Payback

60

Rubens picked up the phone to call the White House as soon as he heard from Telach.

Peru’s president had pledged a few hours before to cooperate with “the U.S. and the entire world” in securing the weapon, so Rubens’ plan to retrieve the warhead would probably not have gone forward. But the readings Karr and Dean had obtained ended all possibility.

Still, the information that the warhead was phony would be welcome at the White House, enhancing Rubens’ reputation there.

Not that he needed to do that. Not that it was or should be or could be a consideration now.

If this “weapon” had been involved in Iron Heart, Rubens realized, the fact that it had been fake explained why the CIA had missed it in the jungle. Indeed, it was possible that the agency had known all along that it was a phony and not been worried about it.

No. If they had, they wouldn’t have launched the massive search.

Perhaps it was genuine at one point and material was removed. If so, it could still be hidden somewhere in the jungle.

More likely sold on the black market. But such a sale would have been discovered, Rubens thought, by any of the half-dozen standing missions assigned specifically to watch for them, including the NSA’s.

He’d have them quickly reviewed for gaps.

Rubens took a deep breath as the phone was picked up on the other end.

“Bill Rubens for the president.”

“Go ahead,” said Marcke, coming on the line immediately.

“The warhead does not contain plutonium or uranium,” said Rubens. “We have high confidence on this. It’s a fake.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, sir, I’m sure. One of my people crawled under the truck with the bomb in it. We have X-rays of the weapon; it does not contain nuclear material.”

“Very good. Very, very good.” Rubens could practically feel the relief in the president’s voice.

“There was one other thing, Mr. President,” said Rubens. “The warhead bears a very close resemblance to warheads Brazil tried to obtain several years before. The CIA had an operation to stop it. One of the warheads was seized in Russia. Another was snatched on the ground. However, there was a possibility at the time of a third warhead.”

“A third warhead?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you saying that the CIA missed one, Billy? This one?”

“I’m not really in a position to say. The operation was a CIA operation. I would think that it’s possible that this dummy warhead was somehow involved. I should note that it’s possible that this may have been a legitimate warhead at one point, but the material, the bomb kernel, was removed. Honestly — candidly — I simply don’t know.”

I suspect a great deal, Rubens thought to himself. I suspect that the CIA messed up in a very big way and then covered up that possibility. They also covered up the fact that they had bankrolled an arms dealer responsible, indirectly, for the deaths of dozens of civilians around the world, including several Americans. And then assassinated him.

But it was best to hold his criticism of the CIA, until the immediate crisis in Peru passed. Especially under the circumstances.

“We’re talking about Iron Heart?” asked Marcke.

“Yes,” said Rubens, surprised that the president knew of the operation.

“Ms. Collins informed me that there were questions about it earlier this evening,” Marcke said.

Rubens balled his fingers into a fist. She’d gone to the president ahead of him with the information to make herself look good. She had outmaneuvered him at every turn.

“Please keep me updated if anything else develops,” said the president. “We’ll have a conference call update tomorrow at six. I guess that’s today at six now, actually.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ted will let you know if there’s anything else.”

Ted was Ted Cohen, who’d replaced Art Blanders as chief of staff when Blanders became secretary of defense the year before.

“Yes, thank you, sir.”

The line snapped clear.