their plan-whatever it had been-was probably dead
as well. Amadori was the one they had to worry about.
She needed to know, as fast as possible, how
much
they needed to worry about him.
Two men met Maria and Aideen at the front
door of the factory. The women parked the car nose
in and emerged with their arms extended downward, their hands
held palms forward. Maria stood by the driver's
side, Aideen by the passenger's door, as the men
BALANCE OF POWER 231
walked over. They stopped a few yards away.
While one man watched, the other-a big, powerfully
built fellow-took the women's guns and
telephone and tossed the items in the car. Then he
checked them for wires. His check was thorough but
completely professional. When he was finished, the
two men walked in silence to a large van parked
nearby. The women followed. The four of them
climbed into the back and sat on the floor
amid cans of paint, ladders, and drop cloths.
The men sat beside the door.
"I am Juan and this is Ferdinand," said the man who
had watched the frisking. "Your full names,
please."
"Maria Corneja and Aideen Sanchez," Maria
said.
Aideen picked up on the "change" in her own
nationality. It was an inspired move on Maria's
part. These two might not trust fellow Spaniards
right now but they'd trust foreigners even less.
Internal warfare was a perfect environment for
foreign powers to spread weapons, money-and influence.
Roots like that were often difficult to dislodge.
Aideen looked from one to the other of the men. Juan was
the older of the two. He looked tired. The skin was
deeply wrinkled around his nervous eyes and his slender
shoulders were bent. The other man was a colossus whose
eyes were deep-set under a heavy brow. His flesh was
smooth and tight like the face on a coin and his broad
shoulders were straight.
"Why are you here, Maria Comeja?" Juan asked.
"I want to talk to you about an army General named
Rafael Amadori," Maria said.
Juan looked at her for a moment. "Go
ahead."
232 OP-CENTER
Maria pulled the cigarettes from her jacket. She
took one and offered the pack around. Juan accepted
one.
Now that they were here, it bothered Aideen that they were
collaborating with killers. But as Martha had said,
different countries had different rules. Aideen
could only trust that Maria knew what she was doing.
Maria lit Juan's cigarette and then she did
her own. The way she lit his smoke-cupping the
match under Juan's cigarette, inviting him to take
her hands and move them toward the tip-made the action
very intimate. Aideen admired how she used that
to establish a rapport with the man.
"Senor Ramirez and the heads of other business
groups and
familias
were slain yesterday by a man working for Amadori,"
Maria said. "I believe you've met him.
Adolfo Alcazar."
Juan said nothing.
Maria's voice was softer than Aideen had ever
heard it. She was wooing Juan.
"Amadori is a very powerful officer,"
Maria continued, "who appears to hold a key
place in the food chain of what's been going on.
Here's how it looks to me. Ramirez had an
American assassinated yesterday. Amadori
knew this was going to happen and let it happen. Why?
So that he could present an audiotape to the nation
implicating Deputy Serrador. Why? So that
Serrador and the Basques he represents would be
discredited at home and abroad. Then he had
Alcazar murder your employer and his
coconspirators. Why? To discredit the
Catalonians and destroy their powerbase. If
Serrador and the business leaders were plan BALANCE
OF POWER 233
ning some kind of political maneuver, that's finished
now.
"More importantly," Maria went on, "the
presence of a conspiracy weakens the government
considerably. They don't know who they can trust or
who to turn to for stability. Words won't reassure
the people. They're fighting each other from the Atlantic
to the Mediterranean, from the Bay of Biscay to the
Strait of Gibraltar. The government needs someone
strong to establish order. I believe that Amadori
has orchestrated things to make himself that
man."
Juan stared at her through the smoke of his cigarette.
"So?" he said. "Order will be restored."
"But maybe not as it was," Maria said. "I know a
little about Amadori-but not enough. He's a
Castilian nationalist and, from all I can determine,
a megalomaniac. He appears to have used these
incidents to put himself in a position to have martial
law declared throughout Spain-and then to run that martial
law. I'm concerned that he won't step down after that.
I need to know if you have or can get any intelligence
that will help me stop him."
Juan smirked. "You're suggesting that Interpol and the
Ramirez
familia
work together?"
"I am."
"That's ridiculous," Juan said. "What will stop
you from gathering intelligence on us?"
"Nothing," Maria admitted.
Juan's smirk wavered. "Then you admit you
might."
