Haggerty looked at Mercer.
Mercer assured him, “Someone has to die, Ted. But it doesn’t have to be you.” He added, “You know who has to die.”
Haggerty had no response.
“Okay. Are you a journalist?”
Haggerty shook his head.
“Good. CIA?”
Haggerty nodded.
“How did the CIA know I was in Venezuela?”
“You know.”
Mercer nodded. It didn’t take much Intel training to figure out that it was Captain Mercer who had tortured and killed Robert Crenshaw in Peshawar, and that what Captain Mercer wanted from Crenshaw was the location of Brendan Worley. And it didn’t take too much psychological profiling to figure out that Kyle Mercer would follow Brendan Worley to the ends of the earth to exact revenge. Mercer asked, “How did you know I flew out of Tomás de Heres?”
“I… started with the assumption that you were traveling with a false passport…”
“Good assumption, Ted, since the only thing I carried out of that Taliban prison was the rotting clothes on my back.” He snapped, “Continue.”
Haggerty continued, “I also assumed you wouldn’t try to fly into Venezuela by way of Simón Bolívar… so that led me to assume you somehow chartered a private plane and arrived in Venezuela via Francisco de Miranda Airport.”
“Correct. Which is not an official port of entry, and where no questions are asked on arrival or departure.” He looked at Haggerty. “Good work. Not inspired, but good. So as you were poking around Francisco de Miranda Airport, flashing my photograph and some cash, asking if anyone remembered this yanqui arriving there from overseas, you also discovered that this gringo had actually been flying in and out of Francisco on private charters to and from Tomás de Heres.”
Haggerty nodded.
“You got lucky.”
Haggerty actually seemed to take offense at this and replied, “Not luck. I knew who to ask… the military people at Francisco de Miranda. They sold you out for twenty bucks.”
Mercer nodded. His unholy alliance with the military was necessary, but it was also a security risk. American Intel could buy anything from anyone in this country if they knew what to ask for. And Haggerty had followed up on his lead at Francisco de Miranda and flown to Tomás de Heres, where he’d again flashed the cash and showed the photograph and got a hit. Mercer asked, “Did you report to Worley before you flew to Kavak?”
“I… said I had a lead.”
“Okay. Can Kavak expect a visit from Mr. Worley?”
“I don’t know.”
Mercer looked at Haggerty. “Now that you’ve disappeared, I’m sure he’s more worried about himself than he is about you.”
Haggerty thought about that and said, “I understand why you… want to kill him…”
“No, Ted, you can never understand that. Only he and I can fully understand that. And I understand why he hasn’t left Venezuela and fled to safety.You know why? Because there is not a place on this earth where he is safe from me. He understands that one of us has to die, and it might as well be here and now. Do you understand that?”
Haggerty nodded.
“And do you also understand that me killing Brendan Worley is only part of my payback?”
“I… think I understand…”
Mercer pulled the list of names out of his pocket and pushed it close to Haggerty’s face. “These are anti-regime men and women who work for you or Worley—for the CIA or for Defense Intelligence. Do you recognize any of these names?”
“I… can’t see…”
Mercer pulled the list away. “Doesn’t matter, Ted. What matters is that everyone on this list will be dead within the month. Also dead will be the American government’s mission to topple the Venezuelan government.” Mercer leaned in toward Haggerty. “I will fuck up your mission here. I will do to you and Worley what your colleagues ordered me to do in Afghanistan—to kill all opponents of the government. And if the Venezuelan government decides that a whole village needs to be taught a lesson, I will use my learned skills from Afghanistan to kill every man, woman, and child in that village.” Mercer put his face close to Haggerty’s. “Are you understanding this, Ted? Does Worley understand that what he ordered me to do in Afghanistan is what I am doing to him and his mission here?”
