The Hostage (Presidential Agent 2)

"I'll try to figure this out as you continue, Charley."

"I suspect there's still an FBI interest in Charley Castillo. What the cops would call a 'locate but do not detain.' Kennedy is still very worried about what he calls his 'former associates,' and he's not a fool. The FBI thinks I can lead them to Pevsner and/or Kennedy."

"Charley, I was there, with you, when the President told the DCI and director of the FBI to lay off Pevsner. I interpreted that to mean lay off Pevsner and the people who work for him."

"That's the primary reason I'm telling you this now, Jake. Somebody told the New York Times guy here-and some others-that the President's agent is down here, and somebody told Colonel Newley that I'm a major. And probably a troublemaker. 'Watch out for that sonofabitch, he can get you in trouble.' Am I being paranoid, or is it possible the FBI is ignoring what you and I would call a direct order from the President?"

Colonel Torine considered that for a moment, then said, "Well, you know what they say, Charley."

"No, what do they say?"

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that little green men aren't trying to castrate you with machetes."

"Shit," Castillo chuckled.

"What are you going to do about it?" Torine asked.

"I have a gut feeling I should do nothing about it now. Maybe because I'm a little afraid of the clout they've given me, and I don't want to burn the bastard until I'm sure he is a bastard. And I also want to find out what Howard Kennedy meant when he said whatever Yung is doing in Montevideo, it's not reading bank statements."

"What else could he be doing?"

"I have no idea, but I do know that the minute the FBI finds out I've fingered him, he'll stop doing it, and then I'll never know."

Torine shrugged. "It's your call, Charley. I can't fault it. What do you want me to do with Newley?"

"See that he gets the airplane ready. Have him hang around here until we can get this doctor to look at the airplane and see what else he will need."

"Done," Torine said. "Charley, I've got a guy at Ezeiza who can fly that Gulfstream. Redundancy was one of the reasons I brought him along. Say the word and I'll have him fly it."

"No, I don't want to do that. If you relieve Newley, there goes his career. He was doing what he thought was the right thing to do, and I think you made a Christian out of him."

"Your call. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going back to the hospital and wait for Betty to come out of the operating room."

"Want some company? After I make sure I've made a true Christian out of Newley? One who won't go back to his wicked ways the minute we get off the ground?"

"Thanks but no thanks, Jake."

X

[ONE] The German Hospital Avenida Pueyrredon Buenos Aires, Argentina 2135 24 July 2005 There were two men Castillo suspected were SIDE agents in the lobby of the hospital when he and Corporal Bradley walked in. Confirmation came when one of them walked up to them and told Castillo "your agent" was in room 677.

It was the room where Mrs. Masterson had been placed. Castillo wondered whether it was coincidence or whether the ever-resourceful Colonel Munz had an arrangement with the hospital for really secure rooms for patients in whom SIDE had an interest.

When he got to the sixth floor, Castillo found Jack Britton sitting in a folding metal chair outside the room, holding a Madsen on his lap.

"Betty's still in the operating room, Charley," Britton said. "Solez talked somebody into letting him wait outside the operating room. Apparently, they're going to bring her here instead of to a recovery room. They've been taking all sorts of equipment in there. And there's a couple of guys with Uzis down the hall."

Castillo looked, and then said, "I just made arrangements for Betty to be flown-on the Gulfstream that brought you dow

n here-to Philadelphia when she's up to traveling. I want you to go with her."

Britton nodded.

"I had Dick Miller call Chief Inspector Kramer to give him a heads-up. When we know something, I'll call him and bring him up to speed. Unless I'm gone before that happens, then you'll have to do it."

Britton nodded again.