"Yes, I admit that," Maria said. "But if we
don't stop General Amadori, then whatever
intelligence I
234 OP-CENTER
happen to gather on the
familia
will be useless. The general will hunt you people down and
destroy you. If not for killing his operative, then
for the threat you represent. The possibility that you could
rally other
familias
against him."
Juan looked at Ferdinand. The granite-solid
watchman thought for a moment and then nodded once.
Juan regarded Maria. So did Aideen. Maria
had played Juan honestly-and beautifully.
"Adversity has made stranger trenchmates,"
Juan said. "All right. We've been looking
into Amadori since we returned to the factory."
He snickered. "We still have some allies in
government and the military, though not many. The death of
Senor Ramirez has scared people."
"As it was meant to," Maria remarked.
"Amadori is based in Madrid, at the office
of the Defense Ministry," Juan said. "But we
hear he has established a headquarters elsewhere.
We're trying to find out where. He has powerful
Castilian allies in the Congreso de
los Diputados and in the Senado. They're
backing him with deeds and with silence."
"What do you mean?"
" "The prime minister has the right to declare martial
law," Juan said, "but the parliament can
effectively block him by cutting off funds if
/> they don't approve of the measure or the leader."
"And they haven't done that here," Maria suggested.
"No," Juan said. "I've been told by an
informer from the Ruiz
familia-
?"'
"The computer makers?" Maria asked.
BALANCE OF POWER 235
"Yes," Juan said. "I've been told that the
funding was actually above what the prime minister had
requested. By fivefold."
Maria whistled.
"But why wouldn't they back him?" Aideen asked.
"Spain is facing great danger."
Juan looked from Maria to Aideen. "Usually, the
money is approved in parcels. That's done as a
means of preventing exactly this kind of coup.
Powerful people are behind this. Perhaps they or their families
have been threatened. Perhaps they've been
promised positions of greater authority in the new
regime."
"Regardless," Maria said, "they've given
Amadori the power and the money to do whatever he deems
necessary." She drew slowly on her cigarette.
"Simple and brilliant. With the army under his control
and the government crippled by acts of treason.
General Amadori can't be stopped by any legal
means."
"Exactly," Juan said. "Which is why
the familia
has had to work on this in our own way."
Maria looked at Juan then ground her cigarette
on the floor. "What would happen if he were
removed?"
"Do you mean dismissed?" Juan asked.
"If I'd meant dismissed I would have said
dismissed," the woman replied sharply.
Juan turned and put his cigarette out against the
metal wall. He shrugged. "We would all
benefit. But it would have to be done quickly. If
Amadori has time to establish himself as the savior
of Spain, then whatever momentum he creates will
continue with or without him."
236 OP-CENTER
"Granted," Maria said. "And he will move quickly
to present himself as a hero."
Juan nodded. "The problem is, it won't be easy
getting close to him. If he stays in one place,
there will be security. If he moves around, his
itinerary will be classified. We'd have to be very
lucky just to-was
Aideen held up her hand. "Quiet!"
The others looked at her. A moment later Maria
obviously heard it too. By then they could feel it in
their gut-the low beat of distant rotors.
"Helicopters!" Juan said. He jumped to the
back of the van and opened the door.
Aideen looked past him. Coming in over the nearby
hills were the navigation lights of four
helicopters. They were about a mile away.
"They're coming toward the factory," Juan said.
He turned toward Maria. "Yours?"
She shook her head. She pushed past him and jumped
onto the asphalt. She stood watching the choppers
for a moment. "Get your people out of here or into safe
areas," she said. "Arm them."
Aideen slid out around the men. "Hold on," she
said. "Are you telling him to shoot at Spanish
soldiers?"
"I don't know!" she snapped. She started running
toward the car. "These are probably Amadori's
men. If any of the
familia
members are captured or killed, it accomplishes
what we're afraid of. By shutting down pockets
of dissent, he's strengthened in the eyes of the people."
Aideen jogged after her. She was trying to imagine some
other scenario. But there were no riots in San
BALANCE OF POWER 237
Sebastian and the police were handling the inquiry into the
explosion in the bay. There were only small homes
and fields between this spot and the mountains: the Ramirez
factory was the only target large enough to merit four
helicopters.
This is a civilized nation preparing to make war on
itself,
she told herself. Though it was difficult to accept that
fact, it was becoming more and more real by the moment.
Juan stepped from the van. He was followed
by Ferdinand.
"Where are you going?" Juan shouted after the women.
"To call my superior!" Maria shouted back.
