Conspiracy

61

Marie Telach turned to Rubens.

“We’ll have Cam Tre Luc’s voice patterns analyzed,” she said. “But I’d say his surprise seemed fairly genuine. I don’t think he was the one communicating with Forester.”

“No,” said Rubens. He folded his arms.

“Is it worth sending anyone north to check on the last possibility?” asked Telach. “Thao Duong looks like he’s got to be involved.”

Thao Duong was involved in something, thought Rubens.

That much was clear.

“He’s positioned perfectly to funnel money from the government to the people in America,” continued Telach. “He speaks with people in different American cities.”

“True,” admitted Rubens. “But how would Forester have found him? And why would he think he’d talk?”

“Because a source here told him he would. Or he knew something about his background.”

“Yes,” said Rubens vaguely. He wasn’t convinced. “What’s the third man’s name?”

“Phuc Dinh. A minor government official in the area near Da Nang,” said Telach.

“Have Charlie contact him. Mr. Karr can continue watching Thao Duong. Have him keep his distance. Let’s give the intercepts a few days and see what they turn up.” rubens was just picking up the phone to call Collins at the CIA and update her when National Security Advisor Donna Bing called wanting to know what the status of the “Vietnam thing” was. He gave her a brief rundown.

“So this Thao Duong is in the middle of it,” said Bing, her excitement obvious. “Can you get him to talk?”

“I’m not sure that he is in the middle of it,” said Rubens.

“I’m not even sure there is anything for him to be in the middle of.”

“No need to be so circumspect, Bill. You’re not talking to the Senate. I suggest we pick him up and talk to him.”

“I believe I’d need a little more information before I went ahead and picked him up, ” said Rubens. “We’ll require a finding.”

A “finding” was an order based on specific intelligence, approved by the NSC and signed by the President directing Desk Three to take a certain action. Activities that had the potential of causing extreme international trouble — like forcibly kidnapping an official of a foreign government in his home country in a nonemergency situation — could only be carried out pursuant to a finding. It usually took at least two meetings of the NSC before one was prepared.

“Don’t worry about the finding,” Bing told him. “I’ll arrange that. Are you in a position to bring him back?”

“Certainly if he volunteers to come back, we can accommodate him,” said Rubens.

“That’s not what we’re talking about.”

“I can have a full team in place seventy-two hours after the finding,” said Rubens.

“Get it in place now.”

Rubens hung up. Was Bing being overly aggressive because she wanted to prove her theory about Vietnam and the Chinese? Or was he being more cautious than warranted?

Rubens couldn’t be sure. The one thing he did know was this: for a man who prided himself on being logical and un-emotional under pressure, he felt a great deal of foreboding every time he spoke to Donna Bing on the phone.