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"Yes, Mr. President, it is."
"I want to see you as soon as you get back up here, Charley. When is that going to be?"
"Probably late tomorrow, sir."
"Okay. I'll see you then. Unless I'm down there overseeing this disaster. You find me, either way."
"Yes, sir."
"Charles," Castillo heard the President say, "it's Charley for you."
Ambassador Montvale came on the line a moment later.
"Good to hear from you, Colonel," he said. "What can I do for you?"
"Buy Mr. Ellsworth a new pair of glasses."
"Excuse me?"
"I can think of no reason but fuzzy eyesight for his pushing the President's button when he knew I wanted to talk to you, can you?"
"I'm sure that it was inadvertent."
"Oh, me too," Castillo said, sarcastically. "I can't imagine him doing it on purpose, hoping it would cause the President to be annoyed with me. It just has to be his glasses."
"What can I do for you, Charley?" Montvale asked, his annoyance clear in his voice.
"There's a risk of compromise down here that I want to stop before it goes any further."
"At this late date?"
"Yes, sir."
"What needs to be done?"
"Two things. First, please call the station chief in Paraguay and tell him that Alex Darby is coming to see him and will speak with your authority."
"My authority about what?"
"To tell his people to stop guessing between them what happened in Uruguay and here, and stop talking about it, period."
"Should I call the ambassador there?"
"Let's leave him out of it, if we can."
"Your call. But forewarned is forearmed, as you know."
"And then call Fort Meade and have the DIA immediately transfer First Lieutenant Edmund Lorimer, an assistant military attache at the embassy in Asuncion, to OOA."
"What's that about?"
"He was clever enough to learn my name and find the safe house. I don't
want to leave him here."
"A troublemaker, in other words?"
"Mr. Ambassador, he's done nothing but what I would have done in his shoes."
