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The Mercenaries · The Operators

2010–2011 . . . McConnell and Oz looking for exits . . . Dave Smith gets caught . . . A South African hit man . . . RX Limited under pressure . . . McConnell's new duties . . . A mental breakdown

Even after all Lachlan McConnell had seen since he started working for Le Roux in 2008, the assassination of Bruce Jones still shocked him. They weren't close friends, but he'd sailed with Jones, who, like him, seemed like the kind of guy who'd just fallen into a lucrative job with a few moral ambiguities attached. They'd shared the adventure of the Mou Man Tai sinking in Indonesia, and McConnell had become friendly with Jones's wife. They didn't deserve that, he thought. But more shocking than the loss was the knowledge of how quickly Le Roux could turn on you, and the ferocity of the revenge he would exact when he did. McConnell had reason to believe he might end up in its crosshairs: His friend and boss Dave Smith had been "borrowing" and spending Le Roux's gold for months, and McConnell had agreed to hold on to some of the proceeds for safekeeping. If someone discovered the stash, he'd have no way to explain it.

The next time he saw Le Roux, McConnell found the nerve to challenge him about Jones's killing. "I said, 'I don't understand why you had that captain killed,'" he recalled later.