“Oh, Jesus H. Christ!” Castillo said.
“Danton has declined to reveal his sources, even to me, and Roscoe and I have been friends and fellow journalists for years. He has put his distinguished reputation on the line with this story, and I believe him. Calls to the State Department, the Pentagon, and the U.S. embassy by Wolf News reporters have elicited only this response, which I quote: ‘The alleged incident is under investigation.’
“Wolf News will stay on top of this story, and when we know more, you will. This is C. Harry Whelan.”
The screen now filled with the head of J. Pastor Jones.
Just as Castillo was about to order that Mr. Jones be cut off, someone pushed the PAUSE button.
Castillo punched a button on his CaseyBerry, and then the LOUDSPEAKER button.
“I thought you might be calling, Charley,” Roscoe J. Danton said.
“That’s odd,” Annapolis said. “When I tried that, I got a message, ‘Not authorized.’ ”
He looked at Aloysius Casey.
“That was before you and Charley kissed and made up,” Casey said.
“Where’d you get the Mexican story, Roscoe?” Castillo asked.
“From a lady friend in Foggy Bottom,” Danton replied.
Castillo had a quick thought.
Nobody really believes the CaseyBerrys are as good as they are; we talk on them as if someone might be listening.
“You have anything more than we got from your buddy Whelan on Wolf News?” he asked.
“I talked to your old boss; he said Vic is on his way down there,” Danton replied, “and about twenty minutes ago, there was an e-mail from Porky saying Clendennen will have an announcement to make tomorrow at eleven.”
“Keep me in the loop, Roscoe,” Castillo said.
“What about Those People?”
“Annapolis and Radio Stations are good to go,” Castillo said. “I’m still making up my mind about the banker and the hotelier.”
He thought: And I’m glad Investment Banker and Hotelier heard me say that. Let that sink in a while, and then I will let them back in the tent.
“You met with them?”
“Yeah. Just now.”
“Casey told me that was going to happen. I thought maybe there’d be an AP flash: ‘Mass Murder in Sin City.’ ”
“I was thinking of feeding them to the sharks in the aquarium in the Mandalay Bay. But my merciful nature took over. Thanks, Roscoe.”
“We’ll be in touch,” Danton said.
Castillo put his CaseyBerry away.
“Well, if McNab has sent Vic D’Alessandro down there,” he said, “then until we hear from him, I can’t think of anything else that can be done to get Ferris back from the goddamn drug cartels.”
“Carlos,” Berezovsky said, “what makes you think the drug people have your friend?”
“Jesus, I never even thought about that,” Castillo asked.
“Am I permitted to ask, ‘Thought about what?’ ” Investment Banker said. “Or are you still making up your mind if my word is any good?”
“Why don’t you and Hotelier think of yourselves as being in a halfway house?” Castillo said. “Where one slip from the straight and narrow will turn you into shark food?”
“What Ace didn’t think about is that Dmitri’s pal Vladimir doesn’t like being humiliated,” Delchamps said.
“And that Vladimir Vladimirovich might think a good way to get his hands on Carlos,” Berezovsky picked up, “would be to grab him when he gets on his white horse and gallops into Mexico to rescue his friend from the drug people.”
“Who’s Vladimir?” Hotelier asked.
“His last name is Putin,” Annapolis furnished.
“Carlito would have thought about Vladimir,” Sweaty said loyally.
Sure I would, Castillo thought, probably by a week from next Thursday. Jesus!
“And now that this has come up,” Sweaty went on, “we have time to think about it. Carlito is right; until we hear from Vic D’Alessandro, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Except remember what you and Dmitri are always telling me,” Castillo said. “Putin always has a Plan B.”
“I don’t follow you, Ace,” Delchamps said.
“Dmitri,” Castillo asked, “One, how many ex-Spetsnaz does Aleksandr have raking the sun-swept beaches at the Grand Cozumel Beach and Golf Resort? Two, how many of same would he be willing to loan me right now?”
