Castillo almost said, So what? but stopped. Instead, he asked, "Why?"
"Before you begin to apply damage control, Ace, it is convenient to know the extent of the damage."
Castillo looked at Delchamps but didn't say anything.
"Trust me, Charley," Delchamps said, this time very seriously.
If I don't go along with him now, he's entirely capable of telling me to go fuck myself, get up, and walk out of here and the OOA.
And I can't afford to lose him.
"Lorimer says," Castillo began, "and I think he's right, that they have Timmons in the sticks-on an estancia of some kind-in either Paraguay or across the river in Argentina. Not far from Asuncion, in other words. Someplace we can't easily-if at all-get to on the ground without being spotted.
"So the problem is, one, to find out where he is, and, two, to stage an operation to get him back.
"One, I hope, isn't going to be much of a problem. A very competent agency guy is already in Asuncion-"
"You mean the station chief?" Weiss interrupted.
"No, I mean a guy who works for me. The station chief in Asuncion is apparently…intellectually challenged. The guy I'm talking about knows his business."
Weiss nodded.
Castillo went on, "My guy is there-the phrase he used was 'To make sure the cork is back in the bottle'-because a very bright young DIA guy in Asuncion pretty much figured out another operation we ran down there, and my guy went to Asuncion on his own, to make sure nobody else in the embassy talks too much. My guy-"
"Milton and Alex Darby are old pals, Charley," Delchamps said.
Weiss nodded, and there was the hint of a smile on his lips.
Is he laughing at me?
"Darby will learn in about nine hours, maybe ten, about this new mission."
"How?" Weiss asked softly.
"From a…"
Oh, to hell with it!
"From a man named Munz, who used to run SIDE and who now works for me-"
"Good man, Milt," Delchamps said softly.
"-and is now on his way to Asuncion on our airplane. The airplane is also carrying radios-ours, with some incredible capabilities-"
"The ones you get from AFC?" Weiss asked.
Did this guy already know about the radios?
Or did Delchamps tell him?
Castillo nodded. "Which, with a little bit of luck, they'll be able to get into Paraguay. And with a little more luck, Munz and Darby will be able to get up and running.
"The fallback plan there is that if they can't smuggle the radios into Paraguay, Munz will arrange to see that we can get them into Argentina, and from there into Paraguay. And one of my sergeants-who can get the radio, radios, up and running-will be on the first plane to Asuncion tomorrow morning. That's if he couldn't get on the last plane today. And two Delta Force communicators were supposed to be on the 1130 Aerolineas flight from Miami to Buenos Aires tonight. They're going as tourists, with orders to report to a certain lady at our embassy…"
"Susanna isn't what comes to mind when one hears the phrase 'clandestine service,' is she?" Weiss said, smiling.
I don't think Delchamps told him about Susanna Sieno. And if I'm right, that means he knows a hell of a lot about what's going on down there.