"I'll let you know if I find out anything."
" "Tell your people that we will not fight
back unless we're attacked!" Juan yelled as
he and Ferdinand started running toward the factory.
The helicopters were less than a quarter mile
away. "Tell them that we have no quarrel with the honest
soldiers or people of-was
His words were drowned out by the rattling drone of the
rotors as the choppers bore down on the factory.
An instant later the crisp chatter of the airborne
Modelo L-1-003 guns was added to the din and
both Juan and Ferdinand fell to the ground.
TWENTY-TWO
Tuesday, 5:43 a.m. Madrid, Spain
Darrell McCaskey couldn't sleep.
After bringing Aideen to the airfield, he'd
returned with Luis to Interpol's Madrid
office. The small complex occupied a single
floor of the district police station. The
tum-of-the-century brick building was located just
off the broad Gran Via on Calle de
Hortaleza. The ride back to the city had been a
quiet one as McCaskey reflected on his
months with Maria.
Suddenly exhausted when they returned,
McCaskey had lain down on a soft sofa in the
small dining room. But while he'd
gladly shut his heavy eyelids, his heavy heart
had refused to shut down. Maria's anger had
disturbed him, though it was not unexpected. Worse
than that, though, was simply seeing the woman again. It
reminded McCaskey of the biggest mistake of his
life: letting her go two years before.
The sad thing was, he'd known it then.
Lying there, McCaskey remembered vividly all
the differences that had come up during her stay in
America. She had a live-for-today attitude, not
worrying very much about health or money or the danger of
some of the assignments she took. They had different
BALANCE OF POWER 239
tastes in music and in the sports they liked to watch
or play. She liked to bike everywhere, he liked
to walk or drive. He loved cities and high
energy places, she loved the country.
But whatever their differences, and they were considerable, one
thing was true. They had loved each other. That should have
counted for more than it did. It sure as hell did
now.
McCaskey could still remember her face when he
told her the relationship wasn't working for him. He
would always see that face, hard but deeply hurt-like a
soldier who'd been wounded but refused
to believe it and was determined to keep going. It was one
of those snapshots that stayed in the soul and came back
from time to time, as vivid as the moment it happened.
"Emotional malaria," Op-Center psychologist
Liz Gordon had o
nce called it when they were
talking about failed relationships.
She got that right.
McCaskey gave up trying to keep his eyes
shut. As he lay staring up at the fluorescent
lights, Luis came running in. He hurried
to a phone on one of the four round tables in the dining
room. He snapped his fingers and motioned for
McCaskey to pick up another one.
"It's Maria," Luis said. "On line five.
They're under attack."
McCaskey swung from the sofa and rushed to the nearest
table. "Are they okay?"
"They're in a car," Luis said. "Maria said she
thinks it best to stay where they are." He scooped up
a phone.
240 OP-CENTER
McCaskey did likewise and punched line
five.
"Maria?" Luis said. "Darrell is on the phone
and Raul is checking on the helicopters.
What's happening now?"
McCaskey decided not to ask for an update.
If he missed anything Luis would fill him in.
"Two of the helicopters are circling low over the
factory grounds," Maria said. "The other two are
hovering just above the roof. Troops are climbing out.
Some of the soldiers are taking up positions on the
edge of the roof. Others are using aluminum ladders
to climb down toward the doors. All of them are
armed with submachine guns."
"You said they already shot two men-was
"They shot at two members of the
Ramirezstambb7)a, Juan and Ferdinand," Maria
said. "Both men had taken part in the retaliation for the
yacht attack. But they hit the ground and
surrendered-I think they're all right."
Her voice was calm and strong. McCaskey was
proud of her. He had a deep desire to take
back those stupid, selfish words he'd once
uttered to her.
"We were meeting with the men when the attack began,"
Maria continued. "I don't know if the troops
targeted them specifically or if the helicopters
opened fire on the nearest target."
"The sentry-was Aideen said.
"Yes, that's right," Maria added. "Aideen
noticed that the guard at the factory was gone when the
attack began. He's former military. He could have
pointed the men out to the helicopters."
A tall, muscular officer ran into the dining room.
BALANCE OF POWER 241
Luis turned and looked at him. The man shook his
head.
"No flight plan was filed for the helicopters,"
he said.
"Then this isn't going through the regular military chain
of command," Luis said into the phone.
"I'm not surprised," Maria said.
"What do you mean?" Luis asked.
Clancy, Tom - Ballance of Power Page 23
