"I'll have a word with Director Schmidt the first chance I have."
"Today would be nice, sir. As soon as we get off the phone would be even better."
"That important, eh? Consider it done. Will you spell that name for me, please?"
Castillo did so.
"Got it," Montvale said.
"That's all I have, sir, until I can get to Washington and brief you fully."
"The sooner you can do that, the better."
"Yes, sir. I understand."
"We still have the matter of exploding briefcases to deal with, you know. I find that quite worrisome."
"Yes, sir. So do I. And I'll get on that as soon as I can."
"Good to hear from you, Charley."
"Always a pleasure to talk to you, sir," Castillo said and clicked the phone. When the operator came on, he told her, "Break it down," then hung up.
He looked at Ambassador Silvio.
"Ambassador Montvale gave me everything I asked for," Castillo said. "And no static. Why does that make me very nervous?"
Ambassador Silvio smiled but didn't reply directly.
"They're waiting for us in the living room," he said. [FOUR] Artigas, Solez, Munz, Santini, and Yung, talking quietly among themselves while cooling their heels on two of the couches, got to their feet as Castillo and Ambassador Silva came into the room. The look on Artigas's face reminded Castillo of what he'd said about him being "an unexpected problem" just before getting on the secure line to Montvale.
He knows I was talking to someone about him. But the look on his face is concern, not fear. He is concerned about what the great and all-powerful Colonel Castillo has had to say about him-but not afraid.
He knows he's done nothing wrong, so why should he be afraid?
I think I like this guy. Let's see how smart he is.
"Okay, Artigas," Castillo said, "why don't you tell me what you think you have figured out about what may have happened down here?"
Artigas was visibly unhappy about being ordered to do that.
"It's all right, Mr. Artigas," Ambassador Silvio said. "What you say will get no further than this room, and it's important to Colonel Castillo and myself to know how much highly classified information may have been deduced or intuited by you."
"Yes, sir," Artigas said and proceeded to clearly outline his suspicions and the conclusions he had drawn from them and why.
Castillo was very impressed with how much Artigas had "deduced or intuited."
This guy is very smart. He's figured out just about everything that went down-except, of course, who the Ninjas were or where they came from. And nobody knows that.
The downside of that, of course, is that if he's figured this out, some of the other FBI agents have probably done the same thing.
"How much of this have you discussed with anyone else?" Castillo asked. "With other FBI agents? Or anyone else?"
"No one, sir."
"You're sure?" Castillo pursued.
"Yes, sir."
"Artigas, you're being transferred from the Montevideo embassy to the embassy here," Castillo said.
What? Jesus Christ! Artigas thought, then asked: "When's that going to happen?"
Castillo thought: Not "I am?" Or "Why?" Or "Don't I have anything to say about that?" Or even "Says who?"
Just "When?"
"It's happening now," Castillo said. "Ambassador McGrory will be told only that you're being transferred. If anyone asks you, you will say you have no idea why that's happening."
"That's easy," Artigas said, "because I don't have any idea why that's happening."
"Did Yung or Howell mention anything about a Presidential Finding?" Castillo asked.
"Yeah," Artigas said and smiled and shook his head. "But only 'hypothetically,' Colonel. And then they said they would deny ever discussing even a hypothetical Presidential Finding with me."
Castillo chuckled. Ambassador Silviosmiled.
"Everyone take your seat," Castillo said. "Get comfortable."
When they had, Castillo went on: "Okay, this is not hypothetical, Artigas. From now on, anything I-or anybody connected in any way with this operation-tells you is classified Top Secret Presidential."
"Yes, sir."
"There has been a Presidential Finding. It established the Office of Organizational Analysis, a covert and clandestine unit within the Department of Homeland Security. I am the chief. The mission is to…"
Ten minutes later, Castillo ended his uninterrupted lecture: "…until you hear otherwise from me-me, not from anyone else-you are on detached duty with OOA." He smiled, and added, "This is the point where the lecturer invariably says, 'Are there any questions?' I'm not going to do that."
