“Right,” said Renee.
“So what is Maljab Tactical? Remind me.”
“Maljab Tactical is a small subsidiary of Bear Security Group. Do you know who they sell to?”
“Who?”
“To Muslim extremist militias. One of their biggest clients is the Islamic State. Maljab is basically a Russian-owned mercenary group that trains jihadist fighters. It’s made up of mostly Uzbek fighters — along with other mercenaries from Muslim-majority Russian Caucasus republics.”
“So they’re Russian private security consultants who work specifically for jihadists?”
“Pretty much. There’s a lot of money flowing into these groups from wealthy radicals in the Middle East. Hiring companies like Maljab Tactical is seen as a great return on investment, rather than just giving the money to the groups directly.”
Max said, “Because a professional defense contractor like Maljab makes these groups much more effective.”
“Exactly.”
Max nodded. “Yes. Now I remember them. Maljab Tactical was in Syria and Iraq. They improved Islamic State’s recruiting numbers by managing their social network outreach — they made ads similar to what you would see from a Fortune 500 company. And they improved their combat effectiveness by giving them top-notch weapons training.”
Renee said, “And Maljab Tactical is part of Bear Security Group. Bear Security Group is owned by a wealthy Russian named Pavel Morozov. You said you know of him. What do you know?”
Max said, “My work over the past few years has primarily been in Europe and the Middle East. As CEO of Bear Security Group, Morozov is head of one of the largest private armies in the world, and the largest mercenary group in Russia. They do all the Russians’ dirty work in places like Syria and Ukraine. I encountered Morozov only once, but it was enough. It was in Syria.”
“What happened in Syria?”
“I did some work with a US military task force there. Special Forces types. Whenever we did work in Syria, we had to be careful. We didn’t want to get into a shootout with the Russians who were operating there. They were well trained and well armed. And starting a gunfight with them could have led to bigger and worse fighting between Russian and US forces. Oftentimes Bear Security Group was working alongside the Russian military. We had to treat them the same.”
“What were you doing there?” Renee said.
“A meeting. Making an introduction between a rebel group and an arms dealer. The US wasn’t willing to officially sell arms to this group, but we still wanted them armed. My man was seen as the workaround. But this Syrian rebel group was unstable. A junior varsity team.” Max sighed. “When it happened, we could see a lot of it from the windows.”
“When what happened?”
Max nodded. “So one day when I was there, a few local fighters who were in this rebel group — they were nothing more than teenagers — made the mistake of going head to head with the Russians.”
Renee raised an eyebrow. “I can’t imagine that ended well.”
“It didn’t. Bear Security Group was there — embedded with the local Russian military unit. They took turns going out with the Syrian military when they did security patrols. Morozov himself was in the country, visiting his operational commanders.
“The teenage fighters from the rebel group took one of the Syrian security patrols hostage. Only three hostages, but they were soldiers. Shortly after, a few more of the rebels came in to reinforce the two idiots who started it all. I don’t think they really wanted to be there, but it was too late at that point. Two of the hostages were Syrian Army. But one of the hostages was one of the Russian mercenaries. Big mistake.”
“What did the Russians do?”
“Morozov moved dozens of his men into the area, clearing out all the civilians for blocks around. The Syrian Army showed up and tried to take control, but Morozov told them to piss off. He didn’t want anyone to see or interfere with what he was about to do.”
“Even the Syrian Army?”
Max took a sip of his water. “Even them. When the rebels saw they were surrounded by well-armed men, they sent out a list of demands. They thought they could negotiate. I don’t think they thought they would be dealing with the Russians. They expected Syrian Army or government representatives to come.”
“So what happened?”
“Morozov had his men sweep the local area. He got the names of the rebels — the men who’d taken the hostages. Then he had his men find their families.”
Renee shook her head.
“Morozov instructed his men to begin cutting off limbs of family members and sending them inside to the Syrians.”
Renee gasped and placed her hand over her mouth.
“The Syrian rebels started pleading to negotiate. Never a good sign. They sent one of the hostages out for nothing in return, hoping it would be a sign of good faith. They told the Russians they would lay down their weapons and release everyone else. They were begging the Russians to let them surrender.”
“What did Morozov do?”
“He accepted. Then he waited until they came outside and laid down their arms. I remember seeing the Syrian rebels standing there, unarmed and dumbfounded. Waiting. Morozov stood twenty feet away, flanked by his commandos. Then he walked up to the group of hostages — the two Syrians and the one Russian — and executed them. The Syrian rebels just stared at him in disbelief. Morozov shot the hostages. Including his own man.”
“What? Why?”
“He said it was a message to anyone else who worked for him, never to put themselves in that position of weakness. He then killed all but one remaining family member of each of the Syrian rebels. The rebels were forced to watch. When Morozov was finished, he let the rebels leave, unharmed. He told them that if they ever did anything like this again, he would finish the job and kill the remaining relative. I heard from someone else once that leaving a single family member alive was a sort of calling card. He believed it was the great deterrent. Anyone thinking of seeking revenge on him would just have to look at their one living family member, and they would stand down.”
“He is… evil.”
“Yes, Renee. He is.”
Max got up and sat at the edge of the pool, dipping his feet in. “Okay. Thinking out loud here. Walk me through this. So far, you’ve linked the cyber group that located us in Georgia to Maljab Tactical.”
“I believe so, yes.”
“And Maljab Tactical is a subdivision of Bear Security Group.”
“Right.”
“Bear Security Group is the big one. Pavel Morozov’s outfit. The largest Russian mercenary organization, filled with Russian ex-military special forces types.”
“That’s correct.”
“And we just got attacked by guys who fit that description. Russian ex-military.”
“Yes.”
“And you think these people are related to that small-time outfit that tried to kill me in France? The two men.”
“All I have to go on is that they’re Russian, they’re dirty, and they tried to kill you — but I’m picking up a definite theme here. Are you?”
“Bear with me,” Max said. “Sometimes I need to be hit on the head by a hammer to see it. This is all helpful, Renee, but it doesn’t answer a key question — why?”
“Why are there Russians trying to kill you, or why did they try to set you up for sabotaging your father’s company?” Renee asked. “Because assuming that we are talking about the same entity, they seem to have changed strategies. They don’t seem to want you alive anymore.”