new intelligence operation under wraps for over a day. In Washington time, that was equivalent to a year.
Even the tension between Darrell McCaskey and Bob Herbert had been defused, at least for the moment. The only lingering problem was not Op-Center's. At least, not directly. That was the tension between Darrell McCaskey and his wife. The way Herbert described it, Maria Corneja took the assignment 'like a pit bull at a rib roast.' She was not going to give up fieldwork. They had all suspected that would be the case. Now they knew it. The fact that Maria had made this decision without consulting her husband made it even worse. It was ironic. McCaskey was a great listener in interrogations or conferences. He was without equal when it came to sifting answers for truths or following voice inflections to fertile new
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lines of questioning. But when it came to his personal life, McCaskey tended to do most of the talking and none of the hearing. That was going to have to change.
Look who's giving advice, Hood thought. He himself was a man who had listened to everything his wife had said. And meant to do most of it. He just never found the time.
But there had not been time to dwell on small triumphs or major shortcomings. Not long after returning to his office, Hood received a call from Edgar Kline. The Vatican security officer reported that Deacon Jones had heard from Father Bradbury. According to Jones, the priest was still a prisoner.
'Is he in good health?' Hood asked.
'Apparently,' Kline informed him.
'You don't sound happy about that,' Hood said.
'Father Bradbury asked about the parish,' Kline went on. 'Unfortunately, Deacon Jones told the father that a temporary replacement was en route from Washington.'
'Shit,' Hood said. Obviously, African missionaries had lost some of their tactical finesse since the closing years of the nineteenth century. In those days, the Boers used clergymen to spy on the location, movements, and strength of Zulu tribesmen. 'That means Dhamballa knows about the bishop.'
'One has to assume that,' Kline agreed.
'Are you going to change his travel plans?' Hood asked.
'That would signal to Dhamballa that we are afraid of him,' Kline said. 'We will not do that.'
'What about your Spanish undercover operatives? Have they arrived?' Hood asked.
'Yes,' Kline replied. 'The leader of the group is going to introduce himself to the deacons in the morning. Several members will shadow them and watch out for the bishop.'
'That's good,' Hood replied.
'I'd also like to send over our E-file of photographs that were taken at Dhamballa's rallies,' Kline said. 'There are some photographs of Dhamballa. We thought you might be able to search your own databases on the off chance that there's a match.'
Hood agreed to do so. Then he told Kline'• about Richard
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Stiele's activities. Kline did not seem overly concerned. Nor would he be. Whatever the Europeans were doing probably would not impact the Vatican directly. Hood told Kline that he would keep him abreast of any new developments, whether or not they appeared to relate to Father Bradbury.
'Just to keep you fully in the loop,' Hood said pointedly.
Kline thanked him.
A few minutes after Kline hung up, Hood's computer beeped. He had received a file containing the address for the secure Vatican Security Organization web site. The download came with a password to access the Dhamballa file. The password was adamas. From four years of high school Latin, Hood remembered that was the word for diamond. Someone in the VSO had a clear sense of the region. Or else they knew more than Kline was letting on.
Hood forwarded the information to Stephen Viens. Until recently, Viens had been the Satellite Imaging supervisor at the National Reconnaissance Office. A college classmate of Matt Stoll, Viens had always given Op- Center's requirements top priority. For that reason, among others, Viens was scapegoated for two billion dollars in funding that did not reach its targeted black ops programs. Bob Herbert helped to prove the man's innocence. Op- Center was punished by having their needs given VLP status-very low priority. Fortunately, Viens still had friends at the NRO. He did not go back to his former post. He now worked as Op-Center's internal security chief. Viens's duties included setting up a photo analysis program for Hood. Hood also sent the Vatican address to Herbert and Rodgers.
As Hood finished sending the data from the Vatican Security Organization, Emmy called.
'Paul, that was a terrific lead you gave me about Albeit Beaudin,' she told him.
'How so?' Hood asked.
'It turns out Mr. Stiele wasn't the only Beaudin associate who liquidated assets within the last few days,' she said.
'Who else?' Hood asked.
'Gurney de Sylva, who is another Beaudin board member,'
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