'Mike, it doesn't matter what she wants,' McCaskey said. 'She isn't running this mission. The Maun police can pick up the Brush Viper and get the same information she can. Botswana peace officers can be pretty aggressive when they want to be.'
'Then how do we get the information?' Rodgers asked.
'Why do we need it?' McCaskey asked. 'The police can find Father Bradbury.'
'Not if the target sees them closing in and signals ahead,' Rodgers said. 'You know better than that, Darrell.'
McCaskey stared at Rodgers. The look was pure G-man: steady gaze, neutral mouth. It was an expression that agents practiced to keep adversaries from knowing whether they had touched a weak spot in a confrontation or interrogation. Or that they had let an important piece of information slip. Rodgers did not think McCaskey was trying to keep his feelings a secret, but the former FBI agent was trying to keep them in check. McCaskey could not have liked what he just heard about his wife.
'What about you, Mike?' McCaskey asked.
'I don't follow,' Rodgers said.
'What do you want?' McCaskey pressed.
'I want Maria to be safe,' Rodgers replied. 'I also want to complete the mission she undertook.'
'In that order?' McCaskey pressed.
There was something accusatory in McCaskey's tone. Rodgers did not appreciate it.
'Very much in that order, Darrell,' Rodgers replied. 'I've already lost my allotment of Op-Center personnel for this year.'
McCaskey looked like he'd been hit across the back with a two-by-four. There was an awkward, deadly silence. meCaskey lowered his eyes. Some of the anger seemed to leave him.
Mike Rodgers was still pretty pissed off, himsejf. But not because McCaskey had raised the subject of Rodgers's priori-
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ties. If he were in McCaskey's position, he would have asked the same question. And not as diplomatically. He would have done it for two reasons. First, to make sure his wife was not taking reckless chances. And second, to blow off pressure at having been left out of the decision-making process from the start.
No, what bothered Rodgers was one of the same things that bothered McCaskey. Maria was being forced to improvise an entire recon operation. There was no playbook for Maria to follow. And there was no exit strategy. The least they could do was to try to get her some blockers.
'Let's get back on track,' Rodgers suggested.
McCaskey nodded weakly.
'One of the reasons I was going to call you is that we've got an orphan agent in the field,' Rodgers said. 'Who do you know over there?'
'No one we can use,' McCaskey replied. 'I already checked. There's an Interpol office in Johannesburg, but that's a dry well.'
'They don't have anyone free, or they won't help?' Rodgers asked.
'Interpol South Africa needs authorization from Botswana to operate within their borders,' McCaskey said. 'That will take days to obtain.'
'They can't go in unofficially?' Rodgers asked.
'They won't,' McCaskey replied. 'Unlawful police actions are code-one crimes. Federal crimes that carry a minimum of life imprisonment. South Africans don't get very favorable treatment in Botswana courts. It's a holdover from apartheid.'
'There's no one else we can ask?' Rodgers asked.
'All of my dealings in that region were with ISA,' meCaskey said. 'Botswana was never a hub of intelligence activity.'
'Which could be one of the reasons the perpetrators struck there,' Rodgers thought out loud.
'First rule of starting a revolution,' McCaskey said. 'Always start where the resources are on your side. Speaking of which, Bob told me that the Vatican Security Organization has
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undercover personnel in the area. Members of the Grupo del Cuartel General.'
'That's true,' Rodgers said.
'Can't we get them to help Maria?'
'Paul's going to ask Kline about that,' Rodgers replied. 'We don't know what their mandate was. I'm also not sure how far to trust them. They didn't do a very good job protecting the bishop.'
'No,' McCaskey agreed.
'If it doesn't work out, I need some other options,' Rodgers said. 'What about newspaper offices over there? Do you know anyone in Maun?'
