So far, so good. Garcia seemed receptive to the proposed exchange, Galindez is in place, the Agency's convinced the local section chief to cooperate, however reluctantly, and if all goes as planned I just might get back to DC before I reach retirement age.

Of course, when was the last time anything in my life went as planned?

I can't think about that now. I have to concentrate on the job at hand; if I fail this time, there's no way I'll ever be brought back home. I used to be able to pull off this kind of thing without blinking an eye; now, the thought of all that could go wrong terrifies me. I can't afford to doubt myself--that way lies disaster--but how can I do otherwise when there's so much at stake? What happened to the days when the risk was part of the fun, and just drove me harder?

Is it possible the DCI was right to send me down here, where under normal circumstances there's little for me to screw up?

What a depressing thought. I need to just put it out of my mind, and worry instead about the details I still haven't worked out. Next order of business: backup. Garcia's not likely to let me bring much of a contingent to our meeting, and possibly he'll balk at even a bodyguard. So how can I get someone in to that meeting just in case without raising his suspicions? Galindez is no use; can't risk his cover so close to the end of the op. He's of much better use where he is. Maybe I can get away with saying I need someone to verify the worth of the diamonds; Garcia won't expect Williams to simply trust him, especially since this will be the first time we've done business together.

On the other hand, don't want to make him jumpy, either. Might be better to take someone who seems harmless, though they'd still have to have a legitimate reason for being there. A wimpy-looking diamond expert? No, bound to raise suspicions as being too harmless to be anything but a deception. I need someone he'll never even consider as a potential threat--a woman, perhaps. Yeah, that'd be good: make the diamond expert a woman. Maybe...oh, perfect. I'll tell him that she's my--Williams'--wife. Of course, I've already told people she's pregnant, which will hamper things a bit; but then, I'm not seriously expecting trouble. And a pregnant woman will strike him as doubly helpless, which means she can provide backup and reduce the chance I'll need it at the same time.

Now I just need to decide who my "wife" will be, and I'll have done as much as I can for now. I know who I'd like to have play that role, but...no, better not go there. Let's see. The CIA doesn't keep a lot of female field agents in South America; local prejudices make them less useful than they would be elsewhere. Which means I'll probably have to request that someone be sent down from the States, and as long as that's the case I might be able to talk them into sending someone specific. I can't take the chance they'll send someone I'm not familiar with; frankly, until I've seen a given agent in action, I never quite trust their competence. And I can't get through this op if I have to worry about whether the person I'm working with can do their part.

So...someone I can trust, who's capable of taking care of herself in tricky situations and is observant enough to notice if things start to go wrong. Garcia would never let a woman go armed, so she should probably be good at hand-to-hand, just in case. That narrows things down a bit, though it's not like I've worked in the field with all that many woman to begin with.

Really, it all comes down to the trust issue, which is a problem, since I don't trust much of anybody, even professionally. Hell, at the moment I don't even trust myself professionally, and that includes my judgement when it comes to choosing personnel. I was just lucky Galindez was willing to be assigned to me for this; if he had turned me down, I would've had a really hard time picking someone to replace him. I never expected to think so, but those years of cultivating contacts at JAG are proving to be worth every moment of exasperation Rabb has ever put me through, and maybe even worth the broken nose. The people I used to work with in the Company are for the most part avoiding me now, for fear of what will happen to their own careers, and I just can't rely on the opinions I've formed of people in the time I've been down here, especially since I got sent to Tierra del Fuego. But Galindez doesn't know any of that, and I know from past experience that he'll get the job done.

And now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't trust the people here. Sure, most of the activity down here centers around the drug trade, which isn't exactly known for being all safe and secure, but three dead agents in seven months is still pretty suspicious, especially considering the fact that most of our resources are currently focused elsewhere. Where I should be, damn it. Regardless, that's not a very reassuring statistic, and that's not even considering the missions that have gone sour without anyone's getting killed. There's a good chance we've got a leak, and the only person I know can't be responsible is myself. All the more reason to bring in someone from outside South America to be my wife, and yet...who's to say the guilty parties are strictly local? It's been months since I was last at Langley; not only am I out of the loop, I haven't exactly had a chance to observe for myself if anyone might be acting suspicious. That being the case, how can I know whom to ask for help, or even a recommendation? Clearly the leak is, if not in the area personally, at least involved in the planning and execution of local activities, which means that the people most suspect are those who are likeliest to be of use.

Maybe I should just avoid the CIA altogether, and turn elsewhere for assistance. JAG, for instance; it would be impossible even for me to believe any of the people I've worked with there could be disloyal, and after some of the situations we've been in together I know they can handle themselves. Of course, given the requirements for this particular op, that means Sarah Mackenzie, which is hardly a bad thing. She can definitely take care of herself, and she has that typical Marine refusal to leave anyone behind. A problem in some of the past assignments I've worked with her, but definitely a benefit when I'm asking her to be my only backup. At least I'd know that, whatever her feelings may be for me personally, if something happened she'd insist on getting me out--which is not something I could say for my own people. Plus she speaks Farsi, which could be useful; if Sadiq sends people to take custody of the circuit boards immediately, rather than having them go from me to Garcia to Sadiq in two separate transactions, there's a chance she could overhear something useful.

Yes, she's clearly the only logical person to ask.