"We didn't know about the money until we went into Lorimer's safe," Castillo said.
"So you're admitting you stole the money?"
Neither Castillo nor Munz replied.
"What did you do with the money?"
"Alfredo and I spent most of it on whiskey and wild women," Castillo said.
Ordonez stared at him coldly.
"So tell me, Ordonez, what happens now?" Castillo asked after a moment. "You escort us to the Buquebus?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, obviously, our coming here has been a waste of time; you're not going to help us. But on the other hand, we've given you no reason to arrest us; we've broken none of your laws."
"Not today," Ordonez allowed. "Except, of course, the small matter of trying to get a senior police official to acquiesce in your violation of the laws of his country."
"We came to ask your help, Jose," Munz said with an edge in his voice. "Help in getting a fellow police officer-who happens to be an American-back from the hijos de puta who kidnapped him."
"The hijos de puta who have him also have two of Duffy's gendarmes," Ordonez replied evenly. "And have brutally murdered two of his gendarmes. And that's what worries me, Alfredo. That's who worries me."
"The narcos or Duffy?" Munz asked.
"You and I both know, Alfredo, that these people are not ordinary narcos. If they were, I'd probably be hoping-may God forgive me-that Duffy would be leaving bodies not suitable for viewing in their caskets all over Corrientes and Entre Rios Provinces and, for that matter, Paraguay. He's right that the kidnapping-and the murder-of police officers cannot be tolerated, and that leaving bullet-riddled bodies on the side of the road, or at narcotics refining plants, would send that message far more effectively than running them through a justice system where, sadly, justice is often for sale."
Ordonez paused a moment.
"But," he went on, "as I say, these are not ordinary narcos. Major Alejandro Vincenzo of the Cuban Direccion General de Inteligencia is proof of that."
Castillo thought: How the hell does he know that-and how the hell much more does he know?
"Excuse me?" Castillo asked.
"Certainly someone of your background, Colonel, has considered that Vincenzo was here-possibly, even probably, in Paraguay-long before Lorimer went missing in Paris. And as 'their' man on the scene was available to supervise the very professional kidnapping of Mrs. Masterson and the subsequent murder of her husband, when they wanted to locate Lorimer. And their sixteen million dollars."
"Can you define 'they' and 'their'?" Castillo asked.
"Obviously, Vincenzo was a Cuban. But what is the connection between the Russian FSB and the Cuban Direccion General de Inteligencia? There are two possibilities: One, no connection here in this instance; Vincenzo was here to (a) make money from the drug trade and (b) cause what trouble he could in the interests of Cuba. Or, two, the Russians are involved, for the same purposes-making money and causing trouble. I place more credence in the latter in no small measure because of the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Zhdankov of the FSB in Punta del Este, and the presence of your friend Aleksandr Pevsner."
"So far as I know, Pevsner is not under the FSB," Castillo said. "And, as a matter of fact, he as much as admitted to me that he had Zhdankov and Kennedy eliminated in Punta del Este."
"I suspected that, of course. And I appreciate your candor. Which leads us right now to what I was going to come to eventually. From this point on, we will tell each other the truth. Duffy has lied to me-"
"About what?" Munz asked.
"It doesn't matter, Alfredo. But it is one more reason that I am worried about him and this situation. I want to have nothing whatever to do with him as he goes after these narcos."
"Does that bring us back to my question about you escorting us to the Buquebus terminal?" Castillo asked.
"Listen to what I am saying, please, Colonel. I said I wanted to have nothing to do with Duffy in what he's going to do. I am prepared, with the understanding that we will tell each other the truth, to help you with your helicopters. The truth about everything, and that includes el Senor Pevsner."
Castillo met his eyes.
"So far as I know," Castillo repeated, "Pevsner is not under the FSB. That's the truth. He almost certainly has flown things around for them, but he has also flown things around for the CIA. But, again, so far as I know, he is no more an asset of the Federal'naya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti than he is an asset of the Central Intelligence Agency."
Munz added: "And-other than what Carlos has just said-I found no connection between him and the FSB when I worked for him."