nately, his home country had universal healthcare. Coverage in- cluded not just the surgery but his salary: fully paid for the first year after the accident, then 80 percent the second, 60 percent the third. Klaussen figured he could make the money last back in the Philippines. So he headed back to Baloy to spend his days lounging on the government's dime.

By late 2006, the end of this arrangement was on the horizon. But this time Klaussen, now in his late twenties, was determined not to slink back home. He'd fallen in love with a Filipina woman he would eventually marry, and would need a local job if he wanted to stay. An old friend who also lived in the Philippines, Chris De Meyer, who had served in the French Foreign Legion, told Klaussen he was working security for a rich man in Manila. The boss was some kind of Internet mogul whom De Meyer knew only as Johan. "Ask him if he could use anyone else," Klaussen told his friend.

A few months later, Klaussen was summoned to meet Dave Smith. He made the three-hour drive to Manila and they convened at Sid's, an expat-friendly pub owned by Johan just outside the city's red-light district. Smith asked Klaussen a few questions about his military and work experience, and seemed particularly in- trigued that Klaussen had once run a home renovation business. "Okay, tomorrow let's go see Johan," Smith told him.

The next morning Klaussen arrived at Salcedo Park Twin Towers in Makati City, the high-end business quarter. He took the elevator up to the penthouse, where three guards manning the door searched him for weapons. What the hell is this guy all about? Klaussen thought to himself. Inside, Smith introduced him to Johan, a heavy- set man with dyed-blond hair, sloppily dressed. In the room there were a table with four chairs, a sofa, a plasma TV. The rest of the condo was largely unfurnished, and appeared uninhabited. "I started to realize that this guy is ready to pack every single mo- ment of the day," Klaussen said. "That's why he lives like that. He's just ready to pack up and go."