"That would explain a lot," Molina said.
"But we still don't know what the information was."
"I'm betting it had something to do with the trade mission along with all the interviews Mitchell conducted. He was trying to determine the extent of the operation, learn what was on-line and what was in the pipeline."
"That would be enough to have Mitchell and Terrell whacked," Sloan said.
"But we still don't have anything that ties the ambassador to the murders."
"In a roundabout way we might," Kerney said.
"My meeting with Professor Valencia led me to one of Mitchell's Internet providers. It's part of a conglomerate owned by Trade Source, APT Performa's parent company. Up until the time Terrell was given a new appointment as an ambassador without portfolio, he sat on the Trade Source board of directors, but his ties to the company are still strong, and he has a relationship with Clarence Thayer, the APT Performa CEO."
"You think these corporations are involved in government espionage?"
"Perhaps not directly," Kerney answered.
"But these are hightech companies developing cutting-edge computer tools. They could be supplying part of what's needed to implement the next phase of the intelligence operation."
"I can take Terrell's involvement a step closer than that," Andy said.
"Applewhite called Ambassador Terrell to report on your trip to Red River, and gave him reassurance that everything was under control. She later met with Charlie Perry, learned that you'd cracked the murder cover-up, and made a second call to Terrell, revising her report.
Unfortunately, his phone is encrypted, so we've only got Applewhite's side of the conversations from the remote room bugs."
Andy passed transcript copies around.
"If you read between the lines, I'd say that Kerney and possibly Charlie Perry are next in line for the disappearing magic trick."
"So far, that trick has only been used with Santiago Terjo," Kerney said.
"Wrong," Andy replied, glancing at Molina and Sloan.
"To bring you up to speed, I made contact with Fred Browning, a retired state police captain who now works as security chief for a computer chip manufacturer in Albuquerque. I asked Fred if he could quietly use his contacts to verify Agent Applewhite's identity and credentials. He reported that she was who she appeared to be. Browning may have been fed bad information."
"What makes you say that?" Kerney asked.
"Fred has gone missing, according to his daughter. She called the Albuquerque PD this morning and reported that her father had flown out to California on a quick one-day trip for a job interview. He promised to call her when he got home last night to tell her how it went. He got off the plane in Albuquerque, didn't go home, never called, and hasn't been seen since. His car is still in the airport parking lot.
APD is checking the passenger list and flight crew to see if anyone knows anything. So far, zilch."
Andy poked the paper.
"Fred is the state chapter president of a national professional security society. I borrowed a copy of the chapter membership roster from one of my agents who recently joined. Timothy Ingram is also a member."
"What time did Browning's plane land?" Sloan asked, flipping through his field notes.
Andy read off the time.
"Give Browning five minutes to clear the terminal, a couple more for Ingram to drive to the air base, and that's when I saw him pass by."
"Did you see a passenger?" Kerney asked.
Sloan shook his head.
"Too dark."
"Look at the transcript of the Applewhite-Perry conversation," Andy said.
"Aside from the fact that Applewhite is clearly in command, note Perry's demand to know who sanctioned the hit on Randall Stewart and what was going to happen to Chief Kerney. Applewhite feeds him pure bullshit about both questions."
Andy flipped more pages.
"Jump over to the second Applewhite terrell phone transcript. Terrell asks or says something. Applewhite replies that 'the itinerary is finalized." Another statement from Terrell. Applewhite replies that someone is more resourceful than originally thought, and that a regrettable but not damaging connection has been made. Applewhite listens and then asks, "Take no action' followed by the phrase "And Agent Perry7' " Andy looked hard at his old friend and placed his palm on the papers.
"This is all about you becoming a target, Kevin. Are you sure you want to keep pushing this?"
"For now, it's just talk, Andy," Kerney said, thinking that the last thing he wanted, with a baby on the way, was to put himself at risk.
"Let's keep watching and listening before we overreact."
Kerney smiled reassuringly at Andy, who shook his head in response.
"Moving on," Kerney said.
"Clarence Terrell may be supplying the intelligence community with a new toy. Let me tell you about SWAMI."
Charlie Perry's in-flight reading consisted of a briefing document on Enrique De Leon Drugs were his bread and butter, but De Leon dabbled in the theft of historical artifacts and fine art. Kerney had spoiled two of De Leon heists: a cache of mint-condition nineteenth century military equipment discovered in a secret Apache cave at White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico, and millions of dollars in twentieth-century art taken from the New Mexico governor's suite. De Leon attempt to have Kerney whacked had failed, but he'd succeeded in eliminating a number of competitors, and was now jefe numero uno in northern Mexico.
Applewhite and Perry disembarked at the El Paso Airport. A special operative from the El Paso Drug Interdiction Intelligence Center logged their arrival and handed the information off to an army criminal investigator. Perry drove Applewhite across the bridge into Juarez. A U.
S. Customs agent pulled the videotape of the crossing, made a copy, and sent it by courier to an intelligence officer at nearby Fort Bliss.
On a dirty, gaudy, crowded Juarez street a DEA undercover agent wheeled his taxi three cars back behind Perry's car and reported the start of his surveillance to a special army intelligence drug-interdiction unit at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
With Applewhite at his side Perry rang the doorbell at an opulent house on a tree-lined street close to the Juarez mayor's mansion. The DEA taxi driver broke off contact and ended his surveillance as a CIA deep-cover agent snapped front-step photos of Perry and Applewhite from a slow-moving car passing by. The undeveloped film would be flown to Headquarters, Air Intelligence Agency, at Kelly Air Force Base in Texas.
A stocky, balding Mexican Army general wearing civilian clothes and a wire opened the front door. The feed went to an upstairs room, where a U. S. State Department counterintelligence operative manned a remote receiver. Wordlessly, the general ushered the two agents into a mahogany-paneled library and closed the door.
"Senor De Leon has asked me to cover the preliminaries for him," the general said.
"What preliminaries?" Charlie Perry asked, casting a glance at Applewhite, who merely shrugged.
"No De Leon no meeting." He turned on his heel to leave.
"Let's hear the general out," Applewhite said.
Perry swung around, gave Applewhite a harsh look, and nodded abruptly.
The general continued.
"Senor De Leon wishes me to inform you that you will be paid five hundred thousand dollars for the elimination of Kevin Kerney, half today and half upon completion of your assignment."
"Where's De Leon Perry snapped.
"The task must be done in such a way as not to draw attention to Senor De Leon While he has full confidence in your discretion and abilities, if at the end of your assignment he believes otherwise, he will not release the balance due you."
"Forget it," Perry said.
"This isn't going to work, General," Applewhite said, "unless we include De Leon in on the proceedings."