"You're not going to deny that there were six bodies-seven, counting Lorimer's corpse-left lying in pools of blood at Estancia Shangri-La, are you, Colonel?"
"Actually, eight men died at the estancia," Castillo said, his voice rising. "I lost one of my men, and we damn near lost Alfredo. But we acted in self-defense. They opened fire on us, without warning. We returned it. They died. What the hell were we supposed to do, call a priest, give them the last rites, and bury them?"
"Jose," Munz said evenly. "Colonel Castillo went to Estancia Shangri-la with plans to take Lorimer back-alive-to the United States. Violence was neither planned nor expected."
"And you went with him, Alfredo, fully aware that kidnapping is just as much a crime in Uruguay as it is in Argentina," Ordonez said.
Munz, his eyes narrowed, nodded.
"And was making off with Lorimer's sixteen million dollars planned or expected?"
"We didn't know about the money until we went into Lorimer's safe," Castillo said.
"So you're admitting you stole the money?"
Neither Castillo nor Munz replied.
"What did you do with the money?"
"Alfredo and I spent most of it on whiskey and wild women," Castillo said.
Ordonez stared at him coldly.
"So tell me, Ordonez, what happens now?" Castillo asked after a moment. "You escort us to the Buquebus?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, obviously, our coming here has been a waste of time; you're not going to help us. But on the other hand, we've given you no reason to arrest us; we've broken none of your laws."
"Not today," Ordonez allowed. "Except, of course, the small matter of trying to get a senior police official to acquiesce in your violation of the laws of his country."
"We came to ask your help, Jose," Munz said with an edge in his voice. "Help in getting a fellow police officer-who happens to be an American-back from the hijos de puta who kidnapped him."
"The hijos de puta who have him also have two of Duffy's gendarmes," Ordonez replied evenly. "And have brutally murdered two of his gendarmes. And that's what worries me, Alfredo. That's who worries me."
"The narcos or Duffy?" Munz asked.
"You and I both know, Alfredo, that these people are not ordinary narcos. If they were, I'd probably be hoping-may God forgive me-that Duffy would be leaving bodies not suitable for viewing in their caskets all over Corrientes and Entre Rios Provinces and, for that matter, Paraguay. He's right that the kidnapping-and the murder-of police officers cannot be tolerated, and that leaving bullet-riddled bodies on the side of the road, or at narcotics refining plants, would send that message far more effectively than running them through a justice system where, sadly, justice is often for sale."
Ordonez paused a moment.
"But," he went on, "as I say, these are not ordinary narcos. Major Alejandro Vincenzo of the Cuban Direccion General de Inteligencia is proof of that."
Castillo thought: How the hell does he know that-and how the hell much more does he know?
"Excuse me?" Castillo asked.
"Certainly someone of your background, Colonel, has considered that Vincenzo was here-possibly, even probably, in Paraguay-long before Lorimer went missing in Paris. And as 'their' man on the scene was available to supervise the very professional kidnapping of Mrs. Masterson and the subsequent murder of her husband, when they wanted to locate Lorimer. And their sixteen million dollars."
"Can you define 'they' and 'their'?" Castillo asked.
"Obviously, Vincenzo was a Cuban. But what is the connection between the Russian FSB and the Cuban Direccion General de Inteligencia? There are two possibilities: One, no connection here in this instance; Vincenzo was here to (a) make money from the drug trade and (b) cause what trouble he could in the interests of Cuba. Or, two, the Russians are involved, for the same purposes-making money and causing trouble. I place more credence in the latter in no small measure because of the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Zhdankov of the FSB in Punta del Este, and the presence of your friend Aleksandr Pevsner."
"So far as I know, Pevsner is not under the FSB," Castillo said. "And, as a matter of fact, he as much as admitted to me that he had Zhdankov and Kennedy eliminated in Punta del Este."
"I suspected that, of course. And I appreciate your candor. Which leads us right now to what I was going to come to eventually. From this point on, we will tell each other the truth. Duffy has lied to me-"
"About what?" Munz asked.
"It doesn't matter, Alfredo. But it is one more reason that I am worried about him and this situation. I want to have nothing whatever to do with him as he goes after these narcos."
"Does that bring us back to my question about you escorting us to the Buquebus terminal?" Castillo asked.
"Listen to what I am saying, please, Colonel. I said I wanted to have nothing to do with Duffy in what he's going to do. I am prepared, with the understanding that we will tell each other the truth, to help you with your helicopters. The truth about everything, and that includes el Senor Pevsner."
Castillo met his eyes.
"So far as I know," Castillo repeated, "Pevsner is not under the FSB. That's the truth. He almost certainly has flown things around for them, but he has also flown things around for the CIA. But, again, so far as I know, he is no more an asset of the Federal'naya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti than he is an asset of the Central Intelligence Agency."
Munz added: "And-other than what Carlos has just said-I found no connection between him and the FSB when I worked for him."
Ordonez looked at Munz a moment, nodded, then said, "I have to ask you something, Alfredo."
Munz made a Go on gesture.
"When you worked for him," Ordonez said, "who were you working for?"
"Argentina," Munz said. "But, since we're telling the truth, I never turned the money Pevsner paid me over to SIDE."
"One more indelicate question, old friend, I have to ask. Who are you working for now?"
"I am working for Carlos," Munz said, met Castillo's eyes, then looked back at Ordonez. "But we have the unspoken agreement between us that I am not working-and will not work-against Argentina. In this case, it should go without saying that these hijos de puta-or whoever else, the Direccion General de Inteligencia and/or the FSB-are working against the best interests of my country. My conscience is clear, Jose. Before God, I have not, will not, sell out my country."
"Thank you," Ordonez said. "The problem we have here-I'm sure you will agree-is that Duffy also believes he's working for his country. And can't-or doesn't want to-understand that his duty to Argentina is to turn over what he has to SIDE, and not embark on this mission to murder whoever killed and kidnapped his men." He let that sink in for a moment, then added, "I don't want you-by you, I mean you and Colonel Castillo-working with Duffy."
"And you think I want to?" Castillo said. "What if I have to?"
"Then I can't permit you to bring your helicopters into Uruguay."
"All I want to do is refuel helicopters at Estancia Shangri-La. They would be on the ground less than an hour, and they would not be coming back."
"An hour or two, plus whatever time it took them to reach the estancia, and then to leave Uruguayan air space," Ordonez corrected him.
"That's right," Castillo said.
"If I had your word, and Alfredo's, I could arrange it so that you will not be working with Duffy."
"I can't give you my word," Castillo said. "It's going to be hard-impossible-for me not to work with Duffy. Duffy's told me that unless I can get my superiors to order me to work under his orders and share my assets with him, I will have to leave Argentina within twenty-four hours. And I have to say this: If you hadn't run at the mouth, I wouldn't have that problem."
Ordonez considered that a moment, then almost visibly decided not to take offense.
"I 'ran at the mouth'-an interesting phrase-before I understood what Duffy was planning to do. And before I discovered that he had lied to me."