The Executioner's Game Read Online Free PDF Page B

killed a batch of marines, it was Kilmer who planned the counterresponse that brought about the deaths of fifty suspected enemies over the next two years. The operation was methodical, flawless, and untraceable. It wasn’t long before the bureaucrats came calling, and Kilmer was sent into the CIA. He served in various capacities, including as Director of Intelligence. When he was asked to become the head of E-1, he accepted the assignment without hesitation.
    Kilmer had never married, and although he’d kept company with many women over the years, he led a solitary life. The job was his woman, people said behind his back, and it was true. Kilmer Gray was married to E-1, and it was for better or worse and until death.
    â€œYou’ll be happy to know that the Haklim agent you captured in Stockholm gave us vital information,” said Kilmer, sitting down and motioning Luther to do the same. “Mr. Hampton is quite efficient in using drugs to extract information.”
    â€œYes, he is good,” said Luther, sitting.
    Luther didn’t ask what the information was, nor did he inquire about what had become of the third man. It was not his job to know such things. He’d completed his mission, and that was all he’d been paid to do. But he couldn’t help thinking that the Haklim agent had been drained of all useful information and then shipped off to the holding facility in the Philippines, where he would eventually be eliminated cleanly.
    â€œAlex Deavers is alive,” said Kilmer flatly.
    Luther was shocked. He straightened in his chair and did his best to play down his emotions. Kilmer was not one to mince words, and he relished getting to the point. If Luther knew Kilmer, the fact that Alex was alive was just the first part of the matter.
    Alex Deavers had brought Luther into E-1, had trained him and eventually become one of his best friends. When Alex was reported to be dead, Luther had taken the news hard. But that was the life, he’d told himself. He was prepared at any time for thedeath of any of the men and women he knew in the business. Still, he had never worried much about Alex. He was one of the agency’s best operatives and had cheated death many times. Apparently he’d done it at least once more.
    â€œWhere is he?” asked Luther in a measured tone.
    â€œThat’s part of why you’re here. I want you to go after the wolf. Will you?” “Wolf” was the agency term for a rogue agent.
    â€œYes, sir,” said Luther. He did not hesitate. If Kilmer sensed any reluctance, he’d refuse to give him the assignment. Kilmer had obviously thought about the fact that Luther and Alex had a close relationship and the duality it created. Luther was emotionally invested, but he also knew the man well and would be good at anticipating Alex’s moves.
    Kilmer pushed a button on the lip of his desk, and a two-sided flat-panel monitor popped up. The monitor showed the mission file.
    â€œâ€˜Alex Deavers, E-1 agent, was blown from the transport of the now-deceased secretary of commerce, Donald Howard, on February fifteenth,’” Kilmer began reading. The official story was that the secretary was killed by terrorist sympathizers and that everyone involved had died. “Deavers’s cover had been established six months before with the Secret Service. Another Secret Service agent named Gorman was unaccounted for that day,” Kilmer continued. “We had first believed that Gorman was dead. But we were mistaken. We then assumed that Gorman was paid to assassinate the secretary. Deavers beat us to that assumption and landed in Germany. He found Gorman in a private home, then tortured and killed him. We got a security photo of Deavers from a train station in Berlin.”
    â€œDid he get information from Gorman?” asked Luther.
    â€œAgain, presumably,” said Kilmer.
    â€œSo whatever Gorman knew, we’ll never know,” said