"Yes, sir. I understand."
"Which means, of course, that all evidence gathered will be retained by the Argentine judicial system; that extraditionof these people, even if finally approved, would be futile. Even if we could get around the double jeopardy business, we would have no evidence to present. Plus, the very act-justified, legally permissible, or not- of asking for extradition would certainly offend Argentine pride. It would be tantamount to saying we don't trust their judicial system."
"Did you tell the President what you had decided, Mr. Ambassador?"
"The conversation, Mr. Castillo, was rather one-sided," Silvio said. "Is there anything else we should talk over before we go into the conference room, do you think?"
"I can't think of anything, sir." [FIVE] Everyone sitting at the long conference table stopped talking and rose to their feet as Ambassador Silvio and Castillo entered the room.
Alex Darby was at the foot of the table. Kenneth Lowery sat on his right, and Tony Santini on his left. The two FBI agents from Montevideo sat together. There were a dozen other men around the table. Castillo didn't know any by name, but some of them, the DEA people, he recognized from the brainstorming session Masterson had organized the day before. There were three people in uniform: an Air Force colonel, an Army colonel, and a Marine gunnery sergeant.
Castillo pegged them as the defense attache, the military mission commander, and the NCO in charge of the Marine guards. Everybody looked at Castillo with unabashed curiosity.
"Keep your seats, please, gentlemen," Silvio ordered, as he walked to the head of the table. He put his hands on the back of the chair there.
"For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to meet him, this gentleman is Mr. C. G. Castillo, who is in Argentina as the President's agent. A short time ago, the President conveyed to me his decision to place Mr. Castillo in charge of dealing with all aspects of the unfortunate situation we find ourselves in vis-a-vis Chief of Mission J. Winslow Masterson and his family. The President further informed me that the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, and the directors of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been informed of his decision."
The ambassador looked at Castillo, said, "Mr. Castillo, you have the floor," and sat in the first chair at the side of the table.
Castillo looked around the room.
There's not a hell of a lot of friendly faces looking at me. As a matter of fact, none.
Well, here goes.
"Good morning, gentlemen," Castillo began. "Our priorities are these. First, the protection of Mrs. Masterson and her children. Second, the protection of all embassy personnel. Third, to cooperate with the Argentine authorities in their investigation of what has happened.
"In regard to the last, after consulting with Ambassador Silvio, I have decided that we will proceed on the assumption that the Argentine government will find out who committed these crimes, arrest the culprits, and subject them to trial in Argentine courts."
"We're not even going to try to extradite these scum-bags?" FBI agent Yung asked.
"That is what, after consultation with Ambassador Silvio, I have decided. And please don't interrupt me again until I open the floor for comments and questions," Castillo said.
There was some murmuring, but nothing more.
Well, I got away with that. Let's see what else I can get away with.
"With regard to Priority One: Mr. Santini, who has had extensive experience with the Secret Service Presidential Protection Detail, will assume responsibility for the protection of the Masterson family until we can get them safely out of the country. An Air Force transport is already in the air on its way down here to transport Mr. Masterson's body and his family to the United States.
"With regard to Priority Two: Mr. Lowery will put in place whatever heightened security measures he deems necessary for the protection of all other embassy personnel. I know the President has a deep interest in this, so I'd like, within the hour, a rough game plan from you, Mr. Lowery, so that after Ambassador Silvio approves it-or modifies it-I can send it to Washington."
Castillo looked at Lowery, who said, "Yes, sir. Within the hour."
Two down.
"With regard to Priority Three: Mr. Darby will handle all arrangements to cooperate with the Argentine authorities in their investigation of this situation, and, coordinatingwith Mr. Santini and Mr. Lowery, the incorporation of what security personnel the Argentine government provides into our own security arrangements.
"Further, the FBI is sending a team of investigators down here. They will report to Mr. Darby. Mr… Yung, is it?"
"Yung," he confirmed.
"You will be responsible for the logistic support of the FBI team. Find them someplace to live, to operate, automobiles, whatever they need, and also keep Ambassador Silvio, Mr. Darby, Mr. Lowery, Mr. Santini, and myself advised on a timely basis of whatever their investigation develops.
"The Secret Service is sending two special agents down here. One, Special Agent Schneider, will report to Mr. Santini to assist in the protection of the Masterson family. Special Agent Britton will monitor both the Argentine's and our investigation-including, of course, the FBI's- and report to the ambassador and me what information he comes up with. I will, since both special agents will be working for me, handle their logistic requirements."
Now how the hell are you going to do that?
"Finally, to ensure everyone's working on the same page, and to ensure that someone sitting behind a desk in Washington doesn't start to try to micromanage what we're going to do here, there will be no communication by any means-radio, e-mail, or telephone-with any agency in Washington unless it has been first vetted by the ambassador or myself."
"You're telling me, sir, that I'm forbidden to communicate with the bureau?" Yung demanded.
"Thank you for the opportunity to make myself perfectly clear, Agent Yung, as apparently my request to finish without interruption also went unheard," Castillo said icily. "You are forbidden to communicate with the bureau-or anyone else-absent the approval of the ambassador or myself in every instance. Got it?"
There was a moment's hesitation. Then a cold, "I've got it."
"Now, are there any questions or comments?" There were far fewer questions and comments than Castillo expected.
There is, however, a sullen, bubbling resentment toward Presidential Agent Castillo that can be cut with a knife.
But I think trying to be a nice guy would have made things even worse.
"Well, if that's it, gentlemen, thank you for your time and attention. Now let's get to work. Mr. Darby and Mr. Santini, will you remain behind, please?" "Will you be needing me for anything else, Mr. Castillo?" Ambassador Silvio asked, when everyone but Darby and Santini had left the room.
"If you would, sir. Give me another minute."
"Of course."
"Tony, Alex, that commo block doesn't apply to either of you. But I couldn't keep just the FBI off the horn. And I really didn't want some hotshot second-guessing what we're going to try to do here." He looked at Darby. "Remember the Langley hotshots with access to a satellite phone in Afghanistan, Alex?"
"Painfully," Darby chuckled.
"Joel said you were really a hardnose," Santini said. "You did very well in here just now, Ace."
"I wish I thought so."
"I thought so, too," Ambassador Silvio said. "I did wonder, however, why you claimed my decision not to go for extradition as your own?"
"We had a saying in Afghanistan, sir, when we did something we suspected might get us in hot water. 'Screw it. What are they going to do, send me to Afghanistan?'"
Silvio chuckled.
"There's also an expression, 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.' But that was gracious of you, Mr. Castillo. I'm grateful."
"Sir, do you think you could bring yourself to call me 'Charley'?"