The Naked Edge (51 page)

“Quite a few phone calls, yes. You'll receive an itemized bill now that you can afford my services again. Of course, you'll need to downsize Global Protective Services considerably, but I suspect you prefer it that way.”

“As long as it allows me to protect people who deserve it but can't afford me.” Cavanaugh felt Jamie squeeze his hand.

“Whatever you want. It's your company,” William said.

“And Jamie's.”

“Yes,” Rutherford said. “I've seen first-hand that she's an excellent protector.”

Cavanaugh studied him. “So are
you
, John. You helped save my life. Thank you.”

Rutherford thought about it and shrugged. “That's what friends do.”

I'm indebted to many operators who have first-hand experience in the high-risk activities depicted here and who were kind enough to teach me. To the best of my knowledge, much of their tradecraft (the bug-out bag and the use of twist ties for searching vehicles, for example) has not appeared in fiction before. My thanks to the following:

Linton Jordahl, former U.S. marshal. The U.S. Marshals Service ranks with the Secret Service and the Diplomatic Security Service as one of the premier protective units of the United States government.

Don Rosche and Bruce Reichel of the Bill Scott Raceway's Executive Training course. Various U.S. government agencies, including the Diplomatic Security Service, send their personnel to BSR to learn defensive and offensive driving techniques.

Lt. Dave Spaulding of Ohio's Montgomery County Sheriff's Department. His unit contributed to the high-level of security for the 1995 Dayton (Bosnian) Peace Accords. He is one of America's foremost firearms instructors. In addition to giving me invaluable lessons, he arranged for me to attend sessions of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. See his
Handgun Combatives
and
Defensive Living
, the latter co-written with retired CIA operations officer Ed Lovette.

Marcus Wynne, former paratrooper with the Eighty-Second Airborne, former federal air marshal, and one of the few thriller novelists who knows what he's writing about. See his
No Other Option
,
Warrior in the Shadows
, and
Brothers in Arms
. Marcus was one of my literature students when I was a professor at the University of Iowa. Years later, he returned the favor and taught me many aspects of the world of high-risk operators.

Dan “Rock” Myers, former member of U.S. Special Operations/military intelligence and former contract officer for the Diplomatic Security Service.

Dennis Martin of CQB Services. He teaches VIP protection in some of the most dangerous places in the world and introduced me to the close-quarter-combat theories of W. E. Fairbairn.

Scott Reitz, primary firearms instructor for the Los Angeles police department's elite Metropolitan Division. Visit
www.internationaltactical.com
.

Tom Evans of Sotheby's International Realty in Jackson, Wyoming. Only four percent of the Teton valley is available for private ownership. I needed an expert to help me find Cavanaugh a home, finally locating it in the northeast corner of Jackson Hole, near Turpin Meadow.

Barbara and Richard Montross for refreshing my fond memories of Iowa City and Willow Creek Park.

Jake Eagle, practitioner trainer in neuro-linguistic programming. The “visualization” theory dramatized in
The Naked Edge
and practiced by some elite military units is a good example of NLP, as is my main character's habit of manipulating verb tenses in order to reduce stress. Years ago, when I learned that the CIA and other intelligence services require NLP as part of their training, I took certification classes in it.

Steve Shackleford, editor of
Blade
magazine.

Knife makers Gil Hibben, Joe Keeslar, Jimmy Lile, Al Mar, Chris Reeve, and Michael Vagnino.

Ernest Emerson. In addition to being one of the best manufacturers of tactical knives (several of his blades are featured in this novel), Ernest is also a top-level knife instructor who works with various elite military and law-enforcement units. My ineptitude was entirely to blame when I took one of his courses (trying to play with the big boys) and broke my collarbone.

Larry Haight and Paul Dwyer of Sierra Aviation flight school in Santa Fe. My research into flying finally motivated me to get a pilot's license.

If I presented the details correctly, my teachers deserve the credit, but if there are mistakes, I'm solely to blame.

David Morrell              

Santa Fe, New Mexico

As Carl Duran indicates in this novel, many contemporary knife makers were inspired by
The Iron Mistress
, a 1952 film in which Alan Ladd portrays legendary frontiersman, Jim Bowie. No one knows exactly what Bowie's knife looked like, but blades in the so-called Bowie style survive from the eighteen hundreds, and one of those was used as a model for the knife used in the film. Imposing yet elegant with a silver guard and a brass back, collar, and cap, it's so photogenic that it was chosen for other Hollywood projects:
The Last Command
, the Alamo scenes of Walt Disney's
Davy Crockett
,
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
TV series, and John Wayne's
The Alamo
. Film-production illustrator Joseph Musso owns every prop knife used in
The Iron Mistress
and makes them available to knife makers, some of whom copied the design, adding their own refinements. Photographs of the original and an interpretation can be seen after this section.

The Naked Edge
also refers to the celebrated period of knife creation that occurred in San Francisco from the 1850s to the 1880s. Knives by Hugh McConnell and Will & Finck have been described as “the most exotic, the most costly, and the most beautiful ever produced in the United States.” But those by Michael Price are considered the best. In 2003, one of his knives sold at auction for almost $100,000. To see photographs of Price's work, read Bernard R. Levine's fascinating
Knifemakers of Old San Francisco
. For contemporary copies, go to
www.sanfranciscoknives.com
. My favorites are by Steven Rapp, Buster Warenski, and Gil Hibben (the latter designed the knives for the films
Rambo III
and
Rambo
). There, you will also find the most expensive of all contemporary blades, valued at over a half million dollars, Warenski's solid-gold replica of King Tut's dagger, photographs of which are included after this section.

The names of William Scagel, “Bo” Randall, Bill Moran, Bob Loveless, Jimmy Lile, and other famous blade makers have been sprinkled throughout this novel. Photographs of their work are available in Gérard Pacella's
100 Legendary Knives
. Lile designed the knives for the films
First Blood
and
Rambo (First Blood Part II)
, causing such a widespread interest in knives that a near-bankrupt blade industry was revitalized. Pacella's book also contains photographs of the Fairbairn-Sykes combat knife, the secret knife, and the Gurkhas’ khukri.

Numerous examples of the khukri design and the enigmatic notch at the base of its blade can be viewed at
www.nepalesekhukuri.com
. Fine-art versions of the khukri can be viewed at
www.jayfisher.com
.

Cavanaugh's La Griffe and CQC-7 tactical folder are featured at
www.emersonknives.com
.

Thanks to Nanci Kalanta, Phil Lobred, Bernard R. Levine, Linda Hibben, Jay Fisher, Mike Carter (
cartercrafts.com
), and Eric and Beth Eggly for helping me assemble the fascinating photographs you are about to see.

The most expensive knife in the world. Buster Warenski's solid-gold replica of King Tut's dagger (Courtesy of Phil Lobred)

Closer view of Buster Warenski's 32-ounce gold replica of King Tut's dagger with both sides of the sheath. The project took five years. (Courtesy of Phil Lobred)

Michael Price knife, Old San Francisco, 1850. Walrus ivory handle and silver sheath. (Courtesy of Phil Lobred
sanfranciscoknives.com
)

Michael Price gold and silver knife, 1865. (Photo (c) Bernard Levine, from
Knifemakers of Old San Francisco
)

Gil Hibben's interpretation of an 1865 Michael Price knife. This is the knife used on the cover of
The Naked Edge
.