Now, still in Argentina tying up loose ends from his investigation into the UN oil-for-food scandal, Castillo is startled when a young man is marched into his office at gunpoint, caught trying to sneak through the fence. It turns out he's an American officer, a lieutenant assigned to the embassy in Paraguay. A key agent for the DEA has disappeared while trying to interdict drugs and very little is being done about it, for phony diplomatic reasons....

Charlie Castillo's secret unit has been disbanded-but that doesn't mean he's out of business. As experience has painfully shown him, there are many things the intelligence community can't do, won't do, or doesn't do well, and he has the men and assets to help set things straight. But the first opportunity, when it comes, is shocking: A FedEx package arrives, bearing photos of barrels containing some of the most dangerous biohazard materials on earth,...

Welcome to the new war on terror. A secret wing of Homeland Security is recruiting agents to work undercover in the Middle East, and the director wants his second-in-command, Matt Egan, to bring aboard an old friend, Salam Al Fayed--better known as Fade. He's perfect: An ex-Navy Seal and the son of immigrants, he speaks flawless Arabic. Trouble is, he's "retired"; he was wounded in the line of duty, and the government refused to pay for the risky...