Traitors and Spies
Credit for Unknown for serving as beta and editor of this update.
As the General moved with such an ease and calm, John could but not help but think that the man was a clear idiot.
He obviously thought himself above suspicion and never thought that the President had an agenda of his own.
And things would stay like that until the moment came to put a rope around his neck.
If Wilkinson kept on doing things as he did now, that moment wouldn't be far way.
From the moment the General had come back to New Orleans, John had found enough evidence to send him to jail for life. Bribery could probably get him thrown in jail, but that wasn't what the President wanted to get him for.
And, now, almost two weeks after being in Louisiana, the General was about to meet the Spanish spy or, at least, John hopped he would.
He had been following him for a good hour now and the man showed no signs of stopping any time soon.
As he was about to give up, Wilkinson took a right turn and entered a house through the back door.
John had seen him there before and he had found out that it was where he kept his mistress.
Damn the man, he thought, Of all the times to visit the mistress, why now?
As he finished the question, the answer struck him.
What if the woman was both his mistress and his contact? That would be the perfect cover; as far as anyone knew, Wilkinson was just visiting his lover, like many men of position did but, away from the eyes of the world, he would be plotting against the United States.
He cursed himself for not having seen it earlier, but at least he knew or, at least, thought he knew.
I got you now, you son of a bitch.
I didn't join the army to fight paper, he thought bitterly.
But he was good at his job or, at least, his superiors he thought he was.
Unfortunately, it was a horrible job. One that had him working with the worst kind of rascals, thieves and traitors.
But that was the way it was on the Serviços de Informação do Exército, or the Army Information Services, as it was known. Most men called it the Department.
His post was new and revolutionary, but it made sense. The idea of this department had come from General Castro. It made no sense, he said, to depend on independent exploring officers to gather intel on the enemy; it was better to have someone to coordinate it, to give the generals the best information possible.
He and a couple of others had been chosen directly upon leaving the Academy and had formed the original core of the Department.
They had been just five men at the beginning, and no agents or connections.
That had been five years ago.
Now, they had a network all over Spain and southern France and, if it wasn't for his men, the generals would be left on the dark about what information was real or not.
As he read the report in front of him, he thought of how a man like Castro would react to it.
The informant said that the French had brought two hundred thousand men to the peninsula! This was ridiculous notion and one that had just made the man useless to the Department.
As he took up a cigar, he turned his gaze to the newest report sent by his agents in Barcelona. As he read it, he couldn't believe the information in it.
If this is true this will be a game changer, he thought.
Determined, he left his office and went to see Major Carlos.
"Do you know what is in this report?" he said, waving the report.
The other, always the mocker, told him that, if he didn't give him the report, he would never know.
"Is this true?" he asked after reading.
"I don't know." Miguel admitted. "And I won't go to the Marshal with fake intel. Send word to any man you think that can confirm this; the funds will not be a problem. Just confirm if what's in here is true or not?"
Carlos nodded, ensuring he would do so.
He also knew the value of that information and, if it was proven true, it would change everything on the peninsula.
*****
Traitors and Spies
Traitors and Spies
As the General moved with such an ease and calm, John could but not help but think that the man was a clear idiot.
He obviously thought himself above suspicion and never thought that the President had an agenda of his own.
And things would stay like that until the moment came to put a rope around his neck.
If Wilkinson kept on doing things as he did now, that moment wouldn't be far way.
From the moment the General had come back to New Orleans, John had found enough evidence to send him to jail for life. Bribery could probably get him thrown in jail, but that wasn't what the President wanted to get him for.
And, now, almost two weeks after being in Louisiana, the General was about to meet the Spanish spy or, at least, John hopped he would.
He had been following him for a good hour now and the man showed no signs of stopping any time soon.
As he was about to give up, Wilkinson took a right turn and entered a house through the back door.
John had seen him there before and he had found out that it was where he kept his mistress.
Damn the man, he thought, Of all the times to visit the mistress, why now?
As he finished the question, the answer struck him.
What if the woman was both his mistress and his contact? That would be the perfect cover; as far as anyone knew, Wilkinson was just visiting his lover, like many men of position did but, away from the eyes of the world, he would be plotting against the United States.
He cursed himself for not having seen it earlier, but at least he knew or, at least, thought he knew.
I got you now, you son of a bitch.
*****
Miguel hated paperwork.I didn't join the army to fight paper, he thought bitterly.
But he was good at his job or, at least, his superiors he thought he was.
Unfortunately, it was a horrible job. One that had him working with the worst kind of rascals, thieves and traitors.
But that was the way it was on the Serviços de Informação do Exército, or the Army Information Services, as it was known. Most men called it the Department.
His post was new and revolutionary, but it made sense. The idea of this department had come from General Castro. It made no sense, he said, to depend on independent exploring officers to gather intel on the enemy; it was better to have someone to coordinate it, to give the generals the best information possible.
He and a couple of others had been chosen directly upon leaving the Academy and had formed the original core of the Department.
They had been just five men at the beginning, and no agents or connections.
That had been five years ago.
Now, they had a network all over Spain and southern France and, if it wasn't for his men, the generals would be left on the dark about what information was real or not.
As he read the report in front of him, he thought of how a man like Castro would react to it.
The informant said that the French had brought two hundred thousand men to the peninsula! This was ridiculous notion and one that had just made the man useless to the Department.
As he took up a cigar, he turned his gaze to the newest report sent by his agents in Barcelona. As he read it, he couldn't believe the information in it.
If this is true this will be a game changer, he thought.
Determined, he left his office and went to see Major Carlos.
"Do you know what is in this report?" he said, waving the report.
The other, always the mocker, told him that, if he didn't give him the report, he would never know.
"Is this true?" he asked after reading.
"I don't know." Miguel admitted. "And I won't go to the Marshal with fake intel. Send word to any man you think that can confirm this; the funds will not be a problem. Just confirm if what's in here is true or not?"
Carlos nodded, ensuring he would do so.
He also knew the value of that information and, if it was proven true, it would change everything on the peninsula.
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