o m t h e DEA , K ay r e c e i v e d a
phone call.
Kay, my name is Anna Mercer, the caller said. Barb
Reynolds suggested we hire you, so we need to meet and
talk. Before Kay could ask who we was, Mercer said, Ill
be flying in from D.C. tomorrow. Meet me in the bar at the Sheraton

on Harbor Island at four p.
m. Kay didnt like Mercers dictatorial
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style, but as her employment prospects werent all that promising, she
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agreed.
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Kay arrived at the Sheraton promptly at four, dressed casually in
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form-fitting white slacks, a yellow tank top, and sandals. It was June,
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eighty-five degrees outside, and she hadnt felt like putting on anything
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more formal. She looked into the bar and saw only one person there, a
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woman sitting alone at a table with a view of San Diego Bay. The woman
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raised her hand when she saw Kay; she obviously knew what Kay looked
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like, even though theyd never met.
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Mercer was in her forties, pretty and trim. She had short dark hair
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and smart brown eyes. She was also dressed very well for a person Kay
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assumed was a civil servant. Kay didnt know the brand name of Mer-
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cers white linen suit, but she was pretty sure she couldnt afford it. She
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did know the brand of Mercers s hoesshe was a bit of a shoe f reak
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and she definitely couldnt afford them.
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A waitress arrived as soon as Kay took a seat across from Mercer and
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asked if Kay wanted a drink. Mercer was drinking what appeared to be
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a Manhattan, the maraschino cherry bobbing in the whiskey.
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Kay wondered if it would be appropriate to drink at what was
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V I K I NG BAY|13
essentially a job interview and decided: Why not? It wasnt too early in
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the day for a cocktail. Plus they wanted her badly enough to fly some-
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one out from Washington to meet with her. Ill have a Stoli martini
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with a twist, she told the waitress.
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While waiting for her drink to arrive, Kay made an attempt at small
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talk, asking if Mercer had been to San Diego beforeshe hadand if
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shed had a pleasant f lightThe usual hassle was Mercers response.
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Mercer made no attempt to be friendly or put her at ease, and Kay was
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glad when her drink was served so they could get down to business.
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So. You have a job for me, Kay said.
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Maybe, Mercer said. There are a few things that need to be done
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before we finalize anything.
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Like what?
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We need to complete background checks on you equivalent to
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those required for a Top Secret Security Clearance.
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Kay knew that for a Top Secret clearance, the government looked at
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an individuals work history, tax returns, financial solvency, and travel
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abroad. They looked at every document they could get their grubby
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little hands on. Federal agents also interviewed people who knew the
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person and tried to get them to spill dirty secrets; they talked to past
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employers, neighbors, and exspouses. What Kay didnt understand was
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what Mercer meant when she said the background checks would be
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equivalent to those required for a Top Secret clearance. It was either a
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Top Secret clearance or it wasnt.
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Then a doctor here in San Diego will give you a very thorough
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physical.
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I had a physical just a year ago. Theres nothing wrong with me,
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Kay said.
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Things can change in a year, Mercer said. I should know. And we
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cant afford to waste a lot of money training you and find out later that
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you have some incurable disease.
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Now, that was cold.
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Following the physical, youll fly out to D.C. and meet with a psychiatrist we use.
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You think I might be nuts? Kay said. She smiled when she said
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this, but she was actually offended that her prospective employer ques-
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tioned her mental health.
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No, we dont think youre nuts exactly, but the type of people we
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employ tend to have issueswe probably wouldnt hire them if they
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didntand we consider an indepth psychological profile a prudent
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precaution.
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I dont have any issues, Kay said, no longer smiling.
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Sure you do. You have authority issues. Control issues. Trust issues.
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Youre conflicted about your daughter. You like sex, but you appear to
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have no desire to have a normal relationship, get married, and have
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more kids.
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Kay wondered whom Mercer had talked to and started to protest,
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but Mercer held up a hand, silencing her. Hey, were okay with all
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those things. But we need to make sure you dont have some deep-
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s eated psychosis or phobia that were not aware of, the type that could
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affect your work. By the way, you may be hypnotized as part of the
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evaluation. Do you have a problem with that?
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Yeah, maybe, Kay said. It all depends on the job Ill be doing
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andmy pay grade. Although Kay didnt have any big secrets she was
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hiding, she didnt like the idea of someone hypnotizing her and prob-
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inginto the dark corners of her mind. But what she really didnt like
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was Mercers attitude, acting as if Kay was so desperate that shed do
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anything to land a job.
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As if Kay hadnt spoken, Mercer said, In addition to the psych
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eval and the physical, youll also be polygraphed. Thats just to make
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sure we havent missed something in our background checks. The
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flutter testing is nothing to get alarmed about unless youre a Chi
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The polygraph testing didnt bother Kay or surprise her; Top Secret
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government programs often included periodic lie-detector tests.
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So what agency will I be working for? Kay asked.
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You wont be working for an agency. You wont be employed by the
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federal government.
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Whoa! Kay said. Shed assumed that shed be working for the feds
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based on what her friend, Barb Reynolds, had saidor impliedand
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working for the feds was important for two mundane reasons: The gov-
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ernment had a good health insurance p

rogramwhich mattered now
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that her daughter was living with herand a good retirement program
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in which she already had ten years invested.
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You were a GS13, werent you, when you worked for the DEA?
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Mercer said.
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Yeah. Well, a temporary 13. They fired me before they made me

