and Frank no longer have the threat of impeachment to hold Clendennen in line. So now it’s his turn to get rid of people. That circus at Langley-Clendennen’s press conference-was his first move. He not only got rid of Porky Parker, but he made the point to the others that he was coming after them just as soon as he could find a reason.
“Once they get the message, he hopes they will resign. They can leave his service with their reputations intact, instead of getting fired for incompetence, as Parker was. It’s clear to both Lammelle and Cohen that he plans to use this mess in Mexico as the way to do it.
“So Natalie told Frank their only defense against this is to not give him any excuse at all to accuse them of either incompetence or disloyalty.
“Making matters worse, Lammelle says that Cohen-keep in mind that it was her idea to send Ferris, Danny Salazar, and the other Special Forces people down there in the first place-will go ballistic if she even suspects what Aleksandr Pevsner plans to do in Mexico.”
“Which is?” Dona Alicia asked softly.
“Pevsner has decided that the best defense against what Putin has in mind for us is a good offense.”
“And you, Carlos?” she asked. “How do you feel about that?”
Castillo hesitated just perceptibly before replying, “Abuela, taking into consideration both that Putin has proved-Herr Friedler was not the only man he had assassinated-that he’s willing and capable of murdering everybody he thinks is in his way, I’m afraid Pevsner is right.”
“You said, ‘taking into consideration both.’”
“Abuela, Putin’s already tried, several times, to assassinate me. There’s no question that he’s coming after Svetlana, and I can’t let that happen. I won’t let that happen.”
Dona Alicia sighed. “Oh, my. We have a very bad situation on our hands, don’t we?”
Castillo didn’t reply for a long moment. Then he said, “We thought-naively thought-that we had bloodied his nose when we grabbed the Tupelov and turned General Sirinov over to the CIA. We offered him an armistice; he didn’t accept it. So what we have to do now is bloody it again, hard enough this time so that he gets the message.”
She considered that for a moment.
“And so what do we do now?”
“‘So what do
His grandmother stared at him icily.
“Until you lower me into my grave, Carlos, I will continue to run this family. Never forget that!”
“Sorry,” he said.
He saw Sweaty looking at her with a smile of approval.
“And what
She turned to Sweaty.
“Senor Medina has been running Hacienda Santa Maria for us for thirty years. And before that, his father ran it. And before him, his father.”
She paused, then looked at Lester. She pointed at the Brick on the side table.
“That device, you told me, Lester, prohibits people from eavesdropping on conversations?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And Fernando has one?”
Lester nodded.
“And you told me, Carlos, that Fernando is at the hacienda?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Lester, would you bring that to me and show me again how to use it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Lester,” Castillo said, “before the head of the family talks to him, you better get him on the horn and explain Net Two to him.”
“Yes, sir.”
Castillo looked at Dona Alicia. “And when you get Fernando on the Brick, then what?”
“I told you, I want a word with Senor Medina.”
“About what?”
“I’m going to ask him to get in his car right now and go see Senor Torres. .”
“Who is?”
“I told you before, an old and trusted friend who is commandant of the Policia Federal in Acapulco.”
“Then he’s probably in up to his ears with the Sinaloa drug cartel,” Castillo said.
“I’ll admit that possibility,” she replied. “But we don’t
“You’re going to threaten this guy?” Castillo asked incredulously.
“I’m going to explain the situation to him. It can’t do any harm, Carlos. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll think of something else.”
Castillo glanced at Svetlana and saw that she was once again smiling approvingly at his grandmother.
FIVE
The Situation Room The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 1105 14 April 2007
Supervisory Secret Service Agent Robert J. Mulligan, who in addition to being appointed chief of the Secret Service Presidential Protection Team now also seemed to be functioning as President Clendennen’s personal assistant, had telephoned Vice President Charles W. Montvale, Secretary of State Natalie Cohen, Secretary of Defense Frederick K. Beiderman, Director of National Intelligence Truman Ellsworth, CIA Director A. Franklin Lammelle, Attorney General Stanley Crenshaw, and FBI Director Mark Schmidt summoning them all to a 10:45 A.M. meeting with the President in the Situation Room.
In each case he had insisted-politely but with a certain arrogance-on speaking personally with those being summoned rather than leave word of their summons with anyone else.
They all chose to arrive early, which caused a not-so-minor traffic jam in the White House driveways and in the area where the White House vehicles were parked. The Vice President, the secretary of State, and the secretary of Defense traveled in limousines, all of them preceded and trailed by GMC Yukons carrying their protection details. The others did not have limousines. Everyone but Director of National Intelligence Ellsworth-who rode in his personal car, a Jaguar Vanden Plas-traveled by Yukon, with each preceded and trailed by Yukons carrying their protection details.
By 10:40, all the dignitaries had arrived in the underground Situation Room. The President was not there, nor was the usual coffeemaker and trays of pastry.
Vice President Montvale told one of the Secret Service agents guarding the door to “see what’s happened to the coffee,” and the agent hurried from the door.
The coffee and pastry had not arrived when Special Agent Mulligan appeared at the door and announced, “The President of the United States.”
Everyone rose as Joshua Ezekiel Clendennen entered the room and marched to the head of the table, trailed by Clemens McCarthy, a crew-cut man who looked younger than his forty-two years, and who had been named presidential press secretary following the resignation of John David Parker.
Usually the President said, “Please take your seats” before sitting down. Today he unceremoniously sat down and said, “Well, let’s get started. I’ve got a lot on my plate today.”
After an awkward moment, the Vice President sat down and the others followed suit.
“Lammelle,” Clendennen said, “I didn’t find what I was looking for in my daily, quote unquote, intelligence
