Ghosts of Havana (A Judd Ryker Novel) (33 page)
Read Ghosts of Havana (A Judd Ryker Novel) Online
Authors: Todd Moss
Tags: #Thrillers, #Literature & Fiction, #Thriller & Suspense, #Suspense, #Genre Fiction, #United States, #Thrillers & Suspense, #Mystery, #Spies & Politics, #Political, #Espionage
“Judd?”
He snapped out of it. “Yes, Jessica?”
“I said where do you want to start?”
Judd blinked and regathered his thoughts. “That . . . was a close call with Oswaldo Guerrero, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, it was.”
“Who knew a redial button could be so dangerous?” Judd offered to cut the tension.
Jessica nodded.
“I didn’t know,” he said. “And . . . I didn’t know you were a helicopter pilot.”
“A little,” she shrugged.
“What else can you fly? An airplane? Can you . . . drive a tank?”
Jessica winced. “Is that really what you want to ask me?”
“I didn’t want to call you,” Judd said.
“I know, baby.”
“Uncertainty, backchannel, cash, candidate,” he said, counting out the four on his fingers, “that was my formula for Cuba. Landon Parker was on board. He just couldn’t say so.”
“Could be,” she nodded.
“That’s why the hostage negotiations were the spark. The cover he needed. The excuse to get me into the country, face-to-face with O.”
“I guess so,” she said.
“I nearly finished it myself.”
“I know you did, sweets. I know you did.”
“I didn’t
want
to call you,” Judd said. “I didn’t need your help.”
“I know,” she said. “I get it.”
“But I did,” he said. “I needed you to find millions of dollars. To come get me.”
“That’s my job. You’d do it for me.”
“I mean, I had no idea when I called you, how you’d get the money, much less how you’d deliver it all the way out there in the middle of the ocean. On a Cuban naval ship. But I called you and had faith. So I asked. And you did it.”
Jessica blinked and wet her lips with her tongue.
“But I should have done it on my own. For Landon Parker. For S/CRU. For me. For us.”
“I understand, Judd.”
“Assist, avoid, admit,” Judd said, “the Ryker rules of engagement. I know we agreed that we could assist each other, but—”
“Aunt Lulu isn’t my aunt!” Jessica blurted out.
“What?”
“She’s not my aunt.”
“I figured,” he said.
“And the man who burst into the house this morning and woke us up—”
“He’s got nothing to do with your college friend, does he?”
“No. Sharon was a lie, too. That was my boss this morning. We’re staying in his place,” she said.
“Okay . . .”
“I didn’t want to lie to you, Judd, but I couldn’t help it. That’s why I’m telling you now. Neither of us are perfect.”
Judd shook his head in agreement. “What else? Any more lies you need to get off your chest?”
“Eight.”
“Eight lies? You counted them?”
“Since Tuesday. Eight. How about you?”
Judd started to run through everything that had happened over the past four days and all the people in the web—the Soccer Dad Four, Landon Parker, Melanie Eisenberg, Brenda Adelman-Zamora, Oswaldo Guerrero, Jessica Ryker—his head hurt. “None.”
“So you win.”
“That’s not the point, Jess. We aren’t in a competition. We’re supposed to be a team.”
“We
are
a team, Judd. We just got those four Americans free. We just helped give Cuba a chance at a better future. We succeeded, Judd. Again. And we did it together.”
“We did.” He nodded. “But what about . . . us? What about our rules to keep it all together? To keep our family together?”
“We have to keep trying. I’ll keep trying. You too.”
“So . . . who were those guys on
The Big Pig
? What were they doing?”
Jessica kissed him.
“What about Ruben Sandoval?” he asked. “And Ricardo Cabrera? Who was he working for? I still don’t understand how it’s all connected.”
She kissed him again.
“And what about you? If you were here in Florida for your boss, what were you really doing down here, Jess?”
One more kiss, this time long and deep and soft, both eyes shut.
When she finally pulled away, he cleared his throat. “So . . . now what?” he asked.
“Tomorrow”—she shrugged—“we go home. Back to work. Back to life.”
“Just like that?”
“Right now,” Jessica said, picking up her book, “you’re going
swimming.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many friends contributed in big and small ways to this book: Mike Burk, Domingo Campuzano, Francesca Contiguglia, Mvemba Dizolele, Jim Fanjoy, Amanda Glassman, Markus Goldstein, Sara Kass, Jeffrey Krilla, and BJ Pittman. Special thanks to Aida Campuzano, a real-life Peter Pan who generously shared her private memoirs with me. I also benefitted greatly from Michael Grunwald’s
The Swamp
, Wayne Smith’s
The Closest of Enemies
, Peter Kornbluh’s
Bay of Pigs Declassified
, and the extremely timely
Back Channel to Cuba
by William LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh. Huge appreciation to my always wise editor Neil Nyren and the whole team at Putnam, especially Ashley Hewlett, Elena Hershey, Anna Romig, and Alexis Sattler. Hat tip and a hug to my agent, Josh Getzler. Most of all, I’m eternally grateful for the love, support, and sensible editing from Donna Moss.
Viva!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Todd Moss is Chief Operating Officer and Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, a Washington, D.C., think tank, and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. From 2007 to 2008, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, where he was responsible for diplomatic relations with sixteen West African countries.
Previously, Moss worked at the World Bank and the Economist Intelligence Unit and taught at the London School of Economics. The author of the novels
The Golden Hour
and
Minute Zero
, as well as four nonfiction books on international economic affairs, he lives in Maryland.
toddmossbooks.com
facebook.com/ToddMossBooks
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Table of Contents
PART ONE | THIRTY-SIX HOURS EARLIER
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86