Wilson looked at Lozier. “He’s starting to get paranoid. That’s not a good sign. I hope we can get these people out in time,” he said.
“I’m more concerned about what he said about sending a diver to a battleship. The only one making a port visit in the vicinity has been the North Carolina, and that was about a week ago,” said Lozier.
Wilson nodded. “We better make a call. If there’s something on her hull, there could be a lot of guys hurt. But there is one good thing. If Williamson returns that phone call tonight, we have an open and shut case.”
“As you know Señor Presidente, we have all of your staff under surveillance since a few weeks before starting this operation. During that time, only two of your staff has had any communication with an American. We suspect Colonel Messina may have been passing information. He has met with a Mrs. Harrison at local sports events on several occasions. It is always in a crowd setting where it is almost impossible to determine what is being said. She is the wife of a local engineering contractor, but she seems to attend a number of functions at the embassy. We are not certain he is the leak, but he is a suspect,” said Fuentes.
“Who is the second?”
“Colonel Rojas also attends these sports events. However, he has dutifully reported his encounters with Mrs. Harrison to us and his time is spent coaching the youth team. The only other person he seems to talk to are the team coaches and occasionally purchasing local crafts from a vendor there. There is nothing to indicate that he is nothing more than interested in this sports team,” said Fuentes.
Parente smiled. “Yes, he has told me of this team also. Lately, he has become even more indispensable for me. I do not doubt his loyalty. Do you?”
Fuentes chuckled, “Señor Presidente, we question the loyalty of everyone, but in his case, he has not shown us anything we should doubt.”
Parente’s face frowned again. “Messina, on the other hand, has been with me since before this event. He’s a good pilot and has never failed me. I do not want to arrest him until we are sure he is guilty. Place additional surveillance on him. Let me know the minute he steps out of line.”
“Yes, Señor Presidente.”
The taps placed on Williamson’s line turned up ten different contacts he was getting information from. Already the FBI was running the names to see how deep the leaks were. His final call was to Jonas.
“I have checked with everyone. I got a hint that something was happening, but nothing about a leak. Seems we have an agent in place snooping around. I’ll try to find out who it is. Your man is getting paranoid,” he told Jonas.
“This has already lasted far longer than I thought it might. Are we stretching our necks out a bit too far?” Jonas asked.
“Hell no. Remember what we are doing this for. We both need Foster to get reelected. For you it will mean a cabinet post, and I have my own reasons. You keep that monkey in line until this is over. Within a few days the election will be over and our man will be in. Keep your priorities straight and we’ll get through this,” said Williamson.
“What if he does turn up a leaker? I mean, if they are getting information and just not telling anyone….”
“Then tell him to get rid of the evidence. That was the plan. If anything went wrong just kill them all and blame it on terrorists or something. We still come out clean as a whistle. Do I have to think of everything?”
“Is this how Foster feels?”
“Foster? Foster didn’t want to do this in the first place. But I was able to persuade him when I showed him something in his background that nobody knows — just like I know things about you. So forget about Foster’s feelings and stick to the plan. In two weeks we will be right up against the elections and nothing can stop us. The press is crucifying O’Bannon and the polls are going our way. Just do your job,” Williamson shouted as he slammed down the phone.
At the FBI, the agents marked the latest recording as evidence. “The son of a bitch will fry for this. Now we have him passing intelligence information,” said one.
“Yea, but wasn’t that interesting about Foster? I wonder what he has on him?” asked the other.
“Yea, this calls for some special attention. Let’s get this up top quickly,” said the first.
The two men made a copy of the recording and carried it on a thumb drive to Hal Mossman’s office.
Chapter 13
Launch
The Osprey lifted off the deck of the Iowa and sped into the night sky. Inside was the special operations team with their gear. Just two hours before, the men had received their final briefing, updating them on the latest intelligence and last minute instructions. Captain Chapman had received further instructions privately from both Hammond and General Richardson via secure comms.
Chapman made his way back and took a seat beside Ricks. “Master Sergeant, it looks like we need to get there as fast as we can. Our bosses think things are starting to rattle Parente a little and he might just pull the plug and snuff these people. I have to rely on you to get us in there and get the job done. You know how best to evade and get to your destination. Just don’t take a couple of weeks to do it like you did in Korea,” he said leaning over to Ricks.
Ricks nodded in understanding. “With all we’ve been through, I can understand it. We proved we can do it in South Carolina. Right now, we need to get on the ground and get going. As I mentioned before, I’m not sure how easy we will be able to get through that jungle growth. With eyes overhead, we should be fairly safe from ambush, but if we’re having to cut our way through, we’ll be dead tired before we get anywhere near that compound. Let’s hope our intel is right and we can make it on time.”
Chapman leaned in again. “You got that right. If we don’t make it tomorrow night, our transport will leave without us. I really don’t want to carry these people all the way to Colombia. Did you get the gear checked out again? We’re beating it up pretty bad.”
“I had the guys triple check it before we took off. At least we’re not jumping,” Ricks said.
Chapman nodded. “How about those legs of yours, they up to the task?”
“Another good reason not to jump, but I brought my spares. I’ll walk your asses into the ground,” Ricks said with a grin.
Chapman laughed. “Nothing like carrying around a cripple,” he joked. “By the way, your buddy Hammond seems to be a great guy. I think I’d like to serve with him.”
Ricks laughed. “You’ll have to stand in line. He takes care of his people. Most everybody I talked to think he’s a saint.”
“Where did you meet him?”
“Actually, it was aboard the Iowa. He got his MOH the same time I got mine. Later that afternoon we swapped stories and made friends. Since then he’s kept up with me and dropped by. His wife Patricia is his twin. They are a lot alike and she helped my wife, Su Lynn get a few things going. That’s how she got enrolled in the local college. In another few years, she will have her degree in horticulture. I just hope she doesn’t decide to leave an uneducated cretin like me,” Ricks joked.
“I don’t know, some of us cretins can be useful,” said Chapman.
The aircraft banked sharply and the men could feel it slowing. The crewman motioned for everyone to buckle up. In a few minutes, the aircraft seemed to hover for a minute or so, then the men felt a bump as the plane’s wheels hit a deck. After another minute, while to men could hear metal pieces hitting parts of the plane, the engines were shut down and the men unbuckled and exited the rear of the aircraft.