The Hostage (Presidential Agent 2)

Oh, shit!

And Munz knew this was coming.

That's why I got the little pep talk and the "Goodbye, Charley" when he left.

These bastards needed a scapegoat-this had to be someone's fault; anybody's but some bureaucrat's-and they're hanging Alfredo out to flap around in the wind.

Sonofabitch, that's rotten!

"Mi coronel, if there will be witnesses before the board you speak of, I would like to appear, to testify for the defense."

"Senor Castillo, forgive me, but this is an internal Argentine matter."

I better shut up right now. Whatever I say next will be the wrong thing.

Fuck it!

"Forgive me, mi coronel, but any dereliction of el Coronel Munz would obviously have to do with what has happened to Americans, and I, as the American officer charged with the security of those Americans, am probably better qualified than anyone else to judge how well el Coronel Munz discharged his responsibilities."

"I repeat, Senor Castillo, that this is an internal Argentine matter."

"It stinks, mi coronel, and you may quote me."

"I regret you feel that way, senor," Colonel Gellini said. "If you have some question, my men know how to contact me. Good evening, senor."

He put out his hand. Castillo looked at for a long moment, and then turned his back.

That wasn't too smart, Charley.

Fuck it!

He heard the door close and took out his cellular and pushed an autodial button. Ambassador Silvio

answered on the second buzz.

"Silvio."

"Castillo, sir. Colonel Munz's replacement just came to see me."

"He came to see me. I wondered if sending him to see you was the wise thing to do."

"Probably not. That's a rotten thing to do to Munz."

"Jack Masterson used to say that it took him a long time to figure out the Argentines, but he finally had: Anything that goes wrong is always somebody else's fault. In this case, somebody is Colonel Munz."

"Is there anything we can do for Munz?"

"I've been thinking of writing a letter expressing our appreciation of Colonel Munz's services, and sending it to the newspapers. But it probably wouldn't do much good."

"Why not? Munz is out there hanging in the breeze. And God knows, he's done everything possible."

"They probably wouldn't print the letter, and if they did it would be regarded as an unwelcome meddling by the norteamericanos in Argentina's affairs. And following that, it would start being bandied about that the whole affair was really our fault; we shouldn't have sent Jack down here, knowing that a very wealthy man like