“To do what, Ace?” Delchamps asked.
“To provide a little extra security for the people at the Lopez Fruit and Vegetables Mexico. I think Putin knows about that, too, and I don’t want them getting into the cross fire.”
“At least twenty,” Berezovsky said. “I think Aleksandr would give you, say, ten-all that could fit into the Gulfstream-right now. More men, as soon as they could be flown up from Argentina.”
“You sound pretty sure,” Castillo said.
“Carlito,” Sweaty said, “not only does Cousin Aleksandr love you, but he knows the best way to deal with Vladimir Vladimirovich is to-what is it Edgar says? — cut him off at the balls.”
“For the record, Sweaty,” Delchamps corrected her, “what I said is, ‘Cut him off at the knees.’ ”
Berezovsky took out his CaseyBerry and punched a key.
“Aleksandr, I’m with Charley in Las Vegas,” he said in Russian. “Vladimir Vladimirovich has raised his ugly head again, and we need some help to cut him off at the knees. This is the problem. .”
II
ONE
Yadkin and Reilly Road Fort Bragg, North Carolina 0845 12 April 2007
The Federal Express truck pulled to the curb before a two-story brick house, and the driver, after first taking a FedEx Overnight envelope from where he had stuck it on the dashboard, got out.
He took a quick look at the envelope as he walked around the front of the truck.
The Overnight envelope, sent by the Mexican-American News Service of San Antonio, Texas, was addressed to: LTC BRUCE J. MCNAB, YADKIN AND REILLY ROAD, FORT BRAGG, NC 28307.
The FedEx driver had served in the Army, and knew that LTC meant “lieutenant colonel.” And he had served long enough to know that lieutenant colonels do not live in large brick homes on what was known locally as “Generals’ Row.”
After a moment, he decided it was a simple typo; LTC was supposed to be LTG, the abbreviation for “lieutenant general.” A small wooden sign on the lawn of the house confirmed this analysis. It showed three silver stars, the rank insignia of a lieutenant general, and below that was neatly painted B. J. MCNAB.
The driver, now convinced he was in the right place, continued up a walkway through the immaculately manicured lawn toward the house.
He was almost at the door when a black Chevrolet Suburban came-considerably over the posted 25 mph speed limit-down Reilly Road, stopped and quickly backed up the driveway of the house. Doors opened. The driver, a young Green Beret sergeant in a camouflage-pattern battle-dress uniform, and a young Green Beret captain in dress uniform got out of the front seat. The sergeant quickly removed a cover from a red plate bearing three stars mounted on the bumper and then rushed to open the passenger door. He was too late. The door was opened by a Green Beret colonel in a dress uniform who marched purposefully toward the house with the captain trailing him.
The driver stood beside the passenger door.
The front door of the house opened and General McNab came through. He was in dress uniform and wearing a green beret. Both breasts of his tunic carried more ribbons and qualification badges than the driver had ever seen on one man during his military service.
Colonel Max Caruthers, who was six foot three and weighed 225 pounds, and Captain Albert H. Walsh, who was almost as large, saluted crisply and more or less simultaneously barked, “Good morning, General.”
General McNab returned the salute and then turned his attention to the FedEx deliveryman.
“Far be it from me to stay a FedEx courier from the swift co
mpletion of his appointed rounds, but curiosity overwhelms me,” he announced. “Dare I hope that envelope you are clutching to your breast is intended for me?”
“It is, if you’re Bruce J. McNab,” the courier said.
“Guilty,” General McNab said.
The courier extended the clipboard for the addressee’s signature.
Captain Walsh snatched the Overnight envelope from the driver, handed it to the general, and then signed the receipt on the clipboard.
General McNab ripped open the strip at the top of the envelope and took from it an eight-by-ten-inch photograph.
“Oh, my!” he said, in a tone similar to what a grandmother would use when her cake batter slipped from her hands and splattered over her kitchen floor. “Oh, my!”