permanent.
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Your starting salary will be twice as much as a GS13 makes.
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Really? Kay said. That was good news.
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Yes. We know the cost of living in the D.C. area is high and that
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youll have to pay full price for health insurance for yourself and your
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daughter. But the main reason were willing to pay so much is because
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of the risks you may be asked to take.
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Like what?
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Mercer shook her head. Sorry. Before I can tell you more you need
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to complete the physical, meet with the psychiatrist, and get poly-
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graphed. Then youll be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement
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that legally prevents you from ever discussing your employer and what
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you did for him. A really smart lawyer prepared the nondisclosure
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agreement, and if you violate it, well sue you and ruin you financially
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and maybe even throw you in jail. Or maybe well just kill you in the
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interest of national security.
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Mercer smiled slightly when she spoke of killing Kay, like that old
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joke you always hear in the movies where the CIA agent says: Id tell
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you, but then Id have to kill you. At least Kay assumed it was a joke. She
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also wondered what her job had to do with national security if she
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wouldnt be working for the government.
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Look, Kay said. I cant agree to any of this without having a better
understanding of what Ill be doing.
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Why not? Mercer said. Your last employer fired you and isnt
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about to give you a good recommendation, so the likelihood of you
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getting a decent job in law enforcement is almost zero. We, on the other
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hand, are impressed by what you did in both Miami and San Diego,
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including your little adventure down in Mexico with the Olivera car-
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tel. Were offering you a job at twice your previous salary doing things
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that are compatible with your prior experience. What have you got
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to lose?
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Before Kay could say anything, Mercer opened her purse and pulled
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out a cashiers check. She noticed that Mercers purse, like her suit and
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shoes, was top of the lineleather softer than a babys bottomand
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she had the unwanted image of a newborn calf being sacrificed to
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become a handbag. Mercer handed her the check and said, Thats to
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compensate you for your time while youre completing the physical
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andthe psych eval.
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The check was for ten thousand dollars. Wow. Like Mercer had said:
What did she have to lose?
She later found out that the answer to that question was: her life.
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T h e n e x t t w o w e e k s passed quickly as Kay was cracked open like a
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clamshell and rudely poked at both mentally and physically.
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She had no problems with the physical. She was, in fact, surprised
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that she didnt have high cholesterol or high blood sugar or some other
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biological indicator that she should change her eating habits. She really
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paid no attention to her diet and when her daughter wasnt around,
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tended to feed primarily off junk foods. The only reason she still wore
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a size 6 dress was that she exercised fanatically.
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Her relationship with her daughter turned out to be the thing that
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most interested the psychiatristand Kay hadnt expected that. She
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thought the shrink would be more concerned about affairs shed had
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with a couple of married men and with Marco Alvarez, the drug lord
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shed killed in Miami. Shed slept with Marco for almost a year to build
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a case against him, and shed expected the doctor to explore the moral
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issues associated with her using sex to put a man behind bars. But he
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didnt, and actually passed over that phase of her life rather quickly.
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What the psychiatrist was most curious about was how she and her
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daughter got along, if she felt guilty about her, if she resented her, if
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she understood her own feelings for the girl. Why the shrink cared
13
about all this shit, Kay didnt have a clue; she didnt see how her feel-
14
ingstoward her daughter had anything to do with her job. In the end,
15
the doc must have concluded that she wasnt a total p

sychoor a com-
16
pletely unfit motherand gave her a clean bill of health.
17
Anna Mercer called Kay two days later and asked how soon she
18
could move to D.C.
19
I dont know, Kay said. I have to sell my house in San Diego
20
21
and...
Well take care of selling your house and moving your furniture.
22
And Ill need to find a place in D.C.
23
We have a real estate agent here that will do that for you. Just give
24
her a price range and shell find something that will make you happy.
25
But the big thing, Kay said, is I have to find a good school for my
26
daughter, and I know thats going to be a hassle.
27
Kay had had a hard time getting Jessica into a decent private school
28
in San Diego until she s trong-armed a snooty Catholic school principal.
29
She told the principal that if she didnt enroll Jessica, DEA Agent Kay
30
Hamilton was going to make her overpriced parochial school the new
S31
front line in the war on drugs. Kay said this knowing that half the brats
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who went there snorted, swallowed, or smoked some banned substance.
02
After that, the principal had a change of heart.
03
04
Pick any school you want in the D.C. area, Mercer said. Well
make sure your daughter is accepted.
05
You can actually do that? Kay said.
06
Yes.
07
Now, that impressed Kay.
08
Be at this address next Wednesday at one p.m., Mercer said, and
09
rattled off a number on K Street. Youll sign the nondisclosure agree-
10
ment at that time, and then Ill introduce you to Callahan.
11
Whos Callahan? Kay had asked.
12
Mercer hung up.
13
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15
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T h e f o l l o w i n g W e d n e s d ay, K ay e n t e r e d a t w e lv e- s t o r y
07
office building on K Street and proceeded to room 711.
08
Onthe wall outside the door was a small brass plaque that
09
read The Callahan Group. Higher up on the wall was a
10
security camera looking down at her. She tried to open the
11
door, but it was locked. Then she heard a click, and the door opened
12
thenext time she turned the knob.
13
14
She found herself standing inside a small reception area, and sitman
ting behind the only desk in the room was a large black
15
extremely large.
16
17
Im Kay Hamilton, she said. I have an appointment with Ms.
18
Mercer.
19
The man nodded, as if hed been expecting her, and said, I need to
20
wand you before you go in.

Wand me?
21
For weapons and eavesdropping devices.
22
Okay, Kay said, wondering what in the hell these people did that
23
24
required such precautions.

