“That is not information I possess. But you can assume Gitmo or Panama.”
“As long as it’s not Caracas.”
“You’re hot in Caracas, Mr. Brodie. SEBIN is looking for an American named Clark Bowman.”
Brodie didn’t know if that was true, or if Worley was trying to ruin his perfect day. Brodie asked, “Did you get those visas for Luis and his family?”
“I believe that was done.”
“Let me know for sure when we speak again.”
“I’ll check.” Worley put a friendly tone in his voice and said, “Congratulations on getting your man.”
“Thank you. You’ve been most helpful.”
“Thank you for returning the briefcase.”
“Sorry we took your stuff, but we needed it.”
“Do you have the Glocks? I need to account for all firearms.”
This seemed to be a day when everyone was asking about who had a gun. Well, Brodie had Mercer’s Desert Eagle, and Taylor had Worley’s Glock. But Brodie thought it might be time to play Who Has the Gun? “Sorry, Brendan, we barely got out of there with our lives. In fact, I lost my boots. I’ll get CID to reimburse.”
“I’ll charge it off to experience. Would you like your condom back?”
“Keep it. I have no use for it.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Not as sorry as I am. Well, I doubt we’ll meet again, but it’s been interesting working with you, Colonel.”
“Let me call for the Otter. Call me when the extraction is complete.”
“Will do. Adiós.”
“And to you and Ms. Taylor.”
Brodie shut off the phone to save battery and said to Taylor, “Colonel Worley is a worried man.” He added, “I told him we had no weapons.”
“You’re more devious than he is.” She asked, “Are we okay with this extraction?”
“We will be after I call Dombroski.”
“Then call him.”
“In a minute.” He looked at Mercer, then said to Taylor, “If I was as devious as Worley, I would not have told him we had Mercer in custody, because if he wants Mercer dead, we could be collateral damage.”
“I know that. But here’s something to make you feel better. Worley knows from Mercer’s sat phone call to him that we spoke to Mercer, and that Mercer was probably speaking freely to us, his prisoners. Therefore, whether or not we had Mercer in custody, we have Mercer’s story. So whatever Worley is planning for Mercer, he would also be planning for us even if you and I were alone.”
“That does make me feel better.”
“Call Dombroski and get a life insurance policy issued.”
“Okay.” Brodie turned on the sat phone and called Dombroski’s cell.
It rang, but there was no answer, which was unusual for Colonel Dombroski, who answered his phone even when he was on the table in his proctologist’s office. Possibly the satellite connection hadn’t gone through, or the sat phone number on Dombroski’s screen looked like his ex-wife’s attorney’s number.
Brodie was concerned that Worley might be able to monitor the sat phone calls, so he left a short message for Dombroski that he classified as “Urgent,” then upped it to “Most Urgent.” “Critical,” as Dombroski had once advised him, is only for when you’re hiding in a closet because the husband came home. Meanwhile he had to leave the cell phone on for the callback.
