Dave opened the file marked TOP SECRET. It contained the records on Matt S. Thomas, the first young man sent to the Anderson Ranch. Thomas was born in Kansas City in May of 1938. His mother died in childbirth and the fathers whereabouts were unknown.

The boy came to the attention of the Pied Piper Program in 1953 and was sent to the Anderson Ranch in January of 1954.. Dave read the progress reports.

Thomas fitness reports stated he responded well to training, but had a tendency to be paranoid and somewhat unpredictable. Hed gone to the University of Southern California and graduated in the top five percent of his class, majoring in political science, with a minor in Asian studies. Spoke fluent Korean, Chinese and Spanish.

There had been a couple incidents during his freshman year at USC. Hed broken the arm of a would-be pick pocket while at a movie. Of more interest to Dave was the run in with the motorcycle club over a girl.

According to the police report, Thomas put six bikers in the hospital, two in critical condition. Witnesses reported a woman employee was being taken from a local burger restaurant against her will. Thomas stepped in to help the woman and was assaulted by members of the club. He began an attack that onlookers described as astonishing. One man said it was like watching something out of a Chinese karate movie. The report stated that members of the gang suffered from assorted broken bones and bleeding from various body parts. Because of the origin of the incident, Thomas wasnt charged, but the District Attorney warned him that, in future, he should use proper control and avoid such situations.

Thomas was recruited by the CIA in June of 1960 and was in the top of his class at the Farm. He was sent to Guatemala in October of 1960 to work with the Cuban exiles. In April of the following year, he was sent into Cuba with a small team of Cuban exiles for reconnaissance. Four days after entering the country, he was taken prisoner by the Cuban Army, but escaped and made his way to the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay. It was noted that Thomas later blamed President Kennedy for the death of three other agents and many good Cubans with whom hed fought.

Dave stared at the next line, catching his breath. There was a possibility Thomas was involved in President Kennedys assassination?

Dave got up and got a drink of water, walked over to the window and stared out. Hed always thought there were at least two marksmen. Hed studied the film closely. It showed the presidents head being knocked backward from the blow of the shot. That would require a shot from the opposite direction as the one fired by Oswald. Dave went back to the file.

There was the fact that Thomas blamed Kennedy for the deaths of his friends. Thomas had the ability to do the job. Intelligence showed hed arrived in Dallas on November 20th and had a seat on an outgoing United flight to Miami on November 22nd at 1630 hours.

Dave thought about it. Oswald takes the rap and Thomas slips under the radar screen and is out of town before anyone is the wiser. That might be one explanation of why the powers-that-be stuck with the single gunman theory. He could imagine them trying to explain to the public the possibility an American CIA agent decided to blow away the President of the United States. Then, too, there would have been an investigation into the agents past, where he came from... it could blow open the entire Pied Piper Project. And then the shit would really hit the fan, Dave thought.

Given the suspicions, four sweeper teams, consisting of two men each, were sent to either bring in Agent Thomas or terminate him. Seven of the team members were killed and one was in the hospital for two months. The surviving agent, Allen Kay, told investigators Thomas left him alive, so he could tell them what happened.

Kays report was included in the file.

We tracked him to the predominantly Cuban area of Hialeah, a suburb of Miami. The teams moved in, maintaining contact at all times, coordinating our movements with each other. And then, it was like he came out of nowhere. Three agents were dead, before any of us could even react. Then, he disappeared, before anyone could get off a shot.

About thirty seconds went by and Jeffries took a knife in the side of his neck. We started to panic and Team Three started to fire blind. That was Dawson and Alexander. Their shots killed my partner, Danny Edwards. I hit the deck just in time to see Dawsons head land on the ground. There was this wild-eyed lunatic standing behind his falling body, with a thin wire in his hand. He took Dawsons head clean off.

Alexander fired his weapon and it seemed like Agent Thomas just dodged it, just a slight movement of his body, and Alexander missed. In the space of a heartbeat, Thomas kicked Alexanders weapon out of his hand and, with an almost casual motion, snapped his neck. Thomas had Alexanders gun and fired. I took a round in my right elbow and dropped my weapon. He then shot me in both knees. He stood there and said to me, Im going to let you live, so you can tell the garbage at the agency to either leave me alone or send someone who can get the job done. Tell the director, or whoever will listen, the next time they send a hit squad after me, Ill get that bald-headed Texas asshole they got in the White House, too.

Thomas walked away, kicking Dawsons head into the gutter.