The receptionist stood upalthough it was hard to think of a guy
25
who was six-foot-six and built like the Incredible Hulk as a reception-
26
ist. Holstered on his belt was a Dirty Harry.44 Magnum with a seven-
27
inch barrel and a walnut grip. Whoa. He passed a standard metal
28
detector over Kay, then some other device the size of a pack of ciga-
29
rettes with an antenna sticking out of it. Apparently satisfied that she
30
was neither packing heat nor wired for sound, he picked up the phone
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and said, Anna, Kay Hamilton is here.
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A moment later, Anna Mercer opened the door behind the recep-
02
tionists desk and waved Kay toward her. As she passed through the
03
door, Kay noticed a keypad next to it for entering a cybercode.
04
Mercers office was beautifully decorated, but windowless and not
05
very large. She had a g lass-topped table she used for a desk, and Kay
06
thought it might be an antique because the legs were gilded and elabo-
07
rately carved. On the floor was a thick Oriental carpet that looked
08
expensive and on the table was a T

iffany-style lamp, a laptop, a normal
09
phone, and a second phone that Kay recognized as a Stu III encrypted
10
phone. In one corner was a Gardall safe with a large combination lock.
11
Above the safe was an oil painting depicting a canal in Venice that
12
looked as if it had been painted by some famous old-time artist; Kay
13
didnt know anything about art.
14
Next to Mercers desk, resting regally in a wicker basket, was a large,
15
snow-
white Persian cat with aquamarine eyes. Mercer noticed Kay
16
looking at the animal and said, Thats Scarlett. Shes not in a good
17
mood this morning.
18
Kay didnt know what to say in response to that. She was also sur-
19
prised that a seemingly nononsense person like Mercer would bring a
20
pet to work.
21
Like the last time Kay had seen Mercer, the woman was dressed
22
in a gorgeous suitthis one hunter green with matching high heels,
23
which Kay loved. If she ever got to know Mercer better, she was
24
going to ask where she shopped. Mercer pointed Kay to one of the
25
twochairs in front of her desk and pushed a manila folder toward her.
26
Thats your nondisclosure agreement. Read it if you want, but if
27
you dont like something in it, too bad. Were not going to change a
28
word. Sign it on the last page.
29
I havent agreed that Im going to work for you yet, Kay said.
30
The nondisclosure agreement covers everything youve done in
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connection with the Callahan Group since the day we met in San
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Diego. You need to sign it before we proceed any further.
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Kay opened the folder and saw a t welve-page document written in
01
incomprehensible legal gibberish. She flipped through the pagesshe
02
didnt bother to read every w

ordand signed it. She figured: What the
03
hell. If she ever felt like disclosing something, a piece of paper wasnt
04
going to stop her.
05
Okay, Mercer said. Its time for you to meet Callahan.
06
07
08
K ay f o l l o w e d M e r c e r down a long, narrow corridor. She noticed another
09
surveillance camera as they were walking. They passed several closed
10
doorsKay didnt hear anyone behind the doorsuntil they came to an
11
office at the end of the hall. There was another camera above this door.
12
Mercer rapped, the door lock clicked, and Mercer pushed open the door.
13
The man behind the desk was gray-haired and overweight, and the
14
first word that came to mind when Kay saw him was rumpled. He was
15
wearing a blue shirt that had never been introduced to an iron and a
16
baggy gray suit that Kay suspected came from some outfit like the
17
Mens Wearhouseand not from the part of the store where they kept
18
igh-end clothes. He had bright blue eyes and a heavy, pale face.
the h
19
Unlike Mercer, he smiled at her and seemed friendly. He reminded Kay
20
of a w
ell-known actor who had died the year before of a drug overdose,
21
but Kay couldnt recall the actors name.
22
There was a conventional wooden desk in the office instead of an
23
elegant table like Mercer had, and the desk bore marks of repeated
24
abuse. Kay could see what looked like cigarette burns on one edge of
25
the desk and rings where hot drinks had been placed without using a
26
coaster. Like Mercer, he had a laptop and an encrypted phone, but his
27
desk, instead of being neat and organized like Mercers, was covered by
28
small mountains of paper. A greasy McDonalds bag sat on the key-
29
board of the laptop, and Kay could smell not only French fries but also
30
cigarette smoke. But that couldnt be, she thought; no one smoked
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inside office buildings anymore.
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Instead of individual visitors chairs, there was a brown leather couch
02
in front of Callahans desk. (Kay later learned that Callahan often ended
03
up sleeping on the couchand sometimes passed out on the couch.)
04
Todays editions of the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the
05
New York Times were spread out all over the couch.
06
Hey, sit down, Callahan said. Push that shit onto the floor.
07
Kay gathered up the papers, made an attempt to fold them neatly,
08
and then, when she couldnt figure out where to put them, dropped
09
them on the floor near one end of the couch. She and Mercer sat down.
10
Callahan didnt say anything for a moment as his blue eyes took her
11
in. Wow, he said. Youre a knockout.
12
Mercer turned to Kay and said, Fortunatelyfor Callahan, that
13
isthe nondisclosure agreement you just signed prevents you from
14
suing him for sexual harassment.
15
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The name of the actor suddenly popped into Kays head. Philip Seymour Hoffmanthats who Callahan reminded her of.
17
Ignoring Mercers jab, Callahan said, Okay. Im Thomas Callahan
18
and I have the controlling interest in a limited partnership known as
19
the Callahan Group. All my partners are silent; in fact, I dont really
20
have any partners. If you were to go online, youd find our website,
21
www.Callahan.Group.com, and it would tell you we specialize in help-
22
ing U.S. companies do business abroad. The website says we know how
23
to deal with such things as taxes on income earned o