He handed the Overnight envelope to Captain Walsh.
“Hold that by its edges, Al,” he ordered. “Gloves would be better. It will probably be futile, but we will have tried.”
“Something wrong, General?” the FedEx courier asked.
“Nothing for which you could possibly be held responsible,” General McNab said. “And now, although I would rather face a thousand deaths, I must go treat with General Naylor.”
The courier looked confused.
Colonel Caruthers, who recognized the remark as a paraphrase of what Confederate general Robert E. Lee had said immediately before leaving his headquarters to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia to Union general Ulysses S. Grant, failed to keep a smile off his face.
The courier started back to his delivery truck as General McNab walked toward Staff Sergeant Robert Nellis, who was standing by the open front passenger door.
“Bobby,” he said, “can you find Pope Air Force Base by yourself, or would you rather that I drive?”
“I’ll drive, General,” Sergeant Nellis said, smiling.
“It’s easy to recognize,” General McNab said as he slid onto the seat. “Just look for lots of airplanes and fat people in blue uniforms.”
Colonel Caruthers and Captain Walsh quickly got into the Suburban, and they drove down the driveway and turned right onto Reilly Road.
As the Suburban carrying General McNab pulled into one of the RESERVED FOR GENERAL OFFICERS parking spaces beside the Pope Air Force Base Operations building, the glass doors fronting on the tarmac opened and a half dozen Air Force officers, the senior among them a major general, came out and formed a three-line formation.
The major general stood in front. A major, wearing the silver cords of an aide-de-camp, took up a position two steps behind and one step to the left of him. The other four officers formed a line behind the aide-de-camp, according to rank, with a brigadier general to the left, then three full colonels. All stood with their hands folded in the small of their backs, in the position of parade rest.
“Seeing all that martial precision,” Lieutenant General McNab announced, “I am sorely tempted to go out there and give them a little close-order drill.”
His sergeant driver smiled. His aides-de-camp did not. They knew he was entirely capable of doing just that. Both were visibly relieved when McNab got out of the Suburban, walked to the corner of the building, and called, “Good morning, gentlemen. Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
The major general turned toward him and saluted.
“Good morning, General,” he said, and then broke ranks to go to McNab and offer his hand.
“Would you care to bet if El Supremo will be on schedule?” McNab asked.
For an answer, the major general pointed down the runway, where a C-37A-the military version of the Gulfstream V-was about to touch down.
As the sleek twin-engine jet completed its landing roll, the Air Force major general trotted back to resume his position in front of his officers.
General McNab folded his arms on his chest.
The Gulfstream V was painted in gleaming white on top, and pale blue beneath. There was no reference to the U.S. Air Force in its markings, although it carried the star-and-bar insignia of a military aircraft on its engine nacelles. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was lettered on the fuselage above the six windows. An American flag was painted on the vertical stabilizer.
The plane stopped on the tarmac, the whine of its engines died, and the stair door behind the cockpit windows unfolded. A tall, erect officer with four stars gleaming on the epaulets of his dress uniform nimbly came down them.
He was General Allan B. Naylor, whom-to his embarrassment-C. Harry Whelan had accurately described to Andy McClarren of Wolf News as the “most important general in the world.”
Whelan’s argument was that since the Chief of Staff of the Army no longer actually commands the Army-but rather administers it-and that since Naylor, as Commander in Chief of the United States Central Command directly commanded more Army and Marine troops, more Air Force airplanes, more Navy ships and aircraft, and more military assets in more places all around the world than any other officer, that made him the most important general in not only the Army, but the most important officer in uniform.
Even Andy McClarren, who had been the most watched news personality on television for ten years and counting-in large part because of his skill in being able to argue the opposite position of whatever position his guests took-couldn’t disagree with that.
General Naylor exchanged salutes with the Air Force major general, and then shook hands with him and all of the officers, and finally turned to General McNab, who saluted.
