Outsourced by R. J. Hillhouse Read Free Book Online

watching a prima ballerina; no matter how highly choreographed, her movements flowed so naturally. Although she appeared delicate, she was steel.
    Stella was a weapon.
    Stella was hot.
    He only wished he were watching her in a girl fight.
    Â 
    â€œI take it that you’re Camille Black,” Kyle said, rubbing his wrist.
    â€œAnd I take it that you’re the Rubicon exec around here.” She inspected the impounded HK .45, pulling out the magazine to check if it was loaded, then shoved it back into the gun. “I know that Rubicon is racing me to job sites to seize huge weapons caches. And I suspect you’re selling them right back to the insurgents.”
    â€œYou can’t prove anything.”
    â€œI’m not a cop—I don’t give a damn about proving anything. I’m a businesswoman—all I care about is making money and eliminating the enemy, preferably both at the same time. And as I see it right now, Rubicon is the enemy.”
    She tossed Hunter the .45 and slammed the door behind her as she left.
    Â 
    Stella, you tease. Hunter laughed to himself as he caught the gun with his left hand. He stuck it away and kept his own weapon aimed at Kyle’s chest.
    â€œFace down, on the floor, asshole. Make any sound and I’ll pop and run.” He reached into his own cargo pockets. He still had zip-ties from earlier in the evening. He fastened Kyle’s arms and legs together, then patted him down, but found no other weapons. “Why are you trying to frame me?”
    â€œYou know you don’t have time to get me to talk. Ashland will be back here any moment.”
    â€œYou’re lying,” Hunter said.
    â€œDoes it matter? You can’t afford that risk.”
    Hunter opened a drawer, found duct tape and slapped a piece over Kyle’s mouth. To make absolutely sure he wouldn’t be yelling for help, he wound several layers of tape around Kyle’s head.
    He turned out the lights and paused for a victory moment in the doorway. “Oh, I almost forgot. Tell the boss I quit.”

Chapter Three
    Before the 1990s privatization push, private firms had periodically been used in lieu of US forces to run covert military policies outside the view of Congress and the public. Examples range from Air America, the CIA’s secret air arm in Vietnam, to the use of Southern Air Transport to run guns to Nicaragua in the Iran/contra scandal. What we are seeing now in Iraq is the overt use of private companies side by side with US forces.
    â€” The Nation , May 20, 2004, as reported by William D. Hartung
    Camp Tornado Point, Anbar Province
    Hunter left the building and stepped into the darkness. Dashing from one shadow to another, he crept along any structure that could conceal his profile. A ditch bag prepared with survival essentials was in his hootch where he had also concealed identity documents behind a picture of a woman who was supposed to be Greg Bolton’s mother. He would grab them, then wake his men with the news of an escaped prisoner roaming the compound so that the ensuing chaos would give him the opportunity he needed to slip away. Standing at the side of a building, he waited for a security guard to turn his head before moving to the next structure.
    He wanted to sprint directly to his trailer, but instead forced himself to take a darker, more circuitous path. He skirted the edges of a wide swath of light and squatted down behind a Humvee to look around and see if anyone had noticed him. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw movement. His hand on the sidearm, he froze, staring into the darkness. After a few minutes, he decided he was imagining things and crawled through the Black Management motor pool, behind a half dozen Humvees and Lincoln Navigators. He stopped and jerked around to listen. An alley cat scurried between the cars. His caution was making him lose too much time. Just then he heard something hit against a Humvee behind him.