Janice got up. Janice walked to the mirror.

She primped. She fogged the glass. She licked a finger. She drew arrows and hearts.

o o o

A dust storm kicked through. Hot winds kicked sand and sagebrush.

Wayne drove to the ranch. Wayne walked to the guest house. Wayne saw a stray car en route.

There's Ward Littell.

He ducked the wind. He blocked Wayne's door. He looked sandblown and storm-fucked.

He said, "Your father sent you to Dallas."

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 10/1/64. Covert Intelligence Dossier. From: John Stanton. To: Pete Bondurant. Marked: "Hand-Courier Only/Destroy Upon Reading."

P.B.,

I'm hoping this gets to you in time. It's really no more than a highlighted summary I've edited out the extraneous details. I'm routing it through the Mexico City Station to meet that deadline you requested. Note: Data culled from Interpol files in Paris Marseilles. Agency copy file #M-64889/Langley.

Per: MESPLEDE, JEAN PHILIPPE, W.M., 8/19/22. LKA: 1214 Ciudad Juarez, Mexico City.

1941-'48: Con.flicting accts. MESPLEDE (an alleged anti-Semite) was either a Nazi collaborator or a member of the Armed French Resistance in Lyon. Conflicting accts: MESPLEDE turned over Jews to the SS/MESPLEDE assassinated Nazis at a health retreat in the Arbois. Note: One Interpol wag concluded that he did a little of both.

1946-'47: Whereabouts unknown.

1948-'50: Mercenary work in Paraguay. The Asuncion Ops Station has a 41-page ifie. MESPLEDE infiltrated leftist student groups at the behest of the Paraguayan Association of Police Chiefs. MESPLEDE (Spanish fluent) assassinated 63 suspected Communist sympathizers per association guidelines.

1951-'55: French Army service (Indochina-now Vietnam- Algeria). MESPLEDE served as a paratrooper, saw action at Dien Bien Phu allegedly became bitter over the French defeat withdrawal. Reports (unconfirmed) _have him moving opium base hashish to his next duty station in Algiers_. In Algiers, MESPLEDE transferred to an occupation unit taught torture techniques to members of a mercenary police unit employed by wealthy French colonialists. MESPLEDE (a committed anti-Communist) allegedly executed 44 Algerian nationalists suspected of Communist ties gained a reputation as a superb wet arts specialist.

1956-'59: Whereabouts largely unknown. MESPLEDE is believed to have traveled extensively in the U.S. during this time. The Atlanta (Ga) PD has a 10/58 file note on him. MESPLEDE was suspected of taking part in the bombing of a synagogue targeted by neo-Nazis. The New Orleans PD has a 2/9/59 file note. MESPLEDE was suspected of 16 armed robberies in N.O., Metairie, Baton Rouge Shreveport. Note: unconfirmed rpts. state that MESPLEDE traveled in Organized Crime circles during this interval.

196O-'61: Mercenary work in the Belgian Congo. MESPLEDE (a known associate of our KA LAURENT GUERY) served as an enforcer for Belgian landowners worked with an Agency liaison in the anti-Lumumba incursion. MESPLEDE GUERY engineered the capture execution of 491 leftist rebels in Katanga Province. The landowners gave MESPLEDE carte blanche told him to implement a deterrent measure to scare would-be rebels. MESPLEDE and GUERY herded the rebels into a gully killed them with flamethrowers.

1962-'63: At large in France. MESPLEDE (who lost land holdings when DeGaulle granted Algerian independence) allegedly joined the French OAS took part in the 3/62 8/63 assassination attempts on DeGaulle. MESPLEDE resurrected in Mexico City (9/63) has allegedly been in touch with our KAs GUERY FLASH ELORDE. MESPLEDE is known to be committed to the antiCastro cause as previously stated, is determinedly antiCommunist, Spanish fluent has both probable narcotics experience military experience in the Southeast Asian Theatre. All in all, I think we can use him.

I'm heading back to Saigon. Pouch all future communications through my P0. box at Arlington. We'll use drops cutout couriers from here on in. Remember: We're Stage 1 Covert, like our Tiger ops in Miami. You know the old drill: Read, memorize burn.

Thumbs up on MESPLEDE, if you think he fits in. You can recruit the rest of the team on your own autonomy Per MESPLEDE: Watch out. His curriculum vitae is a bit scary.

For the Cause,

(Mexico City, 10/2/64)

A Mex brought coffee. Said Mex kissed ass. Big teeth/big bows/big compliance.

Pete lounged. Pete noshed rolls. Pete taped his piece under the table. The trigger sat flush. The silencer worked. The barrel faced the opposite seat.

Pete sipped coffee. Pete rubbed his head. Mexico City-nyet

It's a skunk zone. It's rife with dog turds. Give me pre-Castro Havana.

He looked for Flash and Laurent. He tapped out. He dropped a note. Mesplиde dropped a note back:

Let's talk-I've heard about you.

He killed time. He called Barb every day. He called the K.C. Local. He dropped names. He asked questions-per Arden Elaine Bruvick.

The gist: She was Frau Danny Bruvick. Danny ran Local 602-'53-'56. Danny stole Teamster money. Danny split. Jimmy H. decreed a hit. Danny vanished. Arden stayed in K.C.

Jimmy pulled strings. The KCPD popped Arden. Arden bailed out fast. Arden split K.C.

Pete knew a KCPD guy. Pete called him. He ran Arden's bail stats. He called Pete back.

Arden bailed out-3/10/56. The T C Corp bailed her. Carlos M. owned T C. T C was his tax front.

A frayed cord. A teaser. Carlos says, "Clip Arden." His front corp bails her.

Get more. Learn more. Don't warn Littell _yet_. The cord felt thin. The cord could fray. The cord could strip.

A man walked in. He was fat. He wore glasses. His hands were smudged black. Odds on: French Para tattoos.

Para pit dogs-_trиs_ French-fangs and parachutes.

Pete stood up. The man saw him. The man grabbed a front table.

Pete ad-libbed:

He crouched. He untaped his gun. He reholstered and walked over. He bowed to the man. They shook hands. The pit dogs had red eyes.

They sat down. Mesplиde said, "You know Chuck Rogers."

"Chuck's a piece of work."

"He lives with his parents. A man more than forty years old."

He sounded _sud-Midi_. He looked _marseillais_. He dressed _trиs fasciste_-all-black ensemble.

Pete said, "He's a committed man."

"Yes. You can forgive his more outlandish beliefs."

"He's got a sense of humor about them."

"The Ku Klux Klan disgusts me. I enjoy Negro jazz."

"I like Cuban music."

"I like Cuban food and Cuban women."

"Fidel Castro should die."

"Yes. He is a _cochon_ and a _pйdй_."

"I saw Pigs. I ran troops out of the Blessington campsite."

Mesplиde nodded. "Chuck told me. You shot _communistes_ out an airplane window."

Pete laughed. Pete mimed gunshots. Mesplиde lit a Gauloise. Mesplиde offered one.

Pete lit up. Pete coughed-it was rolled muskrat shit.

"What else did Chuck tell you?"

"That you were a committed man."

"That's all?"

"He also said that you, _qu'est-ce que c'est?_, 'snipped links.'"

Pete smiled. Pete showed his pix. There's Jack Z. trussed up. There's Hank the K. dumped.

Mesplиde tapped them. "Unfortunate men. They saw things they should not."

Pete coughed. Pete blew smoke rings.

Mesplиde coughed. "Chuck said the blond woman killed herself in jail."

"That's right."

"You did not take her picture?"

"No."

"Then Arden is the only one left."

Pete shook his head. "She's unfindable."