He looked up at his assistant and grimaced wearily. "As always, you are right, my friend. I do not like being betrayed and that is what that scum in the palace has done to me. We will eventually catch up with him. Have you brought in our informant yet?"
"Yes. As you thought, he knew nothing of more information being passed to the CIA. It was obviously the president or perhaps his aide, Montez, who gave the Americans our lab location."
"Kill the informant anyway. I want no one else to know what went on between Alegre and me."
"Yes, sir." Ponte wasn't surprised. He'd figured that was what the Ring Man would do. "What about the DEA agent? What should we do with him? We've gotten all the information we can out of him."
"Let Maria keep him. She deserves it. She did a good job. Tell her to take her time."
The Ring Man stood up. "Continue the bombings. Let the government know they cannot act with impunity. Also make a videotape of the bodies of the American soldiers and the one we have captured. I will write a letter to go with the video, then we will release it. We will let the world know what is happening down here and what will happen if the United States and Alegre continue their foolish actions against us."
Again Ponte dared to disagree. "Senor, I suggest we leave the live American off the video. I think that will only give the American government more incentive to involve themselves down here. We may be able to use the man as leverage at some time in the future, but only if we keep it quiet. We need to stay out of the media up there. A hostage would be the wrong tack to take.
"Showing the dead ones will get our point across. The bodies will show what the Americans have done, and later we can make a show of turning the bodies over to their embassy while at the same time publicly deploring the attack."
Ring Man considered this and then inclined his head, indicating assent, before leaving the room.
Riley's time sense was confused. Having spent the previous night awake and now having napped for five hours, he was somewhat rested but felt as though it should be morning.
The building was also too quiet. No noise from the members of Eyes Four. He got up, padded out into the hallway, and started checking rooms. There was no sign of anyone else — even their gear was gone. It was as if no one else had ever been there, except for the room where he had slept. There, the half-empty duffel bag lying on Powers's bunk was a meager monument to the missing team sergeant.
Riley pulled on his boots and laced them up. Finished, he slumped back into the chair at a loss for what to do next. He didn't want to allow himself to dwell on what had happened. When he probed his feelings, he felt a long, jagged cut tearing through his stomach and into his heart. He needed to do something to help heal it.
Hearing a car pull into the lot outside, he rose from the chair and glanced out the window. He saw Westland being waved through the gate by the MPs on duty.
Riley walked slowly down the stairs, arriving at the bottom at the same time Westland entered the hallway. "Where's the rest of the team and Pike?" Riley wasted no time on pleasantries.
"The team went back to Bragg. The task force has been disbanded." Westland gestured for Riley to follow her into the isolation planning room.
Riley gently but firmly grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "What about Powers? We just going to write him off?"
Riley saw a flash of anger, replaced quickly by sorrow, in Westland's eyes as she replied. "Powers is listed as dead. I just found out over at Langley."
Riley wasn't going to give up that easily. "And how do the geniuses over at Langley know that?"
Riley could see his own doubt reflected in Westland's eyes. Even in the midst of his anger he felt an affinity for her. The disaster with the mission had affected her also, beyond just the realm of professional loss.
She shook her head. "They wouldn't tell, but I have it straight from the director that they have confirmation of his death." She sighed. "Listen, Dave, I tried pushing Strom on it. It's like talking to a damn wall. I know how you feel and I feel crappy about this whole thing, too. You were right from the beginning about the mission being kind of flaky, and you were also right about Stevens."
Riley released her shoulders and followed her into the isolation area. She sat down on a metal folding chair and Riley sat on the edge of one of the large tables, facing her. "What about Stevens? Any word on him?"
Westland shook her head again. "Nothing."
"Well, what now? Do I get to go back to Bragg and face the widows and the kids?" Riley asked bitterly. He dreaded the thought of seeing Gina Partusi and not being able to tell her the truth about how Frank had died.
He watched Westland carefully. She had something on her mind. He had a feeling there was a reason why he hadn't been awakened and sent back with the others. Maybe another, more extensive debriefing was coming up over at Langley. He waited while she chose her words carefully.
"Although Task Force Hammer has been disbanded, there's still a great deal of concern about Colombia and the drug cartel. A lot has happened in Colombia in the last couple of hours. Alegre has declared martial law. There have been several bombings and assassinations in Bogota and Medellin. It looks like it's starting to shape up into an all-out war between the government and the cartel.
"The man whose lab you were about to hit last night, Ring Man, has tried consolidating his power base by moving into the vacuum caused by the first two Hammer strikes. The feeling seems to be that if Ring Man was out of the picture, then Alegre would have a good chance of actually beating the cartel."
"This is all very interesting, but what does any of it have to do with me?" Riley stretched out his legs on the table.
Westland continued slowly. "Even under martial law, Alegre isn't able to touch the Ring Man, legally. There's also the fear that if he does try something against the man personally, it could backfire and bring even more bloodshed."
Riley was getting tired of her beating around the bush. He had a feeling where all this was leading. "What are you trying to tell me?"
Westland looked him in the eyes. "They want you to terminate the Ring Man."
Riley lay back on the table and contemplated the ceiling. Clowns In Action has got to be what CIA stands for, he thought. These people can't be for real.
Riley spoke as if to the ceiling. "The last time some Special Forces people 'terminated,' as you say, someone on orders of the CIA, at least the last time it was publicly noticed, was at a place called Nha Trang in Vietnam. Your agency gave some of our people evidence that one of their local indigenous agents was a double. Your people also gave some not-so-subtle instructions on how to deal with the double.
"Unfortunately, someone squealed after the deed. The Special Forces people involved, all the way up to the highest ranking Green Beret in country, the 5th Group commander, were investigated and almost court-martialed for murder."
Riley rolled his head toward Westland. "Your fearless colleagues all of a sudden had collective amnesia. They knew nothing about a double agent and certainly nothing about orders to kill anyone. The Special Forces men were left out on their own." Riley sat up suddenly. "So why should I do this? Give me one good reason."
Westland faced him. "Revenge."
Riley snorted. "By the way, who the hell is this 'they' who want me to kill — and that's the proper word, not 'terminate'—Ring Man?"
"I got this straight from the deputy director."
"… who will swear on his mother's grave that he never said anything of the kind if I get caught and my head is blown off." Riley shook his head in wonder. "Have you thought about why they want me to do this and not one of their own superspy, Joe-ninja assassins? You guys employ a bunch of ex-Special Forces and ex-SEALs just for stuff like this. Any of them could do the job. I mean why me?"