For His Eyes Only Read Online Free Page B

Plan Columbia in the first place was to pacify the bleeding hearts here in the States. They had no intention of burning the cocoa fields, and the Columbian government's efforts to fumigate the fields have done more harm to legal crops than to the Columbian drug trade.”
    Jesse frowned. She liked Senator Hamilton. When he’d gotten wind of the Columbian cartels’ construction of a submarine beyond that of the supersub discovered last year in Ecuador, she’d felt the U. S. was going to do step up their efforts to stop the drugs making their way into even the elementary schools.
    She forced back the memory of the day her father died of a drug dealer’s bullet in the schoolyard where he taught seventh grade history, and said, “Senator Hamilton's discovery of the cartel’s submarine is important.”
    Tom’s eyes hardened. “When President Uribe declared a state of emergency as a result of Plan Columbia , the kidnap rate in Ecuador increased over twenty-seven per cent in four years—and nothing’s changed since. The Senator might as well have handed the Columbians the knife that killed his daughter.”
    Jesse stared. “No good deed goes unpunished?”
    The Professor reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a package of Chesterfields and a gold lighter. He shook out a cigarette, lit it, then slipped the pack and lighter back into his pocket.
    After a long drag on his cigarette, he blew it out and said, “Your case is locked down tight. OIA knows we’re friends and has been waiting for you to contact me.” He gestured to the seedy room. “Hence, the need to meet here.”
    Jesse caught his arm. “We’re not going to meet again until this is over.” She ignored the thought that this might be the last time she saw him. “I’d rather die than drag you into this.”
    He grinned. “I don’t think it’ll come to that.”
    She wasn’t so sure. “What happened to Nielson? I can’t figure out why he was out of communication range when I called from Columbia.”
    The Professor blew out a puff of smoke. “Blue Leader is on extended leave.”
    Jesse started. “What does that mean?”
    “ He and his wife are out of the country.”
    “ That’s it?”
    “ That’s it. Which means you won't get any help here in the States. I wish you’d contacted me from Columbia—which is where you need to be.”
    “ Lanton is holding on the cards,” Jesse murmured.
    “ The Cayman account and phone call transcripts are a damn good hand,” Tom agreed.
    She gave a morbid laugh. “Hard to believe my call giving the all clear is being used against me.
    “ Having your second call edited to make your threat sound like it was directed at him is damning evidence. A pro edited the recording. Even I can’t recover the original. Everyone is buying the story,” Tom added. “The way I see it, you have three options. One: Get out of Dodge.”
    Jesse shook her head. “Not an option.”
    “ Two: You can grab Lanton and force a confession from him.” The Professor lifted a brow.
    Jesse laughed despite herself. “I’ve considered it.”
    “ A confession without concrete proof will be dismissed as coercion. After all, you are the liar, traitor, and murderer.” Tom drew on the cigarette and exhaled smoke through his nose. “Three: Trace the money trail from Green Leader to Perez.”
    “ That’s my only choice,” she said.
    “ Good. You work the Columbian end. I’ll work from the U.S. So far, I'm hitting dead ends.” A glint appeared in his eyes. “But I’m betting FARC keeps well-documented transactions for blackmail purposes.”
    Jesse snorted. “Leave it to one genius to know what another genius does, no matter the language or side of the law they’re on?”
    A corner of his mouth lifted. “Genius is genius.” He fished in his pants pocket and withdrew a cell phone. “Here’s a secure phone. I’m the only one with the matching decryption, but remember, even though they can’t eavesdrop, they can still trace