“Good morning, Bruce,” General Naylor said.
“Good morning, General,” McNab said. “And how are things on beautiful Tampa Bay?”
The United States Central Command headquarters was on MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida.
Generals Naylor and McNab had been classmates at the United States Military Academy at West Point. They hadn’t liked each other as cadets, and a number of encounters between them as they had risen in rank in their subsequent service had exacerbated that relationship.
General Naylor didn’t reply. Instead, with a smile, he motioned for McNab to board the Gulfstream. McNab, in turn, motioned for his aides-de-camp to get aboard. When they had done so, he followed them, and when he had done so, General Naylor followed him.
The stair door started to close as the engines started.
When the Gulfstream started to move, the Air Force general called his formation to attention and saluted. When the Gulfstream was on the taxiway, he turned to the brigadier general and softly commented, “That should be an interesting flight.”
The friction between Generals McNab and Naylor was well known to senior officers of all the armed forces, and it went beyond “Isn’t that interesting?” or “What a shame.”
The United States Special Operations Command was subordinate to the United States Central Command, and when, at about the same time, Naylor was about to be named Commander in Chief of CENTCOM and McNab to be commanding general of SPECOPSCOM, it was almost universally recognized as one of those rare situations that would see the best possible man assigned to both jobs.
It was also just about unanimously agreed that making “Scotty” McNab subordinate to Allan Naylor was going to be like throwing lighted matches into a barrel of gasoline.
General McNab took an aisle seat in the luxuriously furnished cabin. As General Naylor walked past him en route to the VIP section-two extra-large seats and a table behind the door to the cockpit, which could be curtained off from the rest of the passenger compartment-McNab held up his hand.
Naylor looked down at him.
McNab said: “General, before they start the in-flight movie, there’s something I’d like to show you.”
“You don’t need an invitation to ride in front, Bruce, and you know it,” Naylor said.
He gestured for McNab to follow him.
McNab rose, and gestured for Captain Walsh to follow him.
Reaching his seat, Naylor took it and then, when McNab had taken the opposing chair, asked, “What have you got?”
Captain Walsh
extended a pair of rubber gloves to General Naylor.
Naylor looked questioningly at McNab.
“Gloves?”
“I don’t think they’ll be able to get fingerprints off that, General,” McNab said, indicating the FedEx Overnight envelope. “But they may.”
Naylor took the gloves and pulled them on.
Walsh handed him the envelope, and Naylor took from it a sheet of paper and an eight-by-ten-inch color photograph.
The photograph showed a man dressed in a T-shirt and khaki trousers. He was sitting in a folding chair, holding up a copy of Mexico City’s El Heraldo de Mexico. On each side of him stood a man wearing a black balaclava mask over his head and holding the muzzle of a Kalashnikov six inches from the victim’s head.
“That’s yesterday’s newspaper,” McNab said.
The sheet of paper, obviously printed on a cheap ink-jet printer, carried a simple message:
So Far He’s Alive.
There will be further communication.
“Who is he?” Naylor asked calmly. “He looks familiar.”
“Lieutenant Colonel James D. Ferris,” McNab said. “The officer whom-with great reluctance, you will recall-I detailed to DEA, from which he was further detailed to be-overtly-one of the assistant military attaches at our embassy in Mexico City. Covertly, I have been led to believe, he was ordered to advise the ambassador in his relentless and never-ending attempt to reason with the drug cartels.”
“I can do without the sarcasm, General,” Naylor said.
“Ferris marches in the Long Gray Line beside his classmates Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Richardson, Jr., and our own Lieutenant Colonel C. G. Castillo, Retired. He has a wife at Fort Bragg and three children. Small world, isn’t it?”
“Where did you get this?” Naylor asked.
“A FedEx delivery man handed it to me just now when I walked out of my quarters to come here.”
“It’s addressed to LTC McNab.”
“I noticed. It may be a typo, or it could be on purpose. My gut feeling is that it’s on purpose.”
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