Read The First Commandment for Free Online Page A

weapons.
    Harvath knew that the men at the front gate were also strapped; they just kept their iron out of sight. Here, though, Finney’s people were making a very clear show of force. Two men carried H amp;K 416s, while a third held a highly modified Benelli twelve-gauge and never once took his eyes off the passengers in the Hummer. Harvath had no idea where Finney was getting his guards, but he seemed to be doing a damn good job.
    As they pulled away from the checkpoint and drove toward the Sargasso facility, Harvath asked, “Ex SWAT?”
    “Special Forces, actually,” replied Parker.
    Harvath laughed dismissively. “C’mon.”
    “He’s one hundred percent serious,” said Finney.
    “Doing guard duty?”
    “Guard duty is only one of the things they do here,” answered Parker. “They’re on a rotation, so it’s a shift everyone has to pull each month.”
    “I know what those guys make in the private sector. You’ve got some very expensive gatekeepers.”
    Finney smiled. “And worth every penny of it.”
    “But make no mistake,” added Parker. “They’ve got it pretty good here. We’ve got an excellent bonus and compensation package that far outpaces what these guys would be pulling in anywhere else.”
    Harvath looked at Finney, who added, “We don’t even advertise for them anymore. They come to us.”
    The SUV came to a stop in front of the poorly lit entrance of what looked like an old mineshaft.
    Harvath was about to ask where they were when he saw a faded sign hanging over the opening that proclaimed
Sargasso Mining Company.
He was looking at the understated entrance to Finney’s hot new intelligence venture.

Chapter 11
    One hundred feet down the sloping tunnel that led into the Sargasso shaft, Harvath half-expected a tour guide with an authentic miner’s headlamp or a bearded, dust-covered, suspender-wearing actor to appear and regale them with stories of the Old Lucky Seven Mine. At 101 feet, Harvath’s attitude changed.
    He had to give Tim Finney credit. They weren’t greeted by a stainless-steel, pneumatically sealed, hi-tech, James Bond-style door. Instead, it was a door composed of five aged wooden planks with splintered crosspieces that looked ready to fall off its hinges.
    A rather unremarkable sign was nailed to it that stated
Danger. Keep Out.
    Finney produced a set of keys and unlocked a rusted padlock that kept a heavy iron chain in place across the door. He continued to lead down a wide, rough-hewn passageway. The trio followed a set of tracks that Harvath figured must have once been used to haul supplies in and gold out.
    The large tunnel continued sloping gently downward. After another hundred feet the tunnel widened and a series of lights could be seen up ahead.
    When they got there they were greeted by another brace of guards. Though they looked just as serious as the last set of guards, these men simply waved them along.
    “They get a couple hundred feet below ground and your guys start to slack off, don’t they?” Harvath joked.
    Finney and Parker both smiled. “You have no idea how many passive security checks you have gone through on the way down here,” said Parker. “Not only have your body temperature and heart rate been monitored since entering the mine, but we know if you’re carrying any sort of weapon, explosives, powders, liquids, or gels on your person as well.”
    “Everything except whether I’m wearing boxers or briefs,” stated Harvath.
    “We’ve got that too,” replied Finney as he pretended to consult the earpiece attached to his radio. “Apparently, it’s a blue thong with the words
Go Navy
embroidered in sequins.”
    Harvath grinned and gave him the finger. They kept walking until they arrived at a miners-style elevator. Finney raised the grate and they all stepped inside. Removing a keycard from his pocket, Finney swept it through a magnetic reader and then presented his right thumb and pupil for biometric verification. Once he had been