And then bring the champagne.”
“I need a shower, too,” he said.
“You’re not actually suggesting we take one together?” she asked incredulously.
“Why not?”
My God, I’m out of my mind!
In for a penny, in for a pound.
She took her hand from his cheek, found his hand at his side, and took it, and led him down the corridor to her bedroom.
XXIV
[ ONE ]
SECRET
HELP0039 2220 ZULU 14 MAY 1965
VIA WHITE HOUSE SIGNAL AGENCY
FROM: HELPER SIX
TO: EARNEST SIX
SITUATION REPORT #37
REFERENCE MAP BAKER 11
1. EARS ONE RELAYED INTEL FROM SUPO’S SOURCES AT LULUABOURG POSITIVELY LOCATING GUEVERA, DREKE AND BULK OF CUBANS AT NEW CAMP SET UP ON LULUABOURG PLATEAU APPROXIMATELY FIVE (5) KILOMETERS FROM KIMBARA. COORDINATES 65545/23009. HEREAFTER LULUPLAT.
2. SAME SOURCE REPORTS GUEVERA ILL, PROBABLY SUFFERING FROM TROPICAL FEVER OF SOME KIND, WHICH MAY EXPLAIN CUBAN MOVEMENT TO LULUPLAT, WHICH IS 5,000 FEET ABOVE MAIN SEA LEVEL, COOLER, LESS HUMID, AND LESS INSECT INFESTED.
HELPER SIX
SECRET
[ TWO ]
TOP SECRET
1920 GREENWICH 16 MAY 1965
FROM STATION CHIEF, BUENOS AIRES
TO DIRECTOR, CIA, LANGLEY
COPIES TO SOUTH AMERICAN DESK
MR SANFORD T FELTER, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON
THE FOLLOWING RECEIVED FROM US ARMY OFFICER ASSIGNED US EMBASSY BELIEVED TO BE CONTROLLED BY MR. FELTER. IT IS RECOMMENDED THE INTELLIGENCE FOLLOWING BE REGARDED AS THE EQUIVALENT OF CIA RELIABILITY SCALE FIVE. IT IS TRANSMITTED IN ITS ENTIRETY AND VERBATIM.
START
DEAR FRIENDS:
IT WAS LEARNED TODAY THAT AS A RESULT OF HAVING LEARNED THAT SEÑORA CELIA DE LA SERNA DE GUEVARA’S SON IS DR. ERNESTO GUEVARA, THE AUTHORITIES OF THE STAPLER CLINIC INFORMED HER FAMILY THEY NO LONGER WISHED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL SERVICE TO HER, AND SHE HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED TEMPORARILY TO THE ENGLISH HOSPITAL BUENOS AIRES WHILE OTHER HOSPITAL ACCOMMODATIONS CAN BE FOUND. HER PROGNOSIS REMAINS GRAVE WITH DEATH POSSIBLY IN LESS THAN A WEEK.
BEFORE GOD AND ON MY HONOR AS AN OFFICER, I SWEAR TO YOU THAT NO ONE YOU MET IN ARGENTINA OR KNOWN TO ME WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS DESPICABLE ACTION ON THE PART OF THE STAPLER CLINIC. AN INITIAL INVESTIGATION SUGGESTS THAT CERTAIN SENIOR PERSONNEL CONNECTED WITH THE STAPLER CLINIC ARE REFUGEES FROM EAST GERMANY, AND THEIR HATRED FOR ALL THINGS COMMUNIST MUST HAVE OVERWHELMED THEIR SENSES OF COMMON DECENCY.
With reference to the argentine/east german haydée tamara bunke, “tania”: we were informed by our mutual german friend that she had been located in east berlin, and was traced to havana. WE HAVE LEARNED THAT SHE WAS LAST WEEK SENT, USING A URUGUAYAN PASSPORT IN HER OWN NAME, TO LA PAZ, BOLIVIA, TO SERVE AS A DEEP COVER AGENT IN PLACE FOR ACTIVATION WHEN DR. GUEVARA BEGINS TO LIBERATE SOUTH AMERICA. THIS STRONGLY SUGGESTS TO ME THAT HE PLANS TO BEGIN IN BOLIVIA. IF THIS INFORMATION BECOMES KNOWN TO BOLIVIAN AUTHORITIES, IT IS BELIEVED TANIA WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED, AND THEREFORE THE BOLIVIAN GOVERNMENT HAS NOT REPEAT HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN THIS INTELLIGENCE.
BEST REGARDS
END
J.P STEPHENS
STATION CHIEF BUENOS AIRES
TOP SECRET
[ THREE ]
9 Degrees 59 Minutes 28 Seconds South Latitude
20 Degrees 33 Minutes 39 Seconds East Longitude
(Route Nationale No. 39, The Bush, Near Saurino, Katanga
Province, Congo)
1310 16 May 1965
Smythe’s flat-black L-19 was at 3,500 feet above, and perhaps a quarter mile behind, a Ford and Peugeot truck convoy moving through the bush. So far as Smythe had been able to see, there was no other traffic on the road for five miles or so in either direction.
He had been following the four-truck convoy for about an hour, ever since it had passed through Saurino. He hadn’t had to stay on its trail like a bloodhound. There was only one road capable of taking the trucks within seventy miles; all he had to do— had done—was make wide circles, which every ten minutes brought the convoy in sight again.
He had flown over the road at a very low altitude the day before with a surprisingly pleasant and cheerful—even, for once, happy—Father Lunsford in the backseat, looking for a place to set up the ambush. Lunsford had apparently done this sort of thing before, because when he saw the hill, with a curving road running along its side, he had pointed it out and told Smythe to land as close as possible so they could reconnoiter on the ground.
Smythe had landed the L-19 on the highway itself, after determining there was no traffic on it that would reach the landing site within the twenty minutes Father said he would need to have a look.
Then he had flown Father back to Kamina, where Lunsford immediately reported to that absolutely stunning lady from the