As the right hand put the final detail—a period—on the invoice, I noticed the surgical scar on the palm just behind the thumb. This scar appeared to merge with another one that extended from the hand and disappeared under the sleeve cuff. I then began to notice scars on nearly every surface of these hands. Wait, is that a bullet hole scar?

Here I was, thinking I was dealing with a simple pencil pusher, a bean counter, if you will. These scars varied in size and were not all straight; some were puncture holes, while others were surgical scars marked by tiny puncture marks systematically aligned along the main scar. What was evidently a healed bullet hole raised a chilling question: who was I really dealing with—a retired professional killer or someone setting up an unsuspecting target?

Those hands were dangerous, and all I wanted was to get my kids out of there—NOW!