Payback

23

Rubens hesitated for a moment before picking up the phone.

“Yes, Debra, what can I do for the CIA today?”

“It’s what the CIA can do for you, Bill.”

Rubens was thankful he did not have a videoconferencing phone; Debra Collins’ smirk would have turned his stomach.

“We were contacted in Peru this afternoon,” she told him. “Less than an hour ago. An army general from one of the northern provinces predicted that the rebels would make a large strike against the capital. I know it’s an area of interest, so I thought I would pass it along.”

An hour ago? Rubens wondered why the information had traveled so quickly — and if Collins had an ulterior motive.

Well, of course she did. The question was what it was.

“That’s very kind,” he told her. “Which general, if I may ask?”

“Túcume. Does it ring a bell?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“He commands several divisions in the north and northeast, primarily the Amazonian area and near the Ecuadorian border. He saw action in the wars against Ecuador in 1995 and 1998. He was a colonel in 1998, and proved himself so irrepressible he had to be promoted. He doesn’t quite get along with the general staff because of his background. Which may be a factor here: the natives really hate the rebels, and that may be coloring his views. In any event, he seemed quite serious, and we have no reason to doubt that he at least believes his information is correct.”

“Túcume?” The general’s name was not immediately familiar to Rubens, though in itself that meant nothing.

“I’ll save you the trouble of looking him up,” continued Collins. “He claims to be descended from relatives of Tupac Amaru, who was the last ruler under the Spanish and executed in 1572. His people supposedly escaped and went to live with natives in the northeastern jungles. Whether the claims about his ancestry are authentic or misguided, it’s impossible to tell at this point.”

“And he was warning about which rebels?”

“Sendero Nuevo. The New Path. Successors to the Shining Path. Same philosophy, different faces.”

“Did he have any comment on the riots in Lima?”

“Riots?”

Now Rubens wished he did have a video hookup.

“There were some protests and gunfire,” said Rubens, who’d just gotten the report from the Art Room. “The army is being called in. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard.”

“Unfortunately, I’ve been very busy, and Peru is not among my priorities.”

I wonder about that, thought Rubens.

“If there’s anything else we can do,” Collins added, “please call.”

“I’ll do that.”