Operation Mockingbird Read Online Free

seem to finally have things under control.”
    Matt scoffed. “Yeah, I wish, Pierre.” Matt took a drink. “Based on my experiences, the situation is worse than ever. I saw Americans and Afghan noncombatants get blown tobits -- in broad daylight no less. I also saw a lot of new construction over there -- military bases -- and that seemed to be a pretty strong indicator that the U.S. presence there is going to be significant and permanent. Don’t you think people want to know about that?”
    “I don’t know. Probably not. I don’t,” Pierre admitted. “People are tired of hearing about the war and the money that’s being spent over there. I know I am. I read about the big bags of cash that the CIA was dropping off at President Karzai’s office and it just made me sick. Sick to my stomach thinking about how that money could be used over here.” Pierre shook his head. “And while the U.S. government is handing over that kind of cash, I have to worry about how I’m going take care of my parents as they get on or what happens if I get sick since I don’t have health insurance.”
    An uncomfortable silence fell between the two old friends. Matt was surprised to hear the big man’s confession, although he shouldn’t have been. Pierre’s parents were Haitian and had come to the United States back in the 1970s through the Dominican Republic. With only limited education, his parents had raised four children in the United States. Pierre was the oldest and ran a successful landscaping business from which he supported himself and a few other guys. Business had always seemed to be good, but Matt imagined that he struggled with making enough to provide for himself and still help out his parents who lived nearby. Both men stared out into the Bay as they sipped their drinks.
    “So have you called Dana to let her know you’re back in town?” Pierre asked.
    “Nah, man.” Matt said shaking his head firmly. “You know we left it on bad terms. She was pretty upset I was going.”
    “Well, I think she might have recovered from her grief.”
    “What are you talking about?” Matt said turning in his bar stool to look at Pierre directly. “Have you seen her?”
    Pierre nodded. “I was at Monty’s about a month ago. You remember that place?”
    Matt nodded yes.
    “It was late in the afternoon and she came by boat.” Pierre turned toward Matt and smiled. “Get this. It was a Cigarette Tiger Twin Step called ‘Dr. Feel Good’.” Both men grimaced. “The guy at the wheel must have been about fifteen years older than Dana and looked it. But Dana,” Pierre shook his head slowly from side to side. “Mmm, mmm, mmm. That girl sure looked fine.”
    Pierre paused and looked off into the distance.
    “And ...” Matt finally prodded when it seemed like Pierre had gotten lost in his thoughts.
    “I spoke with her briefly.” Pierre continued quickly. “She asked about you.” Pierre shot Matt a meaningful look. “You should give her a call.”
    “Bad idea, my friend. You know I really didn’t have a chance with her. She was just slummin’ it with me until someone better came along. It looks like she found her man. And a doctor no less. I bet her mama sure is proud.”
    As Matt drove home from his afternoon with Pierre his thoughts drifted to his ex-girlfriend Dana Fried. She worked for the agency formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Services, or INS, until after September 11 th when it had been absorbed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She was a lawyer specializing in immigration issues in several key regions including the Caribbean. They met when Matt was researching a story on the U.S. policy on Haitian immigrants compared to the policy on Cuban immigrants. Dana had been recommended by a friend as someone he could talk to and who could help provide some background for his story.
    Dana and Matt hit it off immediately and began dating just after his article was published. Their relationship was