Clear and present danger - Tom Clancy [110]
"What have you learned?" Escobedo asked without preamble.
"Nothing specific as of yet," Cortez replied with a yawn. He proceeded to speak for about five minutes, going over what things he had discovered.
"I pay you for results, Colonel," Escobedo pointed out.
"That is true, but at high levels such results require time. Under the methods for gathering information which you had in place before I arrived, you would still know nothing other than the fact that some aircraft are missing, and that two of your couriers have been apprehended by the yanquis."
"Their story about the interrogation aboard the ship?"
"Most unusual, perhaps all a fabrication on their part." Cortez settled into his chair, wishing for another cup of coffee. "Or perhaps true, though I doubt it. I do not know either man and cannot evaluate the reliability of their claims."
"Two men from Medellín. Ramón's older brother served me well. He was killed in the battles with M-19. He died bravely. Ramón has also served me. I had to give him a chance," Escobedo said. "It was a matter of honor. He is not very intelligent, but he is faithful."
"And his death is not overly troublesome?"
Escobedo shook his head without a moment's pause. "No. He knew what the chances were. He did not know why it was necessary to kill the American. He can tell them nothing about that. As for the American - he was a thief, and a foolish thief. He thought that we would not discover his thievery. He was mistaken. So we eliminated him."
And his family, Cortez noted. Killing people was one thing. Raping children… that was something else. But such things were not his concern.
"You are sure that they cannot tell the Americans -"
"They were told to get aboard the yacht, using the money as their bona fides and concealing their cache of drugs. Once the killings were accomplished, they were instructed to go to the Bahamas, turn the money over to one of my bankers, destroy the yacht discreetly, and then smuggle the drugs in normally, into Philadelphia. They knew that the American had displeased me, but not how he had done so."
"They must know that he was laundering money, and they must have told the Americans this," Cortez pointed out patiently.
"Sí. Fortunately, however, the American was very clever in how he did this. We were careful, Colonel. Beforehand we made sure that no one could learn exactly what the thief had done." Escobedo smiled, still in the afterglow of Pinta's services. "He was so very clever, that American."
"What if he left behind a record?"
"He did not. A police officer in that city searched his office and home for us - so carefully that the American federales never noticed that he had been there - before I authorized the killings."
Cortez took a deep breath before speaking. "Jefe, do you not understand that you must tell me about such things as this beforehand! Why do you employ me if you have no wish to make use of my knowledge?"
"We have been doing things such as this for years. We can manage our affairs without -"
"The Russians would send you to Siberia for such idiocy!"
"You forget your place, Señor Cortez!" Escobedo snarled back. *
Félix bit off his own reply and managed to speak reasonably. "You think the norteamericanos are fools because they are unable to stop your smuggling. Their weakness is a political failing, not one of professional expertise. You do not understand that, and so I will explain it to you. Their borders are easy to violate because the Americans have a tradition of open borders. You confuse that with inefficiency. It is not. They have highly efficient police with the best scientific methods in the world - do you know that the Russian KGB reads American police textbooks? And copies their techniques? The American police are hamstrung because their political leadership does not allow them to act as they wish to act - and as they could act, in a moment, if those restrictions were ever eased. The American FBI - the federales - have resources beyond your comprehension. I know - they