Empire and Honor (Honor Bound 7)

“Sir, Colonel Mattingly made it clear I was to tell no one, including you.”

“Did you have any problems with Frau von Wachtstein? Was she satisfied with the way you took care of her?”

“I believe she was, sir.”

“And Colonel Mattingly gave you no message to deliver to me?”

“No, sir. Except that I was to report back to you for duty.”

Connell studied Cronley for a long moment.

“If anything went wrong, Cronley, now is the time to tell me.”

“Nothing went wrong, sir.”

Connell nodded.

“Okay. You might as well go back on the roadblock.”

“Yes, sir. Now?”

“Yes, now, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, sir.”

[SIX]

The Ministry of Labor and Welfare

Avenida Leandro N. Alem 650

Buenos Aires, Argentina

1405 8 October 1945

The building housing the Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social of the Argentine Republic was at the western end of Avenida 9 Julio, which was said to be the widest avenue in the world.

It was a large building, but not as large, luxurious, or impressive as the Edificio Libertador.

El Coronel Juan Domingo Perón—vice president, secretary of War, and secretary of Labor and Welfare of the Argentine Republic—maintained an office in the Labor Building, as well as offices in the Edificio Libertador and in the Casa Rosada.

Two identical Ejército Argentino Mercedes-Benz sedans and an Army Ford ton-and-a-half stake-bodied truck came up Avenida 9 Julio to the building. The first Mercedes stopped in front of the Labor Building. General de Brigada Eduardo Ramos and Capitán Ricardo Montenegro got out and stood on the sidewalk as if waiting for someone.

The second Mercedes and the truck—which carried twenty helmeted soldiers, each holding a Mauser rifle between his knees—turned into the alley beside the building, and then turned around so they faced Avenida 9 Julio.

When they had done so, a third Mercedes, a black sedan with civilian license plates, which had been parked on Avenida 9 Julio, started its engine and drove up behind the Mercedes stopped in front of the building.

A tall, fair-haired, light-skinned thirty-seven-year-old in the uniform of a general de brigada de caballería got out of his car and walked up to Ramos and Montenegro. He was Alejandro Bernardo Martín, chief of the Ethical Standards Office of the Argentine Ministry of Defense.

Montenegro saluted, and Ramos and Martín shook hands, somewhat stiffly.

Then the three of them entered the building, walked directly to the elevator bank, and went to the fifth floor, where the secretary of Labor and Welfare had his office. They walked down the corridor until they came to a lieutenant and a sergeant—obviously guards—sitting outside the office, but neither challenged them.

Ramos entered the outer office first. A secretary rose from behind her desk.

“Be so kind, señora,” Ramos ordered, “as to inform el Coronel Perón that Generals Ramos and Martín wish to see him.”

“Does the secretary expect you?”