Jack Gretsky was a former CIA agent who worked with former DEA agent Martin "Marty" Castillo in Southeast Asia, especially in the "Golden Triangle" region, and was thought to have been killed in the ambush by other CIA agents, but was not, and moved on to other assignments. Gretsky was an agent of the highest priority, very skilled in killing by stealth. In the late 1970s, Gretsky was working in Russia when he met and fell in love with Laura, a KGB agent. They married and had a son, Marty (named for Castillo), and was able to get his family out of Russia, however this action caused Russian agents to be sent after them. Gretsky was spending time killing enemy agents ("closing outstanding accounts"), and catching attention of CIA agents Hardin and Carter (who thought he had "turned") when he