The esteem young spy Julio Antonio del Marmol that Che Guevara holds him in proves to be a two-edged blade. On the one hand, he has a certain level of protection; before, he could threaten communists with informing Fidel of any disrespect or difficulties, and now he has Che and the dread the Cuban communists hold Guevara in as a backup. However, as he has seen, Che is so paranoid that he will jump from suspicion to a fatal certainty with no evidence and in very little time. Additionally, he has attracted the suspicious and jealous eye of the sinister head of the regime's G-2 State Police, Manuel Pineiro. As Julio Antonio further discovers more pieces to the puzzle of the plot to assassinate the American President, he works to discover who in the government is responsible for the plot to blow up the Belgian cargo ship La Coubre in Havana harbor laden with American munitions (and in the process killing several Cubans). He tries to prevent the plot from carrying through but is only partially successful. The ship still explodes, but with nowhere near the devastation planned; but it is enough to kill a close friend and that friend's father. Worse yet, before his death, that friend's father named Julio Antonio as a contact should anything happen to him, providing him with complications with both Che and Pineiro. The G-2 moves against Julio Antonio suddenly finds himself as the target for assassinations. Worse yet, a potential mole in their network results in his uncle having to distance himself for security reasons, providing as a go-between a girl scarcely older than the young spy, but still in her training.