verseasmeaning
24
we tell companies how to avoid paying Uncle Sugar his fair share. It
25
says we have special relationships with the right people in foreign
26
governmentswhich means we know who to bribe if you want to
27
operate in Dubai. If you want to set up a factory in Thailand and
28
spewgod-awful shit into the river that flows through downtown Bang-
29
kok, we know how to bend the environmental rules. And there actually
30
are a few people who work for me who do that sort of stuff, and we
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always have about a dozen legitimate clients. If you were able to get
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your hands on the Callahan Groups tax returns, youd see that we are
01
an enormously successful company for a business our size.
02
So what do you really do? Kay asked. Im pretty sure youre not
03
hiring me to be a tax consultant.
04
Callahan smiled. When George W. Bush was president, I worked
05
for his national security advisor and Im sitting in my office late one
06
night, this shitty little shoe box over in the EOB. I remember I was
07
eating a pizza that was left over from the day before and a guy whose
08
name I cant tell you comes in, closes the door, and explains to me that
09
the president wants me to set up a special type of organization.
10
You see, Bush decided after he invaded Iraq that he wanted an
11
option. He wanted an organization he could turn to for things that
12
needed to be done but that he didnt necessarily want the federal govern-
13
ment doing. And what he really wanted was an organization that, if it
14
fucked up, he could say: Hey, I got nothing to do with those guys. He could
15
have turned to the private sector, but he realized, being a good capitalist
16
himself, that the private sector is profit motivated and what we do is not
17
about making a profit. Plus, W wanted to be able to control this group,
18
and no matter what kind of contract you write, the private sector will do
19
whatever its little black heart desires when it comes to money.
20
The president also had other concerns, which I think were totally
21
justified. Government organizations, even ones like the CIA, are run
22
by bureaucrats who are always worried that theyll end up taking the
23
fall if they get caught doing something illegal on the presidents behalf.
24
So lots of times these bureaucrats balk when the boss gives em an order
25
thats just a little bit in the gray zone. And after Powell stood up in the
26
UN and swore on a stack of Bibles that Saddam had weapons he didnt
27
actually have, the intelligence community became really risk averse. It
28
was like they became afraid to do anything unless they were a hundred
29
percent positive something couldnt go wrong, which rarely happens in
30
intelligence work.
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They were willing to take some risks when they went after bin
Laden, Kay said.
03
Callahan had the kind of eyes that seemed to literally twinkle, the
04
kind of eyes Santa Claus was supposed to have. They twinkled when
05
Callahan said, It might surprise you to learn that the night Obama
06
gave the order to invade Pakistan, he had some information other folks
07
in the Situation Room didnt have.
08
Kay had enough sense not to ask: What information?
09
Anyway, Callahan said, Congress is also a problem when it comes
10
to covert ops. The various oversight committees want to know whats
11
going on, they want to be involved in decisions even though theyre not
12
qualified to decide anything, and the bastards control the purse strings.
13
I mean, Congress is just a gigantic pain in the ass.
14
15
But Kay was thinking: Covert ops. Now, this was starting to get
interesting.
16
So that night, Callahan said, the presidents guy said the boss
17
wanted me to set up an organization that he could call upon from time
18
to time when he needed something done. In other words, like I already
19
said, he wanted an option, and thats what the Callahan Group is. Its
20
not a federal agency and its not really a p

rivate-sector company; it just
21
looks like one. Callahan smiled. You know what I said when he fin-
22
ished talking?
23
Kay shook her head.
24
I said I want to hear this directly from the president. Well, the presi-
25
dents pal said there wasnt any way in hell that was going to happen. So
26
I refused. A couple days pass, and I get called to the Oval Office. That
27
was the first time I was ever in the room by myself, and the presidents
28
not wearing any shoes, putting into one of those office putting cups. He
29
smacks a ball, misses the cup by about ten inches, then he turns to me
30
and says: You had a discussion with a close friend of mine the other
31S
night, and my friend tells me that you wanted some assurance that I
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approved of what he said. Let me just say that I dont disapprove.
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Kay said, What?
01
Exactly, Callahan said. Complete gobbledygook. And you know
02
what a lousy speaker Bush was, and I could tell that hed memorized
03
what hed just said, but if push ever came to shove, he could testify
04
thathed never ordered me to do anything. But I was okay with that. I
05
was satisfied that he was personally giving me the goahead and thats
06
the best I was going to get.
07
Why did the president pick you? Kay asked.
08
Because of my background. Im exCIA and I spent time over at
09
the Pentagon and on the National Security Council. Also, I was never
10
in the limelight; nobody in the media knew who I was. So if I quit
11
my White House job and set up a company that looks like a typical K
12
Street operation, there wouldnt even be a ripple in the news. Anyway,
13
thatwas the last time I talked to the president, and Ive never received
14
a direct order from the president, not the last one or the current one.
15
Youre saying Obamas aware of your existence?
16
Of course. He has to be. Im guessing that when he moved into the
17
White House, Bush briefed him on the Callahan Group and he decided
18
not to upset the apple cart. All I know is that Bushs guy was replaced
19
by Obamas guy. Like I said: I dont talk to the president and the presi-
20
dent can testify to that without committing perjury.
21
What happens instead is Ill bump into the presidents guy in a bar
22
or while hes taking a stroll around the Mall, and hell update me on
23
things that are bothering his boss. Then a suggestion might be made, but
24
an order is never, ever given. Then Im left to my own devices.
25
There is only one link between me and the United States govern-
26
ment, that link being money. I have a young guy, you may meet him
27
sometime in the future, and hes my money guy. Hes e xGoldman
28
Sachs, exTreasury Department, exOMB, and hes bright as a shiny
29
new button.
30
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Kay didnt know what the OMB was; shed look it up later.
His job is to move money from the U.S. Treasury to the Callahan
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Group without leaving a trail, and for the last decade or so that hasnt
02
really been too hard because weve spent about four trillion dollars on
03
two wars and nobody knows where all the money ended up. I mean,
04
when we left Iraq we were literally shipping home crates filled with
05
cash, millions of dollars that we didnt spend on bribes and rewards.
06
Nobody has any idea how much cash was there in the first place and
07
where it all went.
08
09
Callahan winked. But if my money guy is ever caught, I imagine he

