“We can only speculate on why he didn’t keep the second part of his bargain. He probably left the camp to secure his first four million and figured that was enough and shouldn’t push his luck by returning. We may never know. We do know that he kept our presence in Nicaragua secret.” She looked at Stone, then back to him. “Officially, no direct U.S. military involvement in Nicaragua’s civil war was ever authorized by the president or Congress. More than that, no intervention of any kind was authorized. If it had leaked, it would’ve been an international scandal of epic proportions. The Iran-Contra scandal wasn’t that distant and the media never got their pound of flesh. The media wanted Reagan’s head on a silver platter. Knowledge of direct U.S. military involvement in Nicaragua might have brought down the Clinton administration. Although Operation Echo was fully justified and stopped countless innocents from being kidnapped, tortured, and executed, it wouldn’t have mattered. Montez could’ve caused major PR damage to us. But he didn’t. He never revealed our boots-on-the-ground training squads or the sniper teams that were mopping up the Sandinista holdouts. When Harvey rescued you, the dynamics changed, but we paid Montez the second half of his money anyway. Hush money, so to speak.”

“You keep saying ‘we’ and ‘our.’  All of this happened on Director Kallstrom’s watch.”

“That’s true, but I was the associate deputy director at the time. Number three in the chain of command. I was neck-deep.”

He looked at his dad.

“I didn’t know any of this until a few hours ago.”

“It’s the truth. There’s no paper on any of it. And there are probably aspects of the Montez negotiation I’m not aware of. I think it’s fair to say that you’re the only reason former Director Kallstrom agreed to tell me what he did. He still has tremendous admiration for both of you.”

“It makes me sick to my stomach knowing Montez was paid eight million dollars, but I’m also grateful. I’m not sure I could’ve held out much longer. He was damned close to breaking me. Or ending it.”

“I read your debrief report. You said he disappeared suddenly before his men suspended you in the cage. He could’ve killed you before he left the camp, especially if he never intended to collect the other half of the eight million. So why didn’t he?”

“I seriously doubt seeing me crucified was worth half his fortune.”

“Agreed.”

“I’d love to… ask him that question.”

“You just might get your chance.”

“I’m counting on it.”