After two tours as a recon Marine and one as a Marine F-4 pilot in Vietnam, Jim Lashley was recruited to be a member of the clandestine enforcement arm of Dark Water, a subsidiary of the international security company known as Black Water. Dark Waters sole mission was to deal with any obstacle preventing the parent company from fulfilling its contracts with US government agencies, primarily the CIA. After retiring from the Marines and joining American Airlines as a pilot, he became an assassin for the domestic side of the group that worked solely within the United States. Contracted by various government agencies as well as civilian corporations, Muddy Water resolved issues that were counter to the interest of the government or the company that contracted for their unique skills. Protecting the members of the company from discovery was paramount to ensuring success. Each operation was meticulously planned, and the final solution only authorized after every attempt at resolution had been exhausted. Then the best members of the organization for each assignment were sent in to resolve the issue. This usually resulted in an assassination. Jims position as an airline pilot allowed him to crisscross the United States with relative immunity from scrutiny as he worked with other members of the group that performed the operations. After years spent in eliminating combatants for the government, the transition to the removal of civilian targets for the same government was relatively easy.