and I and maybe A nnawould find ourselves in a little hot water.
10
Not me, Mercer said.
11
Well, maybe not you, Callahan admitted to Mercer. So do you
12
understand? he asked Kay.
13
Kay was wondering if by a little hot water Callahan was saying hed
14
go to jail. Instead of asking that question, she instead said, Yeah, I
15
understand. But how about giving me a couple examples of the sort of
16
things youve done in the past?
17
Sorry, I cant do that, Callahan said. In one respect, were very
18
much like a typical intelligence organization and everythings strictly
19
need to know.
20
Kay shook her head. Mr. Callahan, Im not even going to pretend
21
that I understand the limits of the presidents powers and what he is or
22
isnt supposed to tell Congress. And I definitely dont understand how
23
money gets moved internally to the government or from the govern-
24
ment to the private sector. But what I do know is that Im not going to
25
go to jail working for you.
26
27
28
29
30
Hey, youre not gonna go to jail. Were not criminals. Were acting
in the nations best interest as determined by its chief executive.
Like I said, I want an example of the kind of things you do so I
candecide if I want to work for you.
Callahans lips compressed into a stubborn line. Kay figured he was
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probably trying to decide if he should fire her before hed even really
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hired her.
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Okay, Ill tell you what Im going to do, Callahan said. Im going
01
to give you a hypothetical thats pretty close to something we actually
02
did so youll understand.
03
Thomas, Mercer said, a warning tone in her voice.
04
Callahan waved a hand at Mercer, a gesture that Kay interpreted as:
05
06
Dont worry about it.

Let me think for a minute, Callahan said, and as he was thinking,
07
he pulled a cigarette out of his shirt pocket, ignited it, then said to
08
Kay,I hope smoke doesnt bother you.
09
Well, actually...
10
Tough shit. He gazed up at the ceiling as he continued to contem-
11
plate, puffing on his cigarette, spewing toxins into the air.
12
Theres a company, Callahan said, in, lets say Germany, a coun-
13
try which happens to be a U.S. ally. This company makes a gizmo thats
14
used, peripherally, in the enrichment of plutonium. Its actually an in
15
strument that measures atomic shit and it has various applications in
16
laboratory testing, commercial power plants, et cetera. Anyway, the
17
German company is allowed to sell the gizmo to other countries, like
18
the British or the French, but not to places like Iran or North Korea,
19
and the number of gizmos sold is carefully tracked.
20
But this German company is run by a greedy prick and he starts
21
selling the gizmo to Iran for ten times the market price in a very clever
22
under-the-table way so he doesnt get caught. How do we know this?
23
Because the CIA has a spy in Iran. But we have a problem. If we tell the
24
Germans to arrest the greedy prick, the Iranians might figure out who
25
our spy is, and we cant afford to lose this spy. The spy is much more
26
important to us than the Iranians having the gizmo.
27
The CIA could, of course, do something like you see in movies and
28
bump off the German, making it look like an accident. But the CIA
29
doesnt usually, or at least not very often, knock off our allies citizens
30
because if they got caught wed have a real mess on our hands. So the
S31
presidents guy met with me and suggested I do something.
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And you bumped off the German? Kay said.
02
Oh, hell, no. We dont do things like that. Callahan said this like
03
he was astounded Kay would make such an a ccusationbut the twin-
04
kle was back in his eyes. What we didhypotheticallywas put the
05
German out of business. This company was suddenly besieged with
06
problems. Union hassles, material shortages, lawsuits, sabotage, account-
07
ing disasters. We destroyed this fucking company. Could the CIA
08
have done the same thing? Sure. But keep in mind that this was
09
a legitimate enterprise that employed three hundred taxpaying, b

