Alegre shook his head. "The Ring Man may know where, since he was the one feeding the information to us, but he doesn't know when. Even we don't know the when until the DEA man at the embassy calls me after it's already completed. How could the Ring Man know what time the attack would go last night in order to set up Suarez? Besides, it doesn't matter. If they want to kill each other off, then so much the better. Less for us to do."
Montez appeared disturbed. "I have to again warn you, my President, that this is a dangerous course you are charting. If you fail to completely break the back of the drug cartel, they will come and break your back when they find out what you have done."
Alegre was bothered by his friend's lack of conviction and sought to reassure him. "We already have won several major victories. The United Nations' vote has gone our way. Suarez is dead and his organization on the verge of destruction. Ramirez has been badly hurt. The power of the cartel has been significantly reduced."
Montez disagreed. "I don't think so, my friend. Rather I would say that the balance of power has shifted. Ring Man will be moving in to take over the power vacuum these attacks have opened. He is well prepared."
Alegre held up his hand to forestall the doomsaying. "Then we will have to have the Ring Man taken care of."
Montez stared at Alegre in disbelief. "We have no one who would be foolish enough to try that."
"I know we don't." Alegre smiled grimly. "But maybe the Americans do. They are too committed now to back out of the present course of action. We can always claim that we didn't know anything about these attacks and put the heat on Washington by threatening to disclose what has happened. After the Panama invasion they couldn't afford that. It would destroy whatever diplomatic relations they have down here in Latin America."
Riley watched as Pike considered his proposal. The two were seated in the general's office, where Riley had laid out his idea in five minutes. Pike was obviously sorting out the pieces in his mind. When they clicked in place the senior officer looked up. "It's a good idea. Even before you came in, I had decided we weren't going to send both teams concurrently on the next mission. If there is a leak, then I want only one team to be compromised. Your idea does that and also reduces the chance of someone knowing when the mission will go."
Riley nodded. The proposal to mount Eyes Three the next evening rather than on Monday night made sense to him. Right now, everyone involved believed that the next mission would occur in two nights. If they moved it up and ran it tomorrow night the chances of compromise were greatly reduced. Then they would delay Four until Tuesday night. That would give the other half of the team more time to prepare and also give them an edge if their old date had been compromised.
Pike considered the ramifications out loud. "I like your idea for infiltration. Should be no problem getting a regular slick UH-60 in Panama. I very much doubt that there's any leak in the Special Ops aircrews or that they are being watched, but if there is, this will circumvent that. I can get everything rolling tonight without tipping off anyone.
"As far as the Hammer is concerned, we can go either way. The Apaches are on alert status off the coast and in Panama, and I'm going to have 1st SOW forward deploy an AC-130 to Panama for quicker reaction. Whichever one we use won't have to know what's happening until you give the go from on the ground. The only person I have to brief here is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and I don't think that will be a problem." Pike paused. "What about Stevens?"
Riley shook his head. "We don't tell him either until we're on the ground."
"All right. You brief your people and I'll get a hold of the chairman and get his blessing."
"… and that's why we believe there is a leak." Westland paused and waited for Strom's reaction. The senior agent was dressed in his golfing clothes and did not appear thrilled with being called in on a weekend to meet with her. There were important people out on the course that he needed to rub elbows with.
Strom shook his head. "That's pretty flimsy. There's a lot of reasons why the camp may have been moving. Hell, they could just have been reacting to the first attack. If there had been a leak, don't you think they would have been better prepared for an attack or have moved earlier? I don't buy it."
Strom looked at her condescendingly. "My dear girl, you have to understand that sometimes in these field operations the unexpected occurs, and the reason it occurs is not due to some dark, monstrous plot but rather just simply the fates weaving their web."
Westland tried hard not to roll her eyes or get angry. She didn't need the patronizing bullshit and she also didn't like being treated like an idiot. She felt she had come here with a legitimate concern and she knew she was getting blown off. "Can you at least give me an idea of how the intelligence on the target sites is getting to us?"
Strom inspected his manicured hands. "My dear girl, you really don't have a need to know that. There's nothing you can do about it anyway. That's my responsibility, and I can assure you there isn't a problem on that end."
Westland decided to push things. If he called her "my dear girl" one more time she didn't think she could control herself. "How can you be sure there isn't a leak on that end? How can you be sure the Colombian source is legitimate?"
He looked up at her in anger, and she was afraid for a second that she'd gone too far. But she really didn't care. She was doing her job, and she had an obligation to the men doing the mission to check on things as much as she could.
Strom had obviously decided enough was enough. "You can be sure because I'm bloody well sure, that's why!" He took a few seconds to gain visible control of himself. "When you've been in this business as long as I, then you will understand."
Strom stood up. Discussion over, thought Westland. He escorted her to the door. "I appreciate your concerns, but I really think you and your Special Forces friends are overreacting. The task force has been a success so far. I think it will continue. However, if you do come across any solid evidence you think points to a leak, let me know right away."
Westland fumed as she watched the door shut in her face. As she walked to her car she considered what she'd just been told. And not told. And where the hell did Strom get that stupid British accent? she wondered illogically to herself.
Westland shook her head angrily as she drove her white Camaro out the gates and headed toward Fort Belvoir. There were obviously a lot of things going on that she didn't have knowledge of. Games within games. She'd seen it at Langley during the past seven years. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that Task Force Hammer was the only operation going on in Colombia, but she had thought that at least she would be informed of any others that might affect her mission, and that she would have high enough clearance to be told about the source of her intelligence. She slammed her fist into the steering wheel in frustration. Maybe she was just overreacting, but a small knot in the pit of her stomach refused to untie.
There'd been no audience for the Eyes Three briefback other than Westland and General Pike. Apparently the powers-that-be had been satisfied with the results of the first two missions and didn't feel the need to keep a cautious eye on the actual proceedings. Besides, Riley knew, it would be Pike's ass on the line if anything went wrong. Pike would be the one recommending to the chairman that the plan was good and the mission should be approved. By distancing himself, General Macksey was placing the entire responsibility on Pike's shoulders.