I've got several hundred questions, Artigas thought, then said: "Not even one question?"
"One," Castillo said.
"What am I going to do?"
"Good question. The answer is, until I figure that out, you are going to contribute whatever you can from your vast fund of professional knowledge to the solving of a number of little problems OOA faces."
"Like what?" Artigas said, smiling.
"You got one question. You spent it," Castillo said, meeting Artigas's eyes.
Castillo then looked at the others and went on, "The priority problem is how to get Colonel Munz's family out of here as safely, as quickly, and as secretly as possible." He paused. "Mr. Ambassador, may I respectfully suggest that this would be a splendid time for you to find something else to do?"
"I think not, Colonel," Silvio said. "I really decided a while back that this is one of those 'in for a penny, in for a pound' situations. Maybe I can be helpful."
"You're sure, sir?"
Silvio nodded.
Castillo shrugged.
"Tony, did Alfredo tell you about the people surveilling him?" Castillo asked.
"Uh-huh."
"Okay, then let's do this the military way, by seniority. I think you're senior, Tony, so tell us how we're going to do that."
"I need all the facts, Charley, and I don't think I have them," Santini said.
"What are you missing?"
"That friend of yours who speaks Russian," Santini said. "What's his role in this?"
"And a half dozen other languages," Castillo offered. "Alek Pevsner."
"The Russian arms dealer, mafioso?" Ken Lowery asked. "Jesus, I saw a new Interpol warrant for him-smuggling, I think-just a couple of days ago. He's involved in this?"
I saw that Interpol warrant, too, Artigas thought. And a dozen others on him. That guy's a real badass. And he's Castillo's friend?
Castillo nodded. "The question is, how is he involved?"
"He's here? In Argentina?" Yung asked.
"I am going to say as little about Pevsner as I can," Castillo said. "As a matter of fact, from this moment on he is code-named 'Putin' and all references to him will be by his code name. Clear?"
There were nods and yes sirs.
"What about Putin's friend, Colonel?" Yung asked. "My ex-friend? Do we need a code name for him?"
"I think we do," Castillo said. "How does 'Schmidt' strike you?"
Artigas's eyebrows rose at hearing the name of the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"Now that I've burned my bureau bridges," Yung said, "that's fine with me."
Artigas wondered: Now, what the hell does that mean?
"Okay. Kennedy is now Schmidt," Castillo said.
There's an FBI back-channel locate-report-but-do-not-detain out on a former agent named Howard Kennedy, Artigas thought, then said so aloud, adding, "Did you know that?"
"I suspected it," Castillo said.
"Same guy?"
Castillo nodded.
"You used to work with him, right, Yung?" Artigas asked.
Yung nodded uncomfortably.
"Dave, when did you decide your bureau bridges were burned?" Castillo asked.
"Couple of days ago," Yung said. "I'm still not sure if I burned them or you burned them
for me, but when I looked they were gloriously aflame."
"How do you feel about that?"
"The question is, how do you feel about it?"
"I'm glad to have you, if that's what you're asking."
"Then I feel fine about it, Colonel," Yung said.
If he's not high on painkillers, or anything else, what the hell happened to make him change his mind?
Castillo gave him a double thumbs-up gesture.
"Okay," Santini said. "Alfredo thinks it's likely that some of the people after him are Putin's guys. I think we have to accept that. I think we have to presume that the Ninjas are on him, too. And he thinks SIDE may also be on him."
"Let's talk about that," Castillo said. "Why do you think SIDE is surveilling you, Alfredo?"
"What the Argentine government wants to do is forget-have everyone forget-what happened to Mr. Masterson," Munz replied. "And they've heard what happened in Uruguay and don't want to be surprised by any developments in the matter. They don't know what my relationship with Ale…Putin really was or is. Officially, I was keeping an eye on Putin for SIDE."
"They know he's here, Colonel?" Ambassador Silvio said.
"I found him," Munz said, simply.
"Then why didn't they act on one or more of the Interpol warrants out on him? Do you know?"
