But it did not solve the problem of Presidential Agent C. G. Castillo.
The political damage of having the world learn that the President had brought the nation to the cusp of a nuclear exchange on the word of a lowly lieutenant colonel would destroy his presidency. So he gave Castillo a final order:
Castillo had barely arrived in Argentina when word came that the President had suddenly died of an aortal rupture.
Castillo had just begun to adapt to his new status of having fallen off the edge of the earth when he learned that the Army’s biological warfare laboratory had received-via FedEx-a container of Congo-X.
While that development was being evaluated, the SVR
The new President, Joshua Ezekiel Clendennen, thought this to be a satisfactory solution to the program, and ordered Director of National Intelligence Montvale to start looking for Castillo and the Russians and then load them on an Aeroflot plane for Moscow. He also ordered General Allan Naylor to participate in the search and exchange.
A. Franklin Lammelle knew all this because the CIA director also ordered him to assist Montvale-and by the time Lammelle found Castillo, he had decided that what Clendennen was trying to do to Castillo was unconscionable. He wanted no part of it.
And this became the second time that Lammelle found Naylor blindly prepared to throw Castillo under the bus.
When Naylor finally found Castillo-and was prepared to order him to return to the United States, there to hold himself in readiness to obey what orders the President might have for him-Castillo and his Merry Band of Outlaws had already learned how the Congo-X had reached the United States and were in the final stages of planning an ad hoc assault on a Venezuelan island where the remaining stock of Congo-X could be found.
Despite this, Naylor delivered his orders, whereupon Castillo very politely placed him under arrest. Lammelle had witnessed the surreal exchange-and what followed.
Naylor-concluding that the assault’s failure would be more damaging to the United States than its success- finally decided to help. He provided a Navy helicopter carrier and three 160th Black Hawks that probably guaranteed the success of the assault.
Naylor’s change of heart had nothing to do with Castillo attempting the obviously right thing to do in the circumstances. And it certainly had nothing to do with their personal relationship. Lammelle understood that Naylor’s decision could easily have gone the other way.
Lammelle had then decided that it was a case of not if, but when, they faced another situation where Castillo was going to try something of which Naylor might not approve and Naylor would decide not to help.
Or, worse, that Naylor’s duty was to prevent Castillo from doing what he planned to do-thus once again throwing him under that proverbial bus.
This was one of those times, Lammelle now decided, when he didn’t like General Allan B. Naylor at all, and that meant he wasn’t going to tell him anything at all that might in any way hurt Charley Castillo.
When Naylor did not immediately respond to Lammelle’s questions about why he thought Lammelle would know where Vic D’Alessandro was, and why did he want to know, Lammelle asked a third: “Why don’t you ask Terry O’Toole where he is? Vic works for him.”
“General O’Toole doesn’t know where he is. That’s why I’m asking you, Lammelle.”
“That brings us back to my original question: Why do you want to know?”
“We have a mission for him. An important mission. I’m sorry, but that’s all I can tell you.”
“That’s all you want to tell me, Allan. And that’s not enough.”
“POTUS made it clear that he doesn’t want the CIA involved in any way in this mission.”
“Which is?”
When Naylor didn’t immediately reply, Lammelle went on: “I’m sure you find this distasteful, General, but once in a while you have to disobey an order. Particularly an order from Clendennen, who we are agreed is not playing with a full deck.”
“You’re speaking, Lammelle, of the President of the United States.”
“Yes, I am.”
There was a long pause.
“I was going to begin this by saying this has to go no further,” Naylor finally said. “But that would be a waste of my breath, wouldn’t it?”
“General, what I try to do is live up to my oath to protect the U.S. from all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Naylor ignored that. He said: “The original communication from the kidnappers ordered us to take this fellow Abrego by helicopter from the La Tuna prison to Juarez International Airport, just across the border, accompanied by two U.S. Marshals. This was to be tomorrow morning. The exchange was to take place then. The President feels that if this plan were followed, they would be met by an overwhelming force who would relieve them of Abrego and-the phrase he used was ‘wave bye-bye’-with the result being they would have Abrego and we would not have Colonel Ferris.”
“That makes sense. So what’s Plan B?”
“This is what the President does not want the CIA involved with in any way.”
“Involved with what?”
“President Martinez sent him a letter saying that Abrego should be taken to the Oaxaca State Prison for interrogation by the chief of the Policia Federal for Oaxaca State, a man named Juan Carlos Pena.”
“And he’s going to do this?”
“Martinez said contact should be established with this man Pena.”
“And you want to send Vic to make contact?”
“Yes. Now, where is he?”
Lammelle was quiet a moment, then said: “I don’t think you’re telling me everything, Allan. Why should Clendennen be worried about me knowing about something as simple as sending Vic to see this cop?”
“That’s all I can tell you,” Naylor said. “I’ve already told you more than I should.”
“But not as much as you’re going to tell me if you want me to put you in touch with Vic.”
“So you do know where he is?” Naylor snapped.
“I’m the head of the CIA, Allan. I know everything. What else have you got to tell me?”
Lammelle could hear Naylor exhaling audibly before Naylor said, “When Abrego is taken to the prison, after we establish that Ferris is there, the President is sending three Black Hawks loaded with Gray Fox operators with him. They will free Ferris.”
“He’s set up a command post in his study,” Naylor said. “General O’Toole is there with him. Colonel Kingsolving has been sent for.”
“And once they grab Ferris, how are they going to get him out of Mexico? That prison is in southern Mexico, almost to the Guatemalan border.”
“Why do I think you know more than you’re telling me?”
“Allan, Vic is in the El Paso Marriott, on Airport Boulevard, registered as Jose Gomez. If you’ve got a pencil, I’ll give you the number.”
“If you know something I should, Frank. .”
“The area code is 915. .”
“Hold one,” Naylor said. “Okay. Give me that number again.” Lammelle gave it to him, and then said, “Give me five minutes, Allan, and I’ll call him and tell him you’ll be calling.”
“What have you got him doing down there?”
“It’s always a pleasure to talk to you, Allan,” Lammelle said, and hung up.
