Exclusive prelude to Brett Battles' The Deceived

There are things that happen. Things that people, normal people, will never know about. Things that would shock them if they ever did.

But they won't, because it's my job to make sure those things are never discovered.

My name is Quinn, though that's not the name I was born with. It is the name, though, that I've lived with for over a decade. It's who I've become. Jonathan Quinn, cleaner.

My job is to get rid of things. Specific things. Things that need to be disposed of.

Dead things.

Bodies.

People die everyday. Heart attacks, car wrecks, disease. That's just the way it is. Most are autopsied, and either cremated or embalmed and buried. Friends and family gather at their funerals and memorial services to say goodbye. And even if no one really ever liked them someone would show up: a co-worker, an acquaintance, a preacher.

But there are a few people who are different, people who aren't going to die from natural causes or an accident. These are people who my clients have decided need to be terminated. The reason isn't important. And even if I asked, they'd never tell me.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not the one pulling the trigger. My job starts after the bullet's hit its target. It's getting rid of the body that's my responsibility.

Good work if you can get it, and the pay can be even better. Of course that's because if I get caught, well best case scenario... I'm looking at twenty years to life. Worst case? I'm killed on the spot. So if you don't know what you're doing, you won't last beyond the first job.

I do know what I'm doing. It's not a matter of pride, it's a matter of survival.

My clients tend to be either governmental or independent organizations that work mostly in the world of information gathering and secrets - the espionage world. It's a lot different than it was back in the Cold War era when the CIA and KGB went head-to-head in Africa and Asia and Europe and Latin America, and most everyone else just stood around and watched. Now the world is full of people out for themselves: small nations trying to flex muscles they really don't have, private agencies trying to influence events to line their pockets, and organizations who's mission is to do whatever they can to destabilize the world.

It's an ugly mess. And if you don't know what you're doing, you're dead. And even if you do, you're really just kidding yourself, because one tiny step in the wrong direction and your life is forfeited, too.

The best I can do is take jobs for organizations I trust and hope the groups they are working with can be trusted, too. It's an educated guess, like a crap player who knows how to hold the dice so that he gets the roll he wants, most of the time. I do have a set of personal guidelines, starting first with my comfort level and intuition. I'll also pass on a job from an organization I think might be working against the good of my own country or that of like-minded nations. But like everything else, you can never for sure.

Think my job is easy? I mean, all I have to do is go in, collect, and get out. If I do everything right, I'm done in a few hours and back in my hotel room or on the plane to the next gig.

But things don't always go right. And sometimes I can't go back to that hotel, or get on that plane. And sometimes people get hurt who shouldn't be hurt.

And sometimes I'm the one whose forced to pull the trigger.

One thing you should never doubt: if anyone harms a member of my team, they'd better never sleep again. Because once they close their eyes, I'll be there.

And they'll sleep then.

Forever.

I'm a professional. I'm loyal to my team members and friends. I'm the best at what I do.

And I care more than most people realise.

You can call me Quinn.