Munz answered that with the gesture of rubbing the thumb and index finger of his right hand together.
"All I was told was to keep him under surveillance," he said. "And that a decision about what to do with him would come later."
"Is there a chance he will be arrested?" Silvio asked.
Munz shook his head and said, "If he has been as generous as I suspect he has, if the decision to act on one or more of the Interpol warrants is made, he'll be given sufficient warning before the order to go arrest him is given." He paused and looked at Castillo. "But to answer your question, Karl, they're watching me so they won't be surprised by anything that might happen."
"Okay. Makes sense," Castillo said, thought a long moment, then asked, "If somebody tried to grab you or whack you-or your family-and SIDE was watching, what would happen?"
"That's what worries me, Karl," Munz said. "I'd like to think that SIDE was told to protect me-us-and that I left enough friends behind in SIDE, many of whom know my family, so they would protect us, orders or not. But that may not be the case. That's why I'm so grateful for your offer to get them out of here."
"With that-and SIDE-in mind, Charley," Santini said, "SIDE runs a computer scan of people passing through immigration."
"How hard would it be to smuggle them into Uruguay?" Castillo asked. "If that's possible, we could pick them up at Carrasco with the Gulfstream. I don't think SIDE is scanning Uruguayan immigration, are they, Alfredo?"
Artigas thought: Gulfstream? Jesus Christ, has he got his own airplane?
"We have…excuse me, SIDE has," Munz corrected himself, as he no longer was chief of SIDE, "an arrangement where Uruguayan immigration checks a list of names SIDE gives them against people coming in or out and lets SIDE know if anybody shows up. I don't think my name is on that list."
"I don't know if it's smuggling or not, Colonel," Artigas said, "but they wouldn't have to go through immigration to get to Uruguay. All they need is their National Identity Card to get on an airplane or the Buquebus ferry. They don't take names."
"He's right, Charley," Santini said.
"The Buquebus would be better," Munz said.
"Okay, we'll do that," Castillo said. "First we get their passports stamped, very quietly, with a…"
"…five-year, multivisit visa," Ambassador Silvio furnished. "You get me the passports, Colonel Munz, and I'll take care of that."
"Thank you," Munz said.
"First we get them visas and then on the Buquebus," Castillo said. "Then what?"
"I've got to go back to Uruguay," Yung said. "And so, come to think of it, does Artigas, so he can look very surprised when McGrory tells him he's been transferred over here. One or both of us could go on the Buquebus with them."
"Why do you have to go back to Uruguay?" Castillo asked.
"I've got to get Lorimer and his casket from the undertakers and out to the airport."
"Jesus, I forgot all about him," Castillo said, then heard what he had said and smiled and shook his head. "Mr. Ambassador, there's another example that I'm playing with far fewer than fifty-two cards in my deck."
Silvio said, "That's only proof, Colonel, that you forgot the details of the repatriation of Mr. Lorimer's remains."
Castillo raised an eyebrow, then turned to Yung. "Tell me about those, Dave," he said.
"The casket will go on American Airlines flight 6002 at five after nine tomorrow night. It could have gone tonight, but the body wasn't ready."
"'The body wasn't ready'?" Castillo parroted.
"I was afraid the bastard's father might insist on opening the casket. When I saw the body in the English hospital, it looked awful. So I took some clothes from the estancia and told the undertaker to dress him, and to do a better job of sewing him up than the hospital did after the autopsy."
"That was a very nice thing for you to do, Mr. Yung," Ambassador Silvio said.
"And it would have been even nicer if you hadn't called the deceased 'the bastard,'" Castillo said.
Yung looked at him, ignored the comment, and continued: "The airplane stops at Ezeiza, then goes to Miami. Then the casket'll be transferred to an American Airlines flight…I've got the number somewhere if that detail's important…to New Orleans."
"And you have to go with it," Castillo said.
"I wanted to talk to you about that," Yung said. "I'd much rather stay here."
Jesus Christ, Castillo thought, he's really done a one-eighty!
