“How are you, Juan Domingo?”
“I’m very well, thank you.”
“Is that so?”
“I am sure that I can convince the good lady to do that, Juan Domingo. But you are a busy man. Couldn’t it be done on the telephone?”
“I understand.”
“We will expect you shortly, then, Juan Domingo,” Welner finished, and hung up the telephone.
“Don’t tell me the bast…good Coronel’s coming here?” Clete asked.
“You can convince me to do what?” Claudia asked suspiciously.
“Juan Domingo says he has something quite important to say to Cletus, and he wants us to be here when he tells him.”
“What the hell is that all about?” Cletus asked.
Welner shrugged. “Whatever it is, he thinks it’s important,” Welner said.
“And he’s coming here now?” Claudia asked.
“He said he will leave the Edificio Libertador immediately,” Welner said.
El Coronel Juan Domingo Perón, Special Assistant to General Pedro Ramírez, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Argentina, arrived twenty minutes later.
Antonio, Clete noticed, had not asked Perón to wait in the foyer while he inquired if Señor Frade was at home.
He was my father’s best friend. Family, so to speak. Like Claudia; she wasn’t told to wait either. Then why did Antonio at least try to make Father Welner wait? Were there occasions when my father didn’t want to see Welner?
Perón was in uniform, with glistening boots and a Sam Browne belt, the brown tunic festooned with an array of decorations.
The Marine in Clete was forced to recognize that—with the exception of the leather-brimmed, gold-braid-decorated cap, with its ridiculous huge, high crown—he looked like a soldier, a senior officer.
Perón saluted, crisply touching the brim of the outsized hat. “Buenos días,” he said. “Thank you for receiving me on such short notice.”
“My house is your house, mi Coronel,” Clete said, hoping he sounded far more sincere than he felt.
Perón went to Claudia and kissed her cheek. “Claudia, thank you for being here,” he said. He turned to Welner. “It is always a pleasure to see you, Padre.”
“And for me to see you, Juan Domingo,” Welner said.
Perón did not try to kiss Welner, although kisses of greeting between men were standard procedure.
You don’t kiss priests? Or aren’t they close enough for that?
Perón nodded at Enrico, who came to attention and said, “Mi Coronel.”
Then Perón walked to Clete and grasped him by both shoulders. “Cletus,” he said emotionally.
“Mi Coronel,” Clete said.
“We’re having coffee, Juan Domingo. Mine with brandy,” Claudia said. “Would you like either?”
“A coffee, please,” he said.
Claudia poured a cup and handed it to him.