“Well, the guy at Fort Hunt didn’t entirely believe me. So he took the path of least resistance.”
“Explain that to me.”
“He was afraid I was telling the truth, so that made him afraid to call you and check. And he was afraid I was a phony. So he sent a jeep and a weapons carrier loaded with MPs with me, to make sure I came here.”
“And now what, Clete? Now that you’ve painted yourself into one hell of a corner?”
“Well, I had the security guards order the MPs to the front of the building. If there’s another way to get out of the parking lot behind the building, I get in my car and we’re gone.”
“To where?”
“Gravelly Point.”
“What did you do, fly your Red Lodestar into there?”
“No. What I have is a South American Airways Constellation.”
“You flew a Constellation into National Airport?”
Clete nodded.
“¡Jesúcristo!”
“I’ve now got about fifteen hundred hours in Connies. I’m getting pretty good at it.”
“And what do you want me to do? Bring you cigarettes and magazines when you’re in the Portsmouth Navy Prison?”
“I want you to do what you know is the right thing,” Frade said seriously. “Help me get to the airport.”
Graham exhaled audibly.
He met Frade’s eyes, then spun around in his chair. Then he turned so that he was facing Frade again.
“You’re way ahead of me, aren’t you, you clever bastard?” he said icily. “You know that if Donovan himself walked in right now, the chances of you being court-martialed—which you richly deserve—are damned slim. You know too much. And the same applies to me.”
“I wouldn’t have come here if that light bird at Fort Hunt hadn’t sent the MPs with me. I had no intention of involving you in this at all.”
“And what did you think was going to happen when you got away with it? If you got away with it?”
“I’m going to drop off my resignation from the Corps at the embassy in Buenos Aires the day I get back. Then I’m going to disappear in Argentina. I saw Mr. Dulles in Lisbon. He said I’m going to have to decide what to do, and what I’ve decided is to disappear. I’m getting pretty good about helping other people disappear there.”
“You can’t just resign from the Corps, you goddamned fool! You’ll get out of the Corps only when the Corps permits you to get out of the Corps!”
Frade stared at Graham and thought, I wondered about that. He’s probably right—if I wasn’t also an Argentine citizen.
Graham picked up one of the telephones on his desk and dialed a single number.
“Security chief, please,” he said, then looked at Frade and added, “Sit there, Colonel, and don’t say one goddamn word.”
Well, Frade thought, I tried.
At least I didn’t tell Beth I was going to get Karl.
“This is Graham. There are two MP vehicles from Fort Hunt in front of the building. Go out there and find whoever’s in charge and bring him up here.”
He hung up the phone.
He turned to Frade and said, “Continue to sit there with your mouth shut, Colonel. I have no interest in hearing anything you might be tempted to say.”