“That’s because he’s a spy, and a good one, at that.”

“I wish you’d quit defending him. I’d like to hog-tie him for all the grief he’s caused me.”

“How about we hog-tie Captain Holland instead? He’s the one who caused all the trouble.”

Never had truer words been spoken. This entire experience had been a lesson in humility. While she imagined herself a sophisticated woman with exceptional insight and access throughout Washington, she’d been duped not only by Captain Holland but by Philip the Meek as well.

“Hello, Philip,” she said with a tight smile as she waltzed into his cramped office an hour later.

He had the grace to look abashed, but only for a moment before greeting Luke with a back-pounding hug.

“Be careful not to break his ribs,” she pointed out. “He’s frail as a toothpick, thanks to you.”

Philip ignored her as he cleared a stack of books from a chair and gestured for Luke to sit. “Tell me what you know,” he prompted, his genial face settling into a mask of concentration.

“Captain Holland is at the bottom of everything,” Luke said. “The main rebel leader in Cuba is a man named Mateo Ferraz. He thought I was just a rich American coming down to dabble in a little smuggling and revolutionary mischief. I smuggled his rum and cigars but never made much progress in winning his trust. Anyway, when I was arrested, Mateo’s name was among the rebels in my list of contacts, so he was rounded up too. We were all housed in the same Cuban jail.”

Understanding began to dawn, and Luke met her gaze with a nod. “That was why I didn’t want to be transferred to an American prison. By staying close to Mateo, I knew I could eventually win his trust and figure out who was funding the insurgency from Washington. It took a while.”

It turned out that some of Mateo’s cousins had moved to America decades earlier, and one of them married into Captain Holland’s family. Mateo first met Captain Holland during a family holiday in Puerto Rico.

“They go fishing together every December,” Luke continued. “I guess it was enough for Holland to have a sense of Mateo’s political leanings. When Holland needed a man to keep the insurgency alive, he turned to Mateo.”

Caroline still didn’t understand. “Why would prolonging the war benefit Captain Holland?”

Luke was ready with an answer. “Holland signs off on the contracts for armaments and warfare, but not reconstruction. My guess is that he’s been skimming from that budget for a long time, and when the military budget skyrocketed, he was like a pig at the trough. He didn’t want it to end. When peace had been achieved, money for the war evaporated. He wanted to keep it stoked.”