“You are supposed to be the people protecting our shoreline. Yet we have a hostile force just beyond our shores shaking their spears at us and you can do nothing! The only force that seems loyal to me is my personal guards. At least they can get things done,” he nearly screamed. Parente turned to the leading admiral. “And what of your plan to sink one of their battleships? It has been more than a day and both are steaming along our coast where everyone can see them. Even one of their amphibious ships was seen with landing craft headed away from our shore. It was empty, Admiral! That means they may have already landed Marines on our shores!”
The admiral could feel the noose tightening around his neck. The truth was, they had no way of really striking back at the American or nearly any other large navy. They had sent in the diver to do his job, but the man had never been heard from again. He couldn’t tell Parente the man had disappeared. He would immediately suspect desertion and order the death or imprisonment of the man’s family and friends, not to mention those in command.
“Señor Presidente, we suspect we have someone passing information to the Americans. The diving operation was conducted under the strictest of secrecy, yet it failed. We suspect someone in the headquarters is a traitor. I have already taken the steps to find this person and bring him before you. As for the landing craft, we have determined that they were simply practicing since both the Army and Navy have been able to turn up any evidence a force has landed. We have stationed one of our frigates in the area to monitor all of the American activities. To date, none has come closer than fifteen miles of our shores. I have also sent patrol planes to monitor the force daily. If someone does come in, we will know it,” he said.
Parente didn’t respond. His mind had stopped at the mention of the word ‘traitor.’ A traitor would explain a great many things. That would explain the ships being where they were, why that special team had been sent to Brazil, and how this Admiral Hammond seemed to stay one step ahead. As he thought through the process, his senior officers remained quiet. After a minute, Parente’s face turned back to the stern mask he seemed to constantly wear with them. “Concentrate our troops at the eastern borders and especially near the shore. I want to know if anything comes in from there. Admiral, continue your surveillance and let me know immediately if there is a change. I have work to do,” he said to the assembled men.
Parente turned and left the room, his mind still deep in thought. Getting into his car, he reached over and pressed the button for his personal guard commander. “Colonel Fuentes, I want to know any member of my staff or our military senior staff who have made any contact with an American. Bring that information to my desk within the hour,” he ordered.
Parente hung up the phone and sat back in his seat. Too many things were starting to unravel. He needed answers and he needed them quickly. Grabbing the phone again, he pressed another button.
Ambassador Jonas picked up the phone on the second ring. “Jonas,” he said.
“Mister Ambassador, I feel there is a leak in our system. I am getting indications that someone is passing information to your government. I need to know if this is the case and I need to know within the hour,” Parente said sternly before hanging up the phone.
Jonas stared at the receiver in horror. If this was the case, his head was in a noose. He placed the handset into its receiver and thought a moment. He couldn’t grill his CIA or FBI staffers. That would look bad. But he could ask for an update. He also needed to get any new information from Williamson. He dialed the number.
Williamson was eating his lunch from his desk. Once again, Foster was on the road. He would be back tonight. More and more he was getting sick of Foster’s indecisiveness. He just didn’t have the real backbone to make the hard decisions. When the phone rang he was taking a bite out of a roast beef sandwich. He saw it was the private line and picked up the phone. “Williamson,” he said.
“We have a situation,” said Jonas. “Our leader thinks he has someone passing information to us.”
“Impossible. I have my people constantly on the lookout for that. If I get one hint of a leak, we pull the plug,” Williamson said.
“I realize that, but he wants a check. Evidently something has gotten him very suspicious.”
“What does he have?”
“I don’t know, he wouldn’t tell me, but if he has indications there’s a leak, we have to take it seriously. There’s a lot going on down here and he may be putting a few things together. How about checking around and letting me know what you find. I’ll do some checking on my end.”
“How soon does he want the information?”
“Within an hour.”
“That asshole must know this isn’t something we can just make a call and verify. Tell him to give men till this evening and I will have it wrapped up for him. And make sure you don’t raise suspicions on your end,” Williamson said before slamming down the phone. Great. Now I have two people without a backbone, he thought. Picking up the phone again, he started making a few calls.
“So we’re still in the dark?” asked Jonas.
Pete Wilson and Rick Lozier both nodded. “Yes sir, we have nothing that even remotely leads up to finding them. Satellites just don’t tell us much and between Colombia, Venezuela and Guiana, we are having a hell of a time. I understand the President is scared to death they are already dead,” said Lozier.
“I understand he’s also having his hands full with this Admiral Hammond. He finagled his way into being a part of this exercise and now he has two battleships, the Wasp and about fifteen other ships at his disposal. Word is he is ready to lead the charge wherever we find them, and with a ship full of Marines, he might just be able to carry it off,” said Wilson as a part of the prepared cover up. “But the President is keeping him on a short leash, so for now we are still looking. As for us, no one has come forward with anything we don’t already know,” he said.
“We’ll make sure you are the first to know when something happens,” said Lozier.
Jonas sat back in his seat and placed his fingers together in thought. If there was nothing, then there’s nothing, he thought. “Well, I guess we just keep going. Thank you both for keeping me updated. I know the pressure is on you, so let me know if I can help,” he said to the men, dismissing them.
Both men left the office and headed straight for the communications section without saying a word. Closing the door behind them, they immediately noticed the light was on for the phone tap. Wilson turned up the volume.
“…contact in Washington is checking his sources there, but assures me he has heard nothing. I have checked with my FBI and CIA staff and they are telling me that everyone is still scratching in the dark. They did offer one bit of information. It seems this Admiral Hammond has pushed his way into being in this task force. He has a fairly good size force with him and is ready to take things in his own hand if he needs to. The President is having to hold him back. If you have some assets, there’s where I would put my money,” said Jonas to the other caller.
“That’s interesting,” said the man on the other line. “My leadership feels he is the one to watch as well. When should you get information back from Washington?”
“I was told this evening. I will call you immediately,” said Jonas.
“Very good. I must tell you that there seem to be too many things happening for there to be a mere coincidence. I even sent a diver to try and disable one of your battleships and it didn’t work. That is one reason I suspect a traitor. If you hear anything about this, let me know. Thank you Mister Ambassador,” he said as the line was cut.