Secret Honor (Honor Bound 3)

“Are you a descendant of General San Martín, Bernardo?”

“As a matter of fact, I am.”

“That gives you something in common with Don Cletus, doesn’t it? He’s a direct descendant of Pueyrredón, or so I’m told.”

“I am not going to let you take us off at a tangent, Milton,” Martín said. “Who’s ‘Galahad’?”

They locked eyes for a moment.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Leibermann said.

Martín nodded after a moment. “Pity,” he said. “If you had known, and were willing to tell me, I was prepared to share with you the twenty thousand dollars Almond offered me for the name.”

“That’s a lot of money, twenty thousand dollars,” Leibermann said.

“Your half would come to ten thousand,” Martín said.

“Hypothetically speaking, Bernardo: If I knew who this fellow Galahad is, and I told you, and you told Almond, and he gave you the money, what would you do with your ten thousand?”

“Buy a red Buick convertible.”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“You tell me.”

“You would turn it in.”

Martín shrugged but didn’t argue.

“And hypothetically speaking, so would I,” Leibermann said.

“So he made you the same offer?”

“He’s never mentioned that name to me.”

“Maybe because he knows you know the name and won’t tell him,” Martín said.

Leibermann shrugged but didn’t argue.

“Galahad now makes me very curious,” Martín said. “I think I should tell you that.”

“Still speaking hypothetically, Bernardo: If there is such a person, I would be very surprised if he posed any threat to the Argentine republic.”

“The problem is, Milton, I’m supposed to be the fellow who makes decisions about who is dangerous and who is not.”

“I’ve found over the years that sometimes you just have to trust your friends, Bernardo.”

Their eyes met.

“I could turn that on you, my friend,” Martín said. “And tell you that it is now your turn to trust this friend.”

“I hope you don’t,” Leibermann said.

“All right, I won’t. But my curiosity is still very active.”

“I understand,” Leibermann said. “And I hope you will understand that I hope your curiosity will go unsatisfied.”

“Why would you hope that? If this man poses no threat to Argentina, why would it matter if I had a name?”