“Helping you with perspective.”
“Okay. Back to Nicaragua. How are we going to do this?”
“You’ll fly to Costa Rica. We’ll have something chartered and waiting for you in Tamarindo that you can fly yourself. The local station will leave kit on board for you.”
“I’m going to fly myself into Nicaragua?”
“Yes.”
“Under radar?” Court swallowed hard, and Hanley just waved a hand in the air.
“Costa Rica station does it all the time. We’ll get you the routes and maps. Remind me…what’s something you fly well?”
“I don’t flyanythingwell. I’m not a great pilot.”
“But you’re good enough.”
Court thought a moment. “Get me a Cessna, but something fast. A 210. Make sure it’s a Turbo Centurion. Larger gas tank, more powerful engine.”
Now Hanley held his hands up in the air. “It’s Tamarindo, kid, not Oshkosh. I don’t know what my options are down there, but I’ll do my best.”
“Tell me you’ve got someone to do this for you.”
“Yeah, I do.”
Court nodded. “You’re the brains of the operation. I don’t want you anywhere near the details.”
“I think that’s a dig, but I’ll let it go,” Matt said as he finished his beer, then pulled another from the insulated case.
Hanley’s phone chirped. He looked at it for some time; he was reading a text, and then his eyes flashed back up to Court.
The men had worked together, off and on, for over a decade, so Court could read into them. “Nicaragua? It’s happening?”
“It’s happening,” confirmed Hanley.
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight?I don’t even know what—”
“I’ll continue briefing you when you’re in the air. You’ll have to hit the ground running. Extraction will be after midnight; we’ll get you in position.”
“What about weps?”
“You’ll have what you need in Tamarindo.”
Court was still thinking over what he’d learned. “If Costa Rica station is involved, who says they won’t compromise me?”
“They know you are taking an aircraft into Nicaragua. They don’t know the location of the meet with Caprice. Not yet, anyway. Look, there’sno way to do this without some CIA involvement, because Managua station has to tell Caprice where to meet you.”
“What can we do to minimize the threat of compromise?”
“She’s told her handler she will leave the capital, run an SDR. We told her we would give her the location for the extraction one hour before she is supposed to get there. No sooner. We’ll make Managua station the last-minute messenger boys for this, nothing more.”
“Okay.”
“You’ll meet with a group of FORNATs that work with Managua station. Trusted guys. They’ll back you up at the extraction point.” FORNATs were foreign nationals, Nicaraguan agents loyal to the United States.
