The Hostage (Presidential Agent 2)

"And the house itself, sir?"

"I'm not finished, Special Agent Schneider."

"Sorry, sir."

"On the block the Masterson house is on-it's in the middle of the block-the street is blocked off with barriers, cars, and whatever they call those strips with steel points on them to blow tires."

"I know what you mean, sir."

"Plus more Gendarmeria National and SIDE people and our guys. Now the house itself sits behind an eight-foot brick wall topped with razor wire. The wall completely surrounds the property. In the rear, there is a service road-for deliveries, garbage, et cetera. That's been blocked off.

"The house is three stories, masonry, and all the windows except two in the attic are barred. Heavily barred, and they don't open. The front door looks like a bank vault, and the rear door is steel. The gates in the fence- two in the front, one vehicular, one for people, and two in the back, ditto-are steel, decorative but heavy-duty. The vehicular gate in the front slides on tracks when a switch inside the front door is pushed. The one in the back has to be moved by hand. Closed, it's locked with a huge padlock, keys kept in the kitchen. The people gates are opened with a solenoid, switches by the front door and in the kitchen. The front and back yards are illuminated by floodlights, triggered by motion sensors, or they can be turned on and left on.

"We have two of our guys and two SIDE guys inside the house. There are two telephone lines, plus a dedicated line for the burglar alarm. And everybody has cellulars. I can't think of a thing to add, except maybe the Abrams tanks I mentioned."

"That sounds pretty secure, sir."

"When are you going to leave the hospital?"

"In the next couple of minutes."

"If you tell me you love me, I'll tell you where I'm going from here."

"That would be very difficult at this time, sir."

"Well, if somebody's listening to us, then why don't you say 'Wiener schnitzel' and I'll understand."

She giggled, then said, "Wiener schnitzel."

"And same to you, love of my life."

"Where will you be, sir?"

"We-Munz, Jack, and me-are going from here to the cathedral. After that we're going to SIDE headquarters. I'll call again. Better yet, when you've got Mrs. Masterson in her house, call me."

"Yes, sir."

"And be prepared to say, 'Wiener schnitzel.' "

"Whatever you say, sir."

"Wiener schnitzel, baby." [FIVE] Catedral Metropolitana Plaza de Mayo Buenos Aires, Argentina 1130 24 July 2005 C. G. Castillo answered his cellular telephone on the second buzz.

"Castillo."

"Schneider, sir."

" 'Wiener schnitzel Schneider,' that Schneider?"

"Yes. sir. I called to tell you we're in the house in San Isidro."

"No problems?"

"No, sir. Went off like clockwork."

"I've just had a tour of the cathedral, led by Sergeant Roger Markham. He dazzled Colonel Munz; he knew more about the cathedral than Munz did."

Betty chuckled. "He's a really nice kid."