“Who, for example?”
“My Uncle Humberto—that is, the Anglo-Argentine Bank. And the proper officials in the ministry of transportation; things work much faster down here if the official with the rubber stamp has a piece of the action. And maybe— maybe hell; absolutely—my Tío Juan.”
“El Coronel Juan Domingo Perón?”
“He told me he wants me to think of him as my loving uncle,” Frade said, shaking his head in what could have been either disbelief or disgust. “If I can get him on board—and I think I can; he needs the money—that will keep Martín off my back.”
He looked at Graham for a moment, then went on: “Not that I’m going to use this airliner for anything of which Martín might disapprove. You understand that, right?”
“You’ll use it for any purpose the President or I direct.”
“You want to blow my contacts with Canaris, von Wachtstein’s father, and the rest of it?”
“Of course not.”
“Then it has to be kept as far away from the OSS as I can keep it.”
“Understood.”
We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
If there is some OSS need for these airplanes, we’ll damn well use them for it.
Frade said: “Varig has got a bunch of Lodestars. Where’d they get them?”
“I have no idea.”
But I would not be at all surprised if Roosevelt was involved.
Frade raised an eyebrow, then drained his glass and said, “Lockheed must have some kind of operation in Brazil. Americans, I mean. Engineers, mechanics. And somebody in charge. What about having Lockheed send the guy in charge down here to try to sell Don Cletus Frade their airplanes? No mention of the OSS, of course, or that I’m an American. I’m a rich Argentine who Roosevelt, for his own reasons, wants to be nice to, and already gave me one Lodestar to prove it. And can get Don Cletus export licenses to buy some more now that I want to start an airline?”
“Sounds good, but slow down. All I really know about this is that Donovan—the President—wanted to know if it could be done—”
“You made it sound like an order.”
Graham ignored the interruption. He went on: “—and now that you tell me you think it can, I’ll get into the details when I get back to Washington.”
&nb
sp; “When’s that going to be?”
“I’d like to leave tomorrow.”
“This airline’s that important, is it?”
“No. But everything else you’ve told me is. I want to get back to Washington as quickly as I can.”
“Okay.”
“And the sooner I get back, the sooner I can get a replacement for Commander Delojo down here.”
That didn’t produce the reaction Graham expected.
“I’d rather you leave him where he is,” Frade said. “Just watch him. And I’ll have Ashton and Pelosi watch him. And don’t tell him about this agent business with the badges. I’d rather have him there than somebody I don’t know. I told Delojo if he snoops around here or my people, I’ll kill him. I think he believes me. A new guy might not.”
“Your call,” Graham said.
These credentials really got to him.