eer-
10
rinking Germans, and if the CIA got caught...Well, like I already

d
11
told you, there would have been hell to pay. On the other hand, an
12
international company like the Callahan Group was just doing what
13
private companies do: annihilating another company. You understand?
14
Yeah.
15
And do you approve?
16
Yeah. I guess.
17
Whew! What a relief. Ill be sure to let the president know.
18
Ignoring Callahans sarcasm, Kay said, But if thats the sort of thing
19
you do all the time, I dont see why youre hiring me. I dont know any-
20
thing about business or taking over companies or anything like that.
21
22
Well, Callahan said, thats not exactly the kind of thing we do all
the time.
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A f t e r H a m i lt o n l e f t h i s o f f ic e , C a l l a h a n l i t a n o t h e r
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cigarette and thought about Hamilton and her reaction to
08
what hed just told her about how the Callahan Group
09
had been formedand what hed just told her was total
10
bullshit.
11
As for Hamilton...Hed seen her photograph before they hired
12
her, but the photo didnt really do her justice. The woman had a body
13
that could stop traffic and she was incredibly...Hell, sexy was the
14
only word he could think of. Not all beautiful women are sexy, and
15
Hamilton wasnt as beautiful as some women hed k nownbut she
16
justoozed sex appeal. A man would have to be either dead or gay for
17
her not to turn his crank. And like hed been told before he hired her,
18
she came across as bright and cynical and not the type that he or any-
19
body else was likely to intimidate.
20
Which was pretty much the same conclusion the Groups psychia-
21
trist had come to. He basically said that Hamilton wasnt a team player
22
and not really suited for work in a conventional law-enforcement or
23
military unit. She would excel at special ops, undercover, something
24
where she could be out there on her own. She would be loyal to people,
25
not organizations. Shed follow orders, but only if she agreed with the
26
orders. The shrinks bottom line was basically the same thing Callahan
27
decided two minutes after he met her: Shed be a good operative but
28
tough to controlwhich made Callahan wonder why they even both-
29
ered with the shrink.
30
Her reaction to the origination of the Callahan Group was no differ-
S31
ent from the way other employees had reacted when he told them the
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same story. Hamilton had been surprised, of course, but she appeared
02
to believe him, and he suspected the reason why was that people had so
03
little faith in politicians these days. That is, they were willing to believe
04
that a president really would set up an off-the-books group to do nefari-
05
ous things and avoid congressional oversight. Anybody old enough to
06
remember the Watergate plumbers would have no problem believing
07
this. The other reason people bought the story were the little details:
08
like hed been eating pizza the night the presidents guy came to see
09
him, or how W had been in his stocking feet playing with his putter.
10
The story about how the Callahan Group had destroyed a German
11
company selling nuclear hardware to the Iranians was completely true
12
and had actually happened. There had been nothing hypothetical about
13
Callahans example.
14
The part about intelligence agencies being extremely risk averse was
15
also true, and it was true that there were advantages in using a private-
16
sector company to do certain things the U.S. government wanted done.
17
True, too, was the fact that the Callahan Group had provided some
18
information that made Obamas decision to go after bin Laden in
19
Abbottabad a little less risky, but the information was never provided
20
directly to the president.
21
It was also true that Callahan had a bright young man who moved
22
money from the U.S. Treasury to Callahans accounts, but the money
23
wasnt in any way pilfered from the governments coffers. It came
24
instead from funding sources that were classified as secret, difficult to
25
identify, known to very few people, and arguably legalbut which
26
would prove problematic if Congress or the GAO ever asked the right
27
questions. And, as hed said, the tremendous amounts of cash poorly
28
accounted for during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars had greatly
29
increased the amount of money Callahan had to spend.
30
So Callahan had told Hamilton many things that were true, and
31S
one reason for this was some advice his mother had once given him.
32N
Thomas, his mom had said, you should tell the truth as often as you
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can, because that way its easier to keep track of all the lies you tell. His
01
mother had been an interesting woman.
02
What was completely untrue was that George W. Bush, or anyone
03
on his staff, had authorized the formation of the Callahan Group. Nei-
04
ther Bush nor Obama had any idea the Group existed. The presidents
05
guy, whom Callahan frequently referred to, did not exist. The complete
06
truth about the Callahan Group was known only to Thomas Callahan
07
and three other people, and none of those people worked at the White
08
House.
09
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Thank you for joining us for #29DaysofVikingBay!

