Confirmed that General Terrence Sanderson founded program. Seeking additional details.
Areas of focus for investigative cross reference: Serbia (1990's), Columbia (1990's), Russia (1990's), Mexico (1990's), Afghanistan (1990's).
All subjects trained extensively in following skill areas: hand to hand combat, edged weapons, urban combat, undercover operations, sabotage, field espionage, improvised combat, deception and disguise, marksmanship, explosives, forgery, extreme conditions survival. Each subject given custom specialized training in skill areas deemed most appropriate to assigned areas of operation. Most common specialized skills include: sniper operations, electronic surveillance, computer networking, advanced urban combat, improvised explosives, security systems manipulation, narcotics manufacturing.
Consider subjects highly dangerous and unusually capable of escape or evasion. Recommend use of highly trained, tactical law enforcement teams for apprehension or pursuit. Do not underestimate subjects' capabilities.
Subjects sent to operate undercover, without support for extensive periods of time (2–3 years). Fatality rate for program graduates in operational assignments: 30 % first year, 40 % second year. No graduates are known to have survived third year.
Sharpe leaned back in his chair and processed the information. Everything squared with Munoz's description of Sanderson's covert operations program, but the implication burrowed much deeper, and Sharpe wasn't sure he wanted to turn this rock over for a look underneath. The information contained on these two sheets might be enough to shed the appropriate amount of light on today's events, and allow him to figure out if a further danger existed.
His own task force's investigation was permanently destroyed, but he might still have a chance to turn this into an opportunity. If a deeper conspiracy lurked beneath the surface, his team might possibly be able to stand at the vanguard of a new, permanent investigation. But first, he needed to convince the director that the week wouldn't end in a spectacular, mass casualty attack on the United States. To do this, he needed to capture another Black Flag operative. Munoz had a deal, although Sharpe had no intention of releasing him yet.
Special Agent O'Reilly yelled across the room. "Sir, we have a preliminary picture coming up in a few seconds," she said, and leaned into a screen between two busy data techs.
Sharpe stood up and took a few steps back from the bank of plasma screen monitors.
"We're linking it to the map, sir. A few more seconds," said O'Reilly.
The center screen still displayed the same map of the East Coast, with each murder site identified by an icon and a few lines of information. The screens flanking the map contained investigative information linked to each scene. So far, very little physical evidence had been recovered at any of the sites, emphasizing the sheer luck surrounding the capture of Munoz in Newport. The assassins had vanished like ghosts, leaving nothing behind. If Munoz had stepped on a different rock in the darkness, Sharpe would have very likely spent the next several days staring up at an unchanging screen, watching his career crumble.
The display blinked, and Sharpe watched new icons begin to populate the screen from north to south. He counted eleven new icons, and immediately saw a pattern. One icon riveted his attention.
"Can you zoom in on the area surrounding Cape Elizabeth, Maine? Send it to one of the other screens. O'Reilly?" he said, waving for her to join him.
The same map appeared on the screen to the right, and zoomed into New England, continuing to a small coastal area in southern Maine.
"There!" said Sharpe, and the map stopped moving.
O'Reilly stood a few feet behind Sharpe, to his left.
"Jesus," she whispered, and Sharpe nodded in agreement.
The map showed two icons, each on the opposite side of the screen, but within the same metropolitan area. The icon on the far right, at the water's edge, was one of their murder scenes. The other, buried within Portland, Maine, contained a name. Daniel Petrovich.
"What's the distance between the two?" he said.
Before he finished the sentence, the techs answered on the screen with a line connecting the two icons. 5.9 miles. He turned to O'Reilly and spoke softly.
"I want to know everything there is to know about Daniel Petrovich. Notify our Maine team, and start the ball rolling for a coordinated local law enforcement search and apprehension. Our Boston based SWAT team is occupied with Munoz, and won't be available to assist. We'll have to rely on local and state SWAT. Based on Petrovich's profile, make sure they understand that this is a high risk apprehension, and that the teams need to focus on nonlethal methods. This is critical to national security. I'll work on the warrant."
"Understood, sir," she said, and disappeared again.
Sharpe returned his focus to the center screen, counting at least eleven former Black Flag operatives, including Munoz, within reasonable driving distance of the crime scenes. He suddenly had doubts about Daniel Petrovich. Why would General Sanderson use someone so close to one of the targets? All of the other operatives lived at least an hour or more away, which would make them less obvious suspects. For the Maine assassination, Sanderson even had the option of an operative living in Concord, New Hampshire, about two hours away.
Then again, Sharpe wondered why the general would use anyone near the East Coast all. If Munoz lived in Denver, Colorado, his task force would be forced to consider every Black Flag operative within the U.S. However, Munoz's proximity to the target suggested otherwise. Sanderson may have called others in from around the country, but it was clear that this was not the rule. Sharpe's best chance lay with the eleven operatives listed on the screen. Before he could finish his thought, six more Black Flag operatives appeared throughout the Midwest.
"That's it, sir. That's the list," said Agent O'Reilly.
"What do you mean that's it?" he said, walking toward her workstation.
"Half of the names on the list turned up with known last addresses dating back into the early nineties. I'll still work up full packages on them, but I thought it would confuse the overall picture on the screen right now," she said.
"Good call. None of these names extend past the Mississippi. What about the rest of the country?" asked Sharpe.
"If you want my guess, I'd say we didn't get the entire list."
"Damn it. Weber," he yelled across the room, "request more detailed information on each of these names. Priority goes to the ones on the East Coast. Also, request the full list of names. This can't be all of them."
Weber gave him a "thumbs up" from across the room, and went to work at his computer station, as Sharpe glanced back at the screen and grimaced. He would have to coordinate a simultaneous strike on all ten remaining locations. He had no idea if any of them were in communication with each other, but he couldn't risk raising a general alarm among General Sanderson's co-conspirators. All he needed to do was catch one of them, and he should be able to move the investigation forward. He also needed to talk with Mendoza immediately. He needed more details about the operative in Portland, Maine. Daniel Petrovich. Sanderson was arrogant, and if he used Petrovich for the Cape Elizabeth hit like Sharpe hoped, it would prove to be a big mistake.