The Shooters (Presidential Agent 4)

Delchamps stopped and after a moment went on, "He was even honest about that. He said something about Montvale having ordered him to let me in only because the President had told him to, and that Montvale probably didn't like it any more than he did. Then he said, 'But the point is the President gave that order, and I have taken an oath to obey the orders of those appointed over me, and I don't intend to violate that oath.'"

Delchamps looked at Leverette.

"You don't know me, Uncle Remus, but these guys do. They'll tell you that I am inexperienced in the wicked ways of the world; I have no experience in guessing who's lying to me or not; I believe in the good fairy and in the honesty of all politicians and public servants. They will therefore not be surprised that-in my well-known, all-around naivete-I believed my new friend Jack.

"And my new friend Jack said that the reason he had come to see me was to personally ensure the President's order was being carried out, that there were those in the company who sometimes decide which orders they will obey and which they won't, justifying their actions on the basis that obedience is sometimes not good for the company. 'I want to make sure that's not happening here and now with you.'"

"Jesus!" Castillo said.

"He asked me if I had even a suspicion that I was being stiffed by anyone, if I suspected that anyone was not being completely forthcoming.

"I could have given him a two-page list, but the truth was that I had modestly decided that no one had kept me-they'd tried, of course-from looking at whatever I wanted to see. And, in their shoes, I probably would have done the same thing. But nothing, I decided, was to be gained by being the class snitch.

"So I took a chance. I said, 'Mr. Director, I have been led to believe you're aware that the President has tasked Colonel Castillo with rescuing a DEA agent who has been kidnapped in Paraguay?' "To which he replied, 'I'd rather you called me Jack.'"

"Giving him time to think?" Yung asked.

"I don't think so, Two-Gun," Delchamps said. "Could be, but I don't think so. The next thing he said, almost immediately, after he nodded, was 'I also hear the mayor of Chicago was kind enough to send a detective along with him to help him do so.'"

"I'd love to know how the hell he found that out," Castillo said.

"The point is, Ace, he knew about Paraguay. I wasn't springing it on him."

"The point there?" Castillo asked.

"I said, 'Jack, what I'm really concerned about is that Castillo's going to go down there like John Wayne and get this guy back, and in the process upset one of your apple carts.' "And he looked surprised, and asked, 'One of ours?' and I nodded and he said, 'I don't know of anything we have going on down there that could possibly have a connection with Colonel Castillo's operation.' "And then I guess he saw the look on my face, which he could have interpreted as surprise or disbelief. He stabbed himself in the chest with his index finger…"-he demonstrated-"…and then he said, 'I'm in the coffee shop on level three. Please join me.' "Two minutes later, in walks A. Franklin Lammelle, the deputy DCI for operations. 'Frank, Edgar here wonders if we have any operation going in Paraguay or Argentina that in any way could bear on the OOA operation to free the DEA agent. Or, the other way around, can you think of anything Colonel Castillo could do that would in any way interfere with anything we're doing down there?' "A. Franklin thinks this over very carefully and says, 'Aside from getting caught getting the DEA agent back, no, sir.' And, being the naive and trusting soul I am, I believed him, too."

"Which means?" Torine asked.

Castillo said: "Weiss told us-right, Edgar?-that the station agent down there is not as intellectually challenged as people think he is. The implication being that's on purpose?"

Delchamps nodded.

"And that disinformation," Delchamps said, "could not have been put in place without a very good reason to do it, or without the knowledge and permission of the DCI and/or A. Franklin Lammelle."

"Which means he is either really intellectually challenged, or was set up by somebody in Langley who didn't think the DCI had to know."

"It smells, Ace," Delchamps said. "And the odor is not coming from my new friend Jack or Lammelle."

Castillo raised his eyebrows, then asked, "So what should we do?"

"I want to have a long talk with Alex Darby and the other social pariahs down there. And their contacts."

"You mean, you want to go down there?"

Delchamps nodded.

"When?"

"Jake," Delchamps said, "what time did you say our new pilot gets here?"

[TWO]

Headquarters Fort Rucker and the Army Aviation Center Fort Rucker, Alabama 1105 8 September 2005 "You're not planning to take that animal in there with you, are you?" Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Richardson III inquired of Lieutenant Colonel C. G. Castillo as Castillo slid open the side door of the van to let out Max.

"I can't leave him in the van in this heat," Castillo said. "And General Crenshaw likes him."

Castillo was more than a little pleased when they marched into Crenshaw's office and saluted. General Crenshaw returned the salute, said, "Stand at ease, gentlemen," then clapped his hands together, bent over, and called, "Hey, Max! C'mere, boy!"