"If you're not on that airplane with the body," Castillo said, "Ambassador McGrory-and others-are going to suspect you didn't come down here to repatriate the remains. So you will be on it."
"Yes, sir."
He's really disappointed.
"And you will stay through the funeral. There's no telling who might show up for that." He paused, then looked at Santini. "Tony, could we get the Secret Service to make the plates of the cars at that funeral? Maybe the people themselves?"
"Not a problem. Who are we looking for?" Santini said.
"Names and addresses-and photographs, if that can be done discreetly-to feed to our database," Castillo said. "Anything. Right now all we have is the database."
"I'll get on the horn," Santini said.
"After that, Dave," Castillo said, "if you still want to come back here, we'll see what can be worked out."
He saw that Yung was pleased with that.
Congratulations, Second Lieutenant Castillo. You remembered that from Leadership 101: "If at all possible, do not discourage enthusiasm."
"Okay, so where does that leave us?" Santini said. "The passports and what else?"
"The pancake flour and maple syrup," Castillo said.
Artigas thought, The what?
"I got it," Santini said. "What's that all about?"
"Where is it right now?" Castillo asked.
"In the trunk of the embassy BMW," Solez said.
"It's for Putin," Castillo said. "I promised it to him."
Artigas thought, incredulously: He promised pancake flour and maple syrup to Aleksandr Pevsner, international thug?
"I'd love to know what that's all about, Charley," Santini said.
"Alfredo," Castillo said, "is there any way you can communicate with your wife without using your home phone?"
Munz nodded. "I can call her and give her a message, something innocuous, that tells her to go to the phone in the kiosk around the corner from the house."
"How is she about taking orders without question?"
"Ordinarily, not good at all," Munz said, smiling. "But under these circumstances…" He paused. "She knows I didn't shoot myself cleaning my pistol. And she's seen the cars."
"What about you
r daughters?"
"They'll do what their mother tells them to do."
"How do you think this would work?" Castillo began. "You get her on the kiosk phone and tell her to pick up your daughters and their passports-and nothing else, that's important-and take a taxi to Unicenter. Is there a place you could meet her there?"
"In the food court," Munz said. "Or, for that matter, the garage."
"The food court would probably be better," Castillo said. "I'll drive you back there and we'll sneak you in the way we sneaked you out. You will meet them in the food court. I'll follow you up there and so will Ricardo, Yung, and Artigas. You will point us all out to them so they understand we're the good guys. You get the passports…"
Munz held up his hand and Castillo stopped.
Munz thought for a long moment, then said, "Okay so far, Karl. Go on."
"You tell them to go shopping," Castillo continued. "Underwear, maybe dresses, whatever else they'll need for two, three days. No luggage. Shopping bags only."
"They won't be going back to the apartment?" Munz asked.
"No. They'll take a cab to the Buquebus terminal, arriving no more than ten minutes before they have to…"
"There's a ferry leaving at nine-thirty," Munz said. "It gets to Montevideo about one in the morning. Which means they would have to be there at nine-fifteen. Considering the traffic, they'd have to leave Unicenter no later than eight-thirty." He looked at his watch. "It's now ten to six. It'll be tight but that much can be done. What's the rest?"
"Artigas will have taken a cab to Buquebus right after you point out him and Yung to your family. That's (a) so he can buy the tickets and (b) in case Yung, who will stay in Unicenter with your family-and follow them in another taxi to Buquebus-somehow gets separated from them. In other words, Artigas'll be at the terminal with their tickets and passports when your family gets there. That should reassure them a little. And they'll stay with them as long as they're in Uruguay."
"I'm not going to drive them?" Ricardo Solez asked.
"You're going to take the passports, bring them here, have them stamped, and then take them to Artigas at the Buquebus terminal."
"Got it."
Castillo went on: "Alfredo is going to get in his car-he left it in the Unicenter parking lot-and take Putin the pancake flour and maple syrup…"
Artigas decided, Pancake flour and maple syrup have to be code names for something-something they don't want me to know about. But what?
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