As a thank you for your enthusiasm, we are including a few
extra pages to take you through Chapter 6. VIKING BAY is now
on sale -- we hope you'll order from your favorite retailer!
F o l l o w i n g h e r i n i t i a l m e e t i n g w i t h C a l l a h a n , K ay a n d
her sixteen-year-old daughter, Jessica, moved to D.C. They
arrived on the first of July, and the weather that entire
month was hot, humid, and miserable. Jessica particularly
didnt like the humidity and she missed the beaches of San
Diego, but July was good as it gave them time to settle into their new
apartment on Connecticut Avenue near the National Zoo and get Jessica enrolled in school.
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Kay didnt really want to live in an apartment, although the place
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she was renting was nice enough and convenient to Jessicas school. In
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Miami and San Diego, shed bought houses that needed some work,
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then spent her free time fixing the places up so she could turn a profit
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when she sold them. She not only enjoyed the money she made, she
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also enjoyed doing the home-improvement projects; they were like a
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hobby for her and, thanks to her dadwhod been a cop and a terrific
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fathershe knew how to use a few tools. The only reason she decided
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to get an apartment was that she wasnt certain shed be staying with
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the Callahan Group, and until she was sure, she was going to waitbe
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fore investing in a house.
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Kay decided that in many ways she liked what the Callahan Group
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did. That is, she liked the idea of a covert organization that dealt with
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national security issues but wasnt hobbled by the bureaucracy of the
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federal government. She also liked the salary. What she found particu-
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larly enticing was the training they were going to give her, especially the
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language training. That was something that would look good on a
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rsum if she had to look for another job. So shed stick with Callahan
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V I K I NG BAY|33
at least until shed completed her training and see, as time passed, if
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working for him would land her in hot water. A little hot water she
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could tolerate; becoming an inmate in a federal penitentiary was a
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totally different story.
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Regarding the school Jessica chose to attend, it was basically an egg-
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head factorya Juilliard for math and science wizards, as opposed to
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musicians and dancers. Jessica had decided that she wanted to be a doc-
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tor, and the school would give her a leg up on getting into medical
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school. And, as Mercer had told her, Kay had no problems getting Jes-
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sica admitted. The Callahan Group had some serious clout.
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I n m i d - A u g u s t, Jessica began school and Kay started what was sup-
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posed to be nine months of training. For the first three months, three
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days a week, six hours a day, she would attend language classes. They
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wanted her to learn Farsi first, then Arabic. She guessed the priority
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was placed on Farsi because of Iran. The other days of the weekwhich
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would include some Saturdays and evening sessions as wellthe cur-
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riculum would include classes on Mideastern cultures; there would be
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surveillance and s urveillance-avoidance training conducted at the FBIs
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training facility in Quantico. There was one forty-hour course that
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would be taught over at Fort Meade in Maryland where the NSAs
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headquarters were, and here shed be given an introduction to listening
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devices, alarm systems, and computer security. These classes werent
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intended to make her an expert in any of these subjects but to simply
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acquaint her with the state of the art so shed know the technologies
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available to her and those shed be up against.
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In the spring would come the fun stuff, and Kay was really looking
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forward to it: scuba training down at the navys dive school in Panama
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City, Florida, and jump school and survival training at Fort Benning,
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taught by the army. The jump school would focus on low-altitude night
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dropsand Kay could hardly wait.
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34|M . A . Laws on
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Kay was surprised to learn that although she wouldnt be enrolled
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under her own name, she would just be another student attending
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classes with a variety of people from the military services, govern-
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mentagencies, law-enforcement organizations, and private companies.
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Some of the other students might even be from countries that were
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s upposedlyor currentlyU.S. allies. The language classes, for exam-
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ple, would be held at Georgetown University in D.C. and the Mideast-
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ern cultural classes at George Mason University in Arlington, and in
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these classes, Kay was told, she would most likely meet people from the
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State Department, the FBI, and the CIA.
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The only classes she took where she was not a student in some stan-
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dard program were the classes related to killing people: demolitions,
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firearms training, knife fighting, and the stupid handtohand combat
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course. Kay had tried to get out of attending the handtohand and
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firearms courses, saying that shed already had similar training when
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she was at the DEA, but Mercer refused to give her a pass.
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The killing classes were taught by the Callahan Groups own instruc-
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tors, and the only people in these classes were Callahan employees. As
19
near as she could tell, the Class of 2014 included only three other people
20
and they were told not to socialize with one another. She had no idea
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how many people the Callahan Group employed; she did get the impres-
22
sion that they had employees in several places around the globe. One
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thing she was sure of, based on her training alone, was that the Callahan
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Group did a whole lot more than hostile takeovers of foreign companies.
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She was only forty-five days into the training program the day she
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kicked Bowman in the balls and Anna Mercer called her.
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K ay s t e p p e d i n t o the outer office and the colossus who acted as the
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receptionist said, Hello, Kay. Ill tell Anna youre here, but just head
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on down to her office. By the way, my names Henry. This time Henry
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didnt wand her to see if she was wired or armed; apparently, she was
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now a trusted member of the club.
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Kay learned later that Henry was an interesting fellow: an exMarine
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with enough medals to cover even his big chest. He got the medals in
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Iraq, where he hardly got a scratch; then he went to work for Callahan
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and his right leg was blown off below the knee. Kay never did learn
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what hed been doing when he lost the leg because she didnt have need
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to knowthe mantra of classification.
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Kay proceeded toward Mercers office, but Mercer stepped into
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the hallway before Kay reached her door. She was cuddling her fat
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white Persian cat, Scarlett, in her arms. Were meeting in the confer-
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ence room, Mercer said.
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Kay thought that was rather rude: No how are you doing, how are the
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classes going, is everything okay with your daughter?

The conference room contained a typical boardroom table with
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seats for ten, and at one end was a f lat-screen TV mounted on a rolling
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stand. Along one wall was a sink, a microwave, and a small refrigerator.
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There were two people already in the room, a man and a woman.
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The woman was younger than Mercer and older than Kay, maybe
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forty. She was slender and dressed in a dark blue pantsuit and a plain
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white blouse; her clothes didnt come close to matching Mercers in
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terms of style or expense. She wore no makeup, no jewelry, and had
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wire-rimmed glasses with fairly thick lenses. Her long, dark hair was
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tied in a sloppy ponytail, a few unruly strands falling onto her forehead.
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Kay thought she might have been p

rettyeven sexyif she applied a
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little lip gloss and ditched the glasses.
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The man sitting next to the woman was in his late thirties or early
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forties, and Kays initial reaction was: Wow! The guy was absurdly
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good-looking: perfect straight nose, little crinkly smile lines radiating
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from blue-gray eyes, a strong chin, and lips God had engineered for
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kissing. He had sandy brown hair and a slim yet muscular build. He was
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36|M . A . Laws on
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wearing a blue suit that Kay guessed cost about five grand and a shirt
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that was a perfect color for his eyes.
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Kay, say hello to Sylvia Sorenson and Eli Dolan, Mercer said. Syl-
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vias one of our lawyers and specializes in international law. She may
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not look like it, but Sylvias a wolverine. That story Callahan told you
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about the hypothetical German company that we destroyed with law-
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suits and financial sabotage? Well, Sylvia was behind the lawsuits.
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Hypothetically.
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Sylvia blushed at the compliment. She looked to Kay more like a

field mouse than a wolverinebut you can never tell.
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Elis our money guy, Mercer said, and Kay remembered Callahan
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telling her about the Groups money guy: Goldman Sachs, Treasury
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Department, OMB; she still didnt know what OMB stood for, because
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shed forgotten to look it up.
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Not only is Eli cute as a button, Mercer continued, hes also richer
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than God from old family money and all the people he fleeced in invest-
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ment banking. Ive been throwing myself at him for years, but he keeps
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spurning me. I think hes gay.
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Kay was pretty sure, judging by the way he was looking at her, that
Eli Dolan wasnt gay.
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Guys, Mercer said to Eli and Sylvia, this is Kay Hamilton, one of
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our newbies. She looks good now, Eli, but we know she was fat as a
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child and will most likely get fat again when she gets older. And her
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boobs are fake.
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Sylvia looked away, embarrassed by Mercers bawdy comment, but

