"Anybody hurt?"
"No. Thank God."
"They get the people that did it?"
"No. But this is not the time to be on the roads in a Ford F-150 pickup with a dented rear end. Duffy rammed his way through what was supposed to be a stop-and-shoot ambush. Every gendarme in Argentina is working Christmas looking for it."
"Is Alfredo looking into who did it?"
"I thought it was probably him on the phone just now."
"Have him send what he finds out to Miller."
"Done."
"What I called about, Tony: You remember Jack Britton?"
"Sure."
"Party or parties unknown--probably those Muslims he was undercover with--tried to take him and his wife out yesterday afternoon."
"Well, so long Protection Detail. Is he all right? His wife? Where are they going to send him? I could sure use him down here when they're through with him."
"How about as soon as I can get them on a plane?"
"That's a little unusual, isn't it?"
"He said unkind things to the supervisory special agent in charge when he told him he was off the detail. Isaacson turned him over to me just before they were going to handcuff him. I need to put him on ice."
"He told off the SAC? Good for him! I wish I had."
Delchamps laughed.
"Who was that?" Santini said.
"Edgar Delchamps," Delchamps said. "Ace has you on speakerphone, Tony. We've got a whole host of folks at the Christmas dinner table working on this."
"Glad to hear it," Santini said.
"Why do you need Britton, Tony?" Castillo said.
"I keep hearing things like there's a raghead connection with our friends in Asuncion that we didn't pick up on. He can pass himself off as a raghead, I seem to recall."
"I don't want him going undercover."
"Why not?"
"Say, 'Yes, sir, Charley. I understand he's not to go undercover.' "
"Yes, sir, Charley."
Castillo thought he heard a mix of annoyance and sarcasm in the reply. He knew he saw gratitude in Sandra Britton's eyes.
"Okay," he went on, "as soon as we have the schedule, we'll give you a heads-up. Put them in Nuestra Pequena Casa. If Munz wants to tell Duffy, fine. Otherwise, not. I have a gut feeling."
"Yes, sir, Charley, sir."
Castillo ignored that. He said, "Alex Darby presumably knows about Duffy?"