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Back Angels of Vengeance
Chapters (68)
  1. Blurb
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. CHARACTER LIST
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. TWO MONTHS LATER
  60. ONE YEAR LATER
  61. TWO YEARS LATER
  62. FOUR YEARS LATER
  63. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  64. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  65. Also by John Birmingham
  66. ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
  67. Copyright
  68. Cover

Caitlin’s care factor was zero. Her one brief encounter with James Kipper, a difficult satellite call from the back of a C-130 just before she parachuted into New York, hadn’t made her a fan. But then Kipper had not been found to have an undeclared arrangement with Ahmet Ozal, one of Baumer’s closest allies. The man who had freed Baumer from prison in Guadeloupe, before joining him in New York as one of his senior lieutenants.

‘Ty,’ she replied, deliberately using his first name, ‘as I said before, the politics are of no interest to me. Even if I hadn’t spent the last couple of years exiled in England, they still wouldn’t interest me. I can appreciate their importance to you, but this is what’s important to me. I can promise you I will take a fair appraisal of what I find in here back to Jed Culver. You convince him, you’ve convinced the President.’ She held up the file he had just handed her.

‘Fair enough,’ said McCutcheon. ‘I’m just hoping this visit might be a chance for us to start over again. The old man too. Sincerely. I don’t mind telling you, he’s freaked by Morales. He really sees him as a little Hitler. Like Saddam could’ve been if the Israelis hadn’t taken care of business. The way Roberto’s pulled things together down there after the total collapse . . . you have to admit, he seems to know what he’s doing.’

Caitlin couldn’t help thinking about the half-assed theatre of the absurd she’d encountered in Uruguay. As vicious a little prick as Morales undoubtedly was, he had a long way to go before graduating from puffed-up gang lord to genuine threat. It didn’t mean everybody shared her perception, however. And if Blackstone was shifting his animus away from Kipper and onto Roberto, who was she to discourage him?

‘We’re all trying to do our best for the country, Ty,’ she said. ‘It would be unusual, and probably unhealthy, if we didn’t differ about what we thought was best. But you’re right about this development in Florida. The President does not care for foreign powers meddling within our borders. He didn’t care for it in New York. He didn’t care for it in Alaska. I can assure you he won’t care for it in Florida. This will be answered.’

Musso returned at that moment, just as the coffee and cake arrived.

‘Outstanding,’ declared McCutcheon.

*