know I’m not going to have another abbreviated honeymoon,” Liza said. “I think I would like something . . .”
“Champagne?” Lowell asked.
“Why not?”
“They probably don’t have any cold,” Marjorie said.
“Do you?” Lowell asked the waiter.
“Yes, sir, of course,” the waiter said.
“The Air Force lives much better than we poor soldiers,” Lowell said. “I would have thought your father would have told you that. Bring them a bottle of something nice. After we have a sip, we’ll order.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lowell took the two typewritten sheets from Rangio’s envelope and read them.
“You showed this to Jack?” Lowell asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Very interesting, where Rangio tells us our friend is,” Lowell said. “Especially since this is the last word from our friends in Virginia, who appear to be a day late again.”
He handed Jack a sheet of paper.
SECRET
Central Intelligence Agency Langley, Virginia
FROM : Assistant Director For Administration
FROM: 6 February 1965 1805 GMT
SUBJECT : GUEVARA, ERNESTO (MEMORANDUM #51.)
TO: Mr. Sanford T. Felter
Counselor To The President
Room 637, The Executive Office Building
Washington, D.C.
By Courier
In compliance with Presidential Memorandum to The Director, Subject: “Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara,” dated 14 December 1964, the following information is furnished:
SUBJECT is in Paris, staying at the Cuban Embassy. He is accompanied by (First Name Unknown) OSMANY; Emilio ARAGONÉS; (FNU) PAPITO; and (FNU) MANRESA.
SUBJECT visited the Louvre museum 1300-1630 Paris Time accompanied by an Antonio CARRIOOL, the Cuban Ambassador to Paris and an unknown official of the French Foreign Ministry.
Tonight, he and his entourage, plus CARRIOOL, are scheduled to attend a formal dinner at the ChiCom Embassy.
Howard W. O’Connor
HOWARD W. O’CONNOR
SECRET
Jack read it and handed it to Oliver, who read it and handed it back to Lowell.
Lowell folded it and put it into the Rangio envelope.
“I was going to carefully grill you about the Argentines,” Lowell said. “To see if they were really on the team or just being charming. This makes that unnecessary, wouldn’t you say?”
“I’m sure they’re with us, sir,” Oliver said.
“Sandy Felter will love this,” Lowell said, tapping the envelope. “He’ll send an FYI copy to the agency. You obviously made the right decision about Zammoro, Johnny. I think that will open a lot of doors.”
“What decision about Zammoro?” Liza asked.
“I can’t answer that,” Lowell said. “And your husband can’t with me sitting here. But I agree with Felter’s observation that pillow talk is the one large hole in security that’ll never get plugged.”
“You’re not going to tell us what any of this is all about, right?” Marjorie challenged.
“Right,” Lowell confirmed.
“Do we at least get to ask what happens next?” Marjorie asked.
Lowell thought that over.
“Okay,” he said. “After you leave, you report back to Bragg. Several weeks after that—maybe as much as a month after—Jack goes to the Congo—”
“For how long?” Marjorie asked.
“You better count on at least a month, and maybe a month or two longer,” Lowell said. “Which, I think I should point out, is a considerably shorter period of time than a tour in Vietnam.”
“And Johnny?” Liza asked.
“For the time being, Johnny stays at Bragg. Then he goes wherever he’s needed, either to the Congo or South America. Unless something unexpected happens, neither will be gone from Bragg for very long.”
“Like you and Johnny getting married after all?” Lowell replied.
The waiter ended the conversation by delivering the champagne.
[ SIX ]
Room 637, The Executive Office Building
Washington, D.C.
1135 8 February 1965
“I didn’t expect to see you,” Colonel Sanford T. Felter said when Lieutenant Colonel Craig W. Lowell walked into his small office.
“I’m fine, sir,” Lowell said. “Thank you very much for asking, sir. And might I inquire into the Colonel’s all around well-being, sir?”
Felter did not reply.
“I’ll settle for ‘Hello, Craig,’ ” Lowell said.
“Hello, Craig. I didn’t expect to see you,” Felter said sarcastically, but there was a smile on his lips.
“What do we know new about our friend Ernesto?” Lowell asked.
“This just came in,” Felter said as he opened a drawer in his desk, to come out with a sheet of paper.
SECRET
Central Intelligence Agency Langley, Virginia
FROM: Assistant Director For Administration
FROM: 7 February 1965 1805 GMT
SUBJECT : Guevara, Ernesto (Memorandum #52.)
TO: Mr. Sanford T. Felter
Counselor To The President
Room 637, The Executive Office Building
Washington, D.C.
By Courier
In compliance with Presidential Memorandum to The Director, Subject: “Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara,” dated 14 December 1964, the following information is furnished:
(Reliability Scale Three) (From CIA Hong Kong)
SUBJECT is reported to be in Peking for meeting(s) with Liu Chao Chi and other senior members of the Communist Party Secretariat.