His mission is twofold; posing as an employee of Howell Petroleum, he and his team will attempt to sink the Reine de la Mer, a German replenishment ship posing as a neutral freighter; he will also try to reestablish contact with his estranged father, who is among the most powerful men in Argentina and is the architect of the impending military coup to overthrow Ramón Castillo, the pro-German President of Argentina.
Ettinger discovers from Jewish refugees living in and around Buenos Aires that the Nazis are ransoming Jews in concentration camps, accepting bribe money from their overseas families for their safe passage out of Germany.
Meanwhile, Hans-Peter von Wachtstein, a young Luftwaffe pilot, is selected to escort the remains of the late Capitan Jorge Alejandro Duarte back to Argentina.
When the local OSS station chief accuses him of cowardice, it is only the arrival of the destroyer USS Alfred Thomas and the intervention of Colonel Graham that save the mission.
Instead of returning to Argentina as a naval attache in uniform, he will assume the cover story of having been discharged from the Marine Corps in order to claim his inheritance.
However, Enrico recognizes the Germans who ordered the death of el Coronel Frade and his sister on the beach and shoots them both dead, intentionally barely missing Peter von Wachtstein.
When Peter returns, one of the investigators, Korvettenkapitän Karl Boltitz of the Abwehr, reveals to him that he knows he is the traitor, and directs him to commit suicide by crashing his plane, thereby sparing his father suspicion and possibly death.
Donovan hopes the assets of the airline will be available for OSS use; Cletus Frade suspects the President is trying to put pressure on Pan American-Grace Airways, which has a near monopoly on South American air travel.
Cletus travels to the States (under guise of acquiring Air Transport Ratings for himself and his pilots) and is key in getting Oberstleutnant Frogger to cooperate with his American captors.
Although he is carefully watched during the entire operation and cannot slip away to notify Cletus, he does make note of the fact that mountain troops from the Argentine Army appear to be assisting the Nazis who deliver the shipment.
He also provides photographic evidence that Juan Perón led both Argentine mountain troops and undercover Nazi operatives to the estancia to kill the Froggers.
This, coupled with other evidence, leads Cletus Frade to confront Perón and threaten to out him in front of the rest of the Argentine officer corps should the Nazis take any action against him or his family.
Cletus Frade is forced to move his operations to an estancia in Mendoza Province after the German commercial attache's wife becomes mentally unstable and violent.
He then takes delivery of three Lockheed Constellations for his airline, and flies one to Portugal, where he picks up two of Gehlen's officers disguised as clergy and returns with them and their families to Argentina.
Von Deitzberg makes moves to acquire the bulk of the illicit funds from ransoming Jews from Germany, but unexpectedly encounters the other officer Gehlen sent to Argentina, who recognizes him and eliminates him.
As the situation intensifies, Dorotea gives birth to a healthy boy, just as Cletus prepares to accompany President Rawson to confront the commander of the mountain regiment, who is leading his unit towards the estancia.
Equally troubling is that current Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau seems determined to uncover the Gehlen personnel that Clete has been smuggling out of Europe via his airline, potentially compromising all the intelligence they have so far provided concerning Soviet Union, especially their agents who have penetrated the Manhattan Project.
Dulles, Graham and Clete have agreed to keep the Gehlen Organization secret from Donovan or the President for fear of compromise to the Soviets, despite the fact that they all are outside the chain of command and risking their careers (in what could be potentially called treason).
When his father is killed by order of the Germans, Cletus inherits his estate and gradually becomes a prominent, powerful member of Argentine society, while still serving covertly as an OSS operative.
When he is selected to escort to Argentina the remains of the late Capitan Jorge Alejandro Duarte (who happens to be Cletus Frade's cousin), his father confides in him that the only hope for the German aristocracy to survive postwar is to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
Peter falls in love with and marries Alicia Carzino-Cormano near the end of Secret Honor, despite his misgivings that his double agent status will very probably lead to his execution.
Then Captain Ashton (codename "Snoopy", and later "Bacardi") is in command of a second OSS team which Cletus Frade infiltrates into Argentina during the events of Blood and Honor.
Originally sent to assist in the investigation of a traitor in the German Embassy in Buenos Aires, he realizes that his loyalties do not lie with the Nazi regime and allies himself with Peter von Wachtstein after he discovers that he is a double agent.
Her icy reception of Cletus Frade during their initial meeting led him to dub her "El Bitcho", a name that has spread to many of the main characters and their hired staff by the third book.
While in Buenos Aires, his investigations lead to the discovery of a ransom scheme where Jews living outside Germany can pay for their relatives to be released from concentration camps and emigrated to Argentina.
His death has the unintended effect of turning much of the Argentine officer corps against the Germans (with the conspicuous exception of Coronel Juan Domingo Perón), and accelerates the planned military coup against the sitting president, Ramon Castillo.
Owner and chairman of the board of Howell Petroleum, namesake to his grandson, and a key figure in Cletus Frade's life prior to his joining the Marine Corps and the OSS.
She quickly assumes not only the duties and responsibilities of the wife of a highly wealthy socialite and businessman, but also becomes extremely involved in Cletus's work as an OSS agent.
In later books he often takes command of ad hoc paramilitary units composed of military veterans who have found employment with the Frade businesses in order to assist Clete and his team in their missions.
While Enrico appears to be slow and sleepy to the uninformed observer, he is usually heavily armed (usually with his prized Remington Model 11 Shotgun and an Argentine Ballester–Molina .45 ACP pistol plus a snubnosed Colt Police Positive)., quite difficult to fool, and usually has a piece or two of sage advice to keep Cletus out of harm's way, and in fact is a highly skilled and experienced combat soldier.