Eli laughed. Kay felt like punching Mercer in the face.
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Kay had come right from the gym, and she was dressed casually as
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she was through with classes for the day. She was wearing jeans that
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were tight and low on her hips, and a designer sweatshirt that tended to
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leave one shoulder bare and exposed her flat midriff. Her long blond
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hair was still a bit damp from her shower and hung in tangled tresses
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down to her shoulders, since she hadnt taken the time to comb it out.
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Thank God she had taken the time to apply a little makeup and her
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lipstick.
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Dolan stood and reached out to shake Kays hand. Nice to meet
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you, he said. He was a perfect height, too: s ix-foot-three, which Kay
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liked, since she was a tall girl at five-eight. She could wear high heels
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when she went out with him.
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Then she thought: Stop it! You dont know anything about the guy.
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As Mercer was placing Scarlett in a basket identical to the one in her
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office, Callahan flung open the door to the conference room, holding a
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cup of coffee in one hand, and dropped heavily into the seat at the head
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of the table. He was dressed exactly as Kay had seen him the first time
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she met him: rumpled gray suit, wrinkled shirt, loosened tie.
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Kay, have you met Eli and Sylvia? Callahan asked.
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Yes.
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And Im assuming Annas already introduced you to Scarlett.
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Uh, yeah, Kay said, but she was thinking: What is it with the fuck
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ing cat?
Okay, then lets get started, Callahan said. Now, Im bringing you
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in on something even before youve completed your training, because
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youre the only person I currently have that fits the bill for the job. Its
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not a hard jobbasically, all you have to do is be yourselfbut its
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something you might be involved in for years. This is a really long-range
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operation, and its complicated.
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Callahan picked up a remote that Kay hadnt noticed lying on the
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table next to his right hand. He hit a button on the remote and the fol-
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lowing appeared in the center of the TV screen:
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23/08/14 3:13 pm

Viking Bay: A Kay Hamilton Novel

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#29DaysofVikingBay

It began with a tex t message.

Bravo looked at the message: Transfer complete.

former at a substation half a kilometer away disintegrated, sending

lightningon a clear, cloudless n

in his cargo pants, punched in five digits, and hit

Hedragged the body into a closet and left the house.

Delta called Bravos phone and it vibrated twice. Again no words

slowly to sixtysixty seconds should be plenty of time. If he was

key five times.

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The package erupted inside the house. Stainless-steel ball bearings

asunder in an instant. Their flesh was burning seconds after that.

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As always, Callahan looked like an unmade bed: hair

sticking up in tufts like small whitecaps on a gray ocean, a

wrinkled blue suit, an unpressed white shirt. His ash-stained

tie hung at half-mast, and his battered black loafers hadnt

unhealthiest-looking individuals that Anna Mercer had ever known:

blood pressure, high cholesterol, was probably diabetic, and should

She couldnt believe theyd once been lovers.

come across as a corporate lackey. We need someone like whatsher-

name, Aras roommate at NYU.

Carolyn Harris, Mercer said.

Yeah, Harris. She needs to be like Harris. Aggressive, funny, phys-

ical. Sexually, ah...

I was thinking adventurous, not loose. Ara wouldnt find a slut

her to make a subconscious connection.

I guess I could dye my hair, Mercer said, primping her short,

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Nah, youre way too old.

forty-five. And I was joking.

He wasnt sorry; he was tactless.

Mercer couldnt remember if hed been married to wife two or three

atthe time they were sleeping together.

If Harris was available, Id actually try to recruit her, Callahan

instantly relate to.

As Carolyn Harris had died in a car accident a year before, Mercer

saw no point in reminding Callahan that Harris had been a p

So, you got anybody in mind? Callahan asked. We need to get

decided to change the plan.

her training. Why are we even having this conversation?

Maybe I just enjoy your company, Callahan said.

He was such a bullshitterbut it was almost impossible not to

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hand clutching the material between her breasts. As he

hitting Bowmans forearm was like hitting a baseball bat.

move a precursor to his tossing her over his shoulderagainand as

Stop! Simmons said.

Simmons was a tough little nut in his fifties, about five-foot-six,

int-sized version of Superman. He was an exMarine

master sergeant and in charge of the handtohand combat course. For

thirty poundsalmost exactly a hundred pounds more than she did.

On top of that, Kay sensed that Bowman liked to knock women

aroundhis way of demonstrating that they shouldnt be on the same

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Hamilton, Simmons said, how many times do I have to tell you?

intentionally letting Bowman maul her.

outweighed them by a hundred pounds. For that matter, that was

streetout in the real w

Simmons couldnt see his face, Bowman made a smooching gesture

with his lips.

And Kay kicked him in the nuts. As hard as she could.

screaming at her. Well, fuck them both.