'That would be nice,' McCaskey admitted.
'What would be nice is figuring out where the Japanese fit in all this,' Herbert said.
'We also have to get that information out somehow,' Coffey said. 'Let people know that the Brush Vipers did not kill the bishop. I don't know if I sympathize with Dhamballa and Leon Seronga. I certainly don't like what they did. But they should not take the rap for something they did not do.'
'I agree with you one hundred percent,' Hood said. 'We have to try to clear them and at the same time gather evidence about how and why the Japanese are tied to this.'
'What a time to not have a press department,' Herbert remarked. 'Ann would have come up with some good ways to leak this.'
'My staff can handle whatever needs to be presented to the media,' Coffey remarked.
'Yeah, but Ann Farris had panache,' Herbert said. 'She presented things to the media from ten different directions. From here, through the newspapers, on radio talk shows. It was a coordinated assault.'
'Bob, we'll figure out how to do it,' Hood said.
'Maybe Ann will consult,' Herbert suggested.
'We'll get it done,' Hood assured him. He looked away. He did not want to think about Ann Farris. That was both a personal and a professional issue. He had no time for it right now.
The phone beeped. Hood grabbed it. 'This is Hood,' he said.
'Paul, it's Aideen.'
'Talk to me, Aideen!' Hood said.
'We made it,' she told him. 'We are in Maun.'
Hood did not realize how tense his shoulders were until they relaxed. The others in the room cheered.
'Did you hear that?' Hood asked.
'I did,' she said.
'How are you?' Hood asked. 'Where are you?'
'Paris dropped us at a hotel-the Sun and Casino. There are rooms. We're taking one.' . '*
414
OP-CENTER
'Be our guest,' Hood said.
'We will be,' Aideen replied.
'Everyone come through all right?' Hood asked.
'We're tired, but that's it,' she said. 'Hold on. Maria would like to talk to her husband.'
Hood punched off the speaker. He transferred the call to McCaskey's station. The other men rose. They left the Tank to give McCaskey some privacy.
Coffey and Herbert left to go home. Rodgers turned to go. Hood lay an arm on his shoulder.
'You did a great job, Mike,' Hood said. 'Thank you.'
'They did it,' he said, pointing to the Tank. 'The people overseas.'
'You picked them, you sold them on it, you ran it,' Hood said. 'You did a helluva job. This is going to work. The human intelligence team is going to knock some heads together out there.'
'I believe you're right about that, anyway,' Rodgers replied.
'Go home,' Hood told him. 'Get some rest. We'll need it for the wrap-up tomorrow.'
Rodgers nodded and left. Hood noticed that, tired as Rodgers was, his shoulders were strong and straight, just as they must have been when he was a recruit at the age of nineteen.
As Hood was about to leave, McCaskey emerged. He looked like a kid on the night before Christmas.
'Good talk?' Hood asked.
'Yeah,' McCaskey said. 'Real good. Maria sounds absolutely drained but satisfied.'
'She should be,' Hood said. 'They did an amazing job over there.'
'She wants to come home as soon as possible,' McCaskey went on. 'I'm going to fly to London and collect my wife.'
'Great,' Hood said. He felt a stab of sadness. He was going to go home to an empty apartment.
McCaskey's eyes became wistful. 'Listen, I'm sorry about the way I've been acting since this started. It hit a primo sore spot-'
'Don't apologize,' Hood said. 'I've got 'em, too. We all
MISSION OF HONOR
415
do.' He smiled. 'The important thing, Darrell, is that we learned something very important.'
