“Seeing people walk around with guns down here isn’t terribly unusual, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Organized activity?”
“That, too, but it does give us something to think about. We won’t be seeing much military activity,” Larson said.
“Why?”
“Guerrillas raided a small army post again last night-heard it on the radio this morning. Either M-19 or PARC is getting frisky.”
“Cortez,” Clark said at once.
“Yeah, that makes sense. Pull all the official heat in a different direction.”
“I’m going to have to meet that boy,” Mr. Clark told the passing scenery.
“And?” Larson asked.
“And what do you think? The bastard was part of a plot to kill one of our ambassadors, the Director of the FBI, and the Administrator of DEA, plus a driver and assorted bodyguards. He’s a terrorist.”
“Take him back?”
“Do I look like a cop?” Clark responded.
“Look, man, we don’t – ”
“I do. By the way, have you forgotten those two bombs? I believe you were there.”
“That was -”
“Different?” Clark chuckled. “That’s what they always say, ‘But that’s different.’ Larson, I didn’t go to Dartmouth like you did, and maybe the difference is lost on me.”
“This isn’t the fucking movies!” Larson said angrily.
“Carlos, if this was the movies, you’d be a blond with big tits and a loose blouse. You know, I’ve been in this business since you were driving cars made by Matchbox, and I’ve never got laid on the job. Never. Not once. Hardly seems fair.” He might have added that he was married and took it seriously, but why confuse the lad? He had accomplished what he’d intended. Larson smiled. The tension was broken.
“I guess maybe I got you there, Mr. Clark.”
“Where is she?”
“Gone till the end of the week – European run. I left a message in three places – I mean, the message for her to bug out. Soon as she gets back, she hops the next bird for Miami.”
“Good. This one is complicated enough. When it’s all over, marry the girl, settle down, raise a family.”
“I’ve thought about that. What about – I mean, is it fair to – ”
“The job you’re in is less dangerous statistically than running a liquor store in a big city. They all raise families. What holds you together on a big job in a faraway place is the knowledge that there is somebody to come back to. You can trust me on that one, son.”
“But for the moment we’re in the area you want to look at. Now what do we do?”
“Start prowling the side roads. Don’t go too fast.” Clark cranked down his window and started smelling the air. Next he opened his briefcase and pulled out a topographical map. He grew quiet for several minutes, getting his brain in synch with the situation. There were soldiers up there, trained men in Indian country, being hunted and trying to evade contact. He had to get himself in the proper frame of mind, alternately looking at the terrain and the map. “God, I’d kill for the right kind of radio right now.” Your fault, Johnny, Clark told himself. You should have demanded it. You should have told Ritter that there had to be someone on the ground to liaise with the soldiers instead of trying to run it through a satellite link like it was a goddamned staff study.
“Just to talk to them?”
“Look, kid, how much security you seen so far?”
“Why, none.”
“Right. With a radio I could call them down out of the hills and we could pick them up, clean them up, and drive ’em to the fucking airport for the flight home,” Clark said, the frustration manifest in his voice.
“That’s craz – Jesus, you’re right. This situation really is crazy.” The realization dawned on Larson, and he was amazed that he’d misinterpreted the situation so completely.
“Make a note – this is what happens when you run an op out of D.C. instead of running it from the field. Remember that. You might be a supervisor someday. Ritter thinks like a spymaster instead of a line-animal like me, and he’s been out of the field too long. That’s the biggest problem at Langley: the guys who run the show have forgotten what it’s like out here, and the rules have changed a lot since they serviced all their dead-drops in Budapest. Moreover, this is a very different situation from what they think it is. This isn’t intelligence-gathering. It’s low-intensity warfare. You gotta know when not to be covert, too. This sort of thing is a whole new ball game.”
“They didn’t cover this sort of thing at The Farm.”
“That’s no surprise. Most of the instructors there are a bunch of old -” Clark stopped. “Slow down some.”
“What is it?”
“Stop the car.”
Larson did as he was told, pulling off the gravel surface. Clark jumped out with his briefcase, which seemed very strange indeed, and took the ignition keys as he did so. His next move was open the back, then to toss the keys back to Larson. Clark dug into one of the boxes, past the samples of gold-bearing rock, and came out with his Beretta and silencer. He was wearing a bush jacket, and the gun disappeared nicely in the small of his back, silencer and all. Then he waved to Larson to stay put and follow him slowly in the car. Clark started walking with his map and a photograph in his hands. There was a bend in the road; just around it was a truck. Near the truck were some armed men. He was looking at his map when they shouted, and his head came up in obvious surprise. A man jerked his AK in a way that required no words: Come here at once or be shot.
Larson was overcome with the urge to wet his pants, but Clark waved for him to follow and walked confidently to the truck. Its loadbed was covered with a tarp, but Clark already knew what was under it. He’d smelled it. That was why he’d stopped around the bend.
“Good day,” he said to the nearest one with a rifle.
“You have picked a bad day to be on the road, my friend.”
“He told me you would be out here. I have permission,” Clark replied.
“What? Permission? Whose permission?”
“Señor Escobedo, of course,” Larson heard him say.
Jesus, this isn’t happening, please tell me this isn’t happening!
“Who are you?” the man said with a mixture of anger and wariness.
“I am a prospector. I am looking for gold. Here,” Clark said, turning his photo around. “This area I have marked, I think there is gold here. Of course I would not come here without permission of Señor Escobedo, and he told me to tell those I met that I am here under his protection.”
“Gold – you look for gold?” another man said as he came up. The first one deferred to him, and Clark figured he was talking to the boss now.
“Sí. Come, I will show you.” Clark led them to the back of the Subaru and pulled two rocks from the cardboard box. “My driver there is Señor Larson. He introduced me to Señor Escobedo. If you know Señor Escobedo – you must know him, no?”
The man clearly didn’t know what to do or think. Clark was speaking in good Spanish, with a trace of accent, and talking as normally as though he were asking directions from a policeman.
“Here, you see this?” Clark said, pointing to the rock. “That is gold. This may be the biggest find since Pizarro. I think Señor Escobedo and his friends will buy all of this land.”
“They did not tell me of this,” the man temporized.
“Of course. It is a secret. And I must warn you, senor, not to speak of it to anyone or you will surely speak to Señor Escobedo!”
Bladder control was a major problem for Larson now.
“When are we leaving?” someone called from the truck.
Clark looked around while the two gunmen tried to decide what to do. A driver and perhaps one other in the truck. He didn’t hear or see anyone else. He started walking toward it. Two more steps and he saw what he’d needed and feared to see. Sticking out from under the edge of the tarp was the front sight assembly of an M-16A2 rifle. What he had to do was decided in less than a second. Even to Clark it was amazing how the old habits kept coming back.
“Stop!” the leader said.
“Can I load my samples on your truck?” Clark asked without turning. “To take to Señor Escobedo? He will be very pleased to see what I have found, I promise you,” Clark added.
The two men ran to catch up with him, their rifles dangling from their hands as they did so. They’d gotten within ten feet when he turned. As he did so, his right hand remained fixed in space, and took the Beretta from his waistband while his left hand fluttered the map and photo. Neither one saw it coming, Larson realized. He was so smooth …