Chapter 61
By the time they arrived back in the capital it was late afternoon. Raeburn had driven his Chrysler convertible at breakneck pace down the main highway until they reached the city centre and a tall office tower which was the central command for the armed forces. It was also the location of Argentine State Security. Raeburn was to meet his contact there with Ashby.
In the meantime, unknown to them, the US Ambassador after hearing from Fairweather, had personally rung one of the generals in the junta to ask him to look into the situation. The Ambassador knew from the CIA that the Argentines were preparing to invade the Falklands but feigned ignorance. The message was delicately put to resolve the matter as quietly as possible.
After a short debate, the generals agreed that nothing should alert the British to what was going on in the south of the country. This, in turn, was relayed to the investigators.
At a reception room where spirits decanters sat on a side table, Raeburn did the introductions while pouring the drinks.
“Robert, this is Major Dominguez. I’ve told him all about your problem and about the documents you were given yesterday.”
Dominguez had a feared reputation in the security service. Raeburn had trained him as his protégé.
“Senor Ashby, you must understand this is a serious problem for us. Here, we are fighting a civil war against communist revolutionaries. They want to take over the country. The Cubans are supporting them. We do not want this – the people do not want this. And the socialists will do anything to cause us trouble. Now, I understand that you were given some documents yesterday by a woman who is with the Marxistas. These papers belong to us and we want them returned.”
“But what happened to the woman who was arrested ? Did she tell you what it was all about ?”
“You must leave that to us – it does not concern you.”
“Well, in view of what’s happened, I would like to speak to the British Embassy and request diplomatic assistance. May I call them ?”
“Senor Ashby, this is a security matter – it must be resolved here.”
“I would still like to speak to someone from the Embassy.”
“That will not be possible. Senor, you must co-operate fully with us. I do not wish to have to place you in a cell....”
At this point, Raeburn got up and suggested that he and Dominguez step outside for a chat. Once out of the room, they walked down the corridor, speaking in a half-whisper.
“Listen, we don’t want all of this to blow up in our faces, do we ? What have you done with the girl ? You haven’t.......?”
“No, not yet. She refuses to tell us how she got the file and who gave it to her. Some officers in the army say there is an informer in the military council. That someone is a traitor. Others say the documents were bait for the Montodores guerrillas. And others say that the papers are nothing, that they do not matter. I do not know who to believe – they are all such fools.”
“The problem is, the longer this goes on, it’s going to delay everything. You know they’re sailing for South Georgia tonight ? They say they’ll be there the day after tomorrow. Then, after they raise the flag, there’ll be an almighty eruption. If the British find out about it now, Washington will lean on us to close it down. I’d have to tell the generals to call the whole thing off. Either that or you could have British warships here before you know it – and Washington could be helping them.”
“It would take the British weeks to get here.”
“That doesn’t matter. We just don’t want this to go wrong, do we ? We’ve put in an awful lot of work on it. And a lotta people are waiting for the go-ahead. We don’t want our scheme to be wrecked, do we ? We want to keep the British out of this – period. If they find out about it.....well, I think we’d have to stop everything. Anyway, tell me this – does anyone in the army know what they’re doing ? Have they gone loco ?”
“I do not know, my friend – we continue our enquiries and question the officers. They will be punished, I can assure you.”
“Hmm. We don’t want the US Ambassador or this guy’s boss in Texas – who, by the way, does plenty of business in Argentina – or the British finding out about it, do we ? And we want the South Georgia landing to go off on time. So, why not just kick him out of the country as soon as you get the papers ?”
“Of course – but has he read them ?”
“It won’t matter whether he has or not. And what about the girl ? What are you going to do with her ?”
“She will tell us if there are infiltrators in the government. If there are, we must find them and root them out. So far, she has not talked. But in the end, she will. In the end, they always talk.”
“Why don’t you let her go, follow her, find their cell and break it up ?”
“She has many places to hide. We might lose her.”
“It would be the easiest way to deal with both of them.”
“I will consider it. I am under orders to settle this quietly. If we let her go, we must be sure she leads us to their base in the mountains.”
“Listen, why don’t you leave that to me. The real problem is if we hold things up now, it could kill the invasion plan. If we let them go, I could slow them down and it will be too late for them to do anything – even if he told the British all about it. And anyway, we can deal with them later.”
“You think we only have this one chance for the invasion and we must take it now ?”
“That’s what I think.”
“Then we will let them go for the moment – we can deport him back to Houston....”
“I can set something up when I get back there – maybe a car accident.....and her ?”
“We will let her run and she will show us how the Cubans supply the Montoneros with arms. One moment – I will ring downstairs and tell them to let her find her way out – it must look like an escape.”
After Dominguez finished making his call, Raeburn said “Let’s give him the news. Make up some sort of story to keep him quiet.”
Ashby had pretended to be going over some business papers while awaiting the outcome. He’d surmised what they were likely to have discussed and was ready for them.
After returning to the room, Raeburn drank his whisky in one go.
“Robert, I’m pleased to tell you that Major Dominguez here is willing to overlook what has happened. It would be advisable however, for you to leave the country. And you must, of course surrender the papers.”
“How did you know about the meeting in the cafe ?” he asked Dominguez. “It was a set-up, wasn’t it ? The documents are about nothing, aren’t they ? They were a plant. You just wanted to capture her.”
Dominguez looked at Raeburn and then said, “Very well, Senor Ashby, as you have guessed everything, I tell you the truth.” He lit a cigarette and poured himself some whisky before continuing. “We in State Security, we are separated from the military and the government. The army found there was an informer in the military council. He is a leftist. They decided to use him to capture the enemies of our regime. Some officers in the army gave him access to, what had the appearance of, classified documents. But really, they are pure fiction – a product of the imagination. Of course, they had to look real in order to fool him. A week ago, he gave them to the woman, Rosa Serrano. Her brother was with the Montoneros guerrillas. The army has searched for them for a long time. They tried to discover the network of communist traitors and informers. The socialists are not patriotic like us. They use any opportunity to compromise our government. So, you are right, Senor Ashby, the papers only look important – but now they must be returned to us – they are part of our security operation.”
“Here – take them,” said Ashby, removing an envelope from his coat pocket. “I’m glad to be rid of them.”
Dominguez opened the envelope, took out the wad of documents and flicked through them, while eyeing Ashby.
“Have you read them ?”
“I don’t speak the language..
..”
“And you have not taken any copies ?”
“No.”
“Bien. In view of this incident, I will recommend to our government that you leave Buenos Aires – I suggest you go soon.”
“I’ll go today.”
Just then, the phone rang and Dominguez began having a heated conversation with someone at the other end. Finally, after yelling something in Spanish to the caller, he slammed the receiver down, made for the door and yelled at Raeburn “She has escaped.”
Plantation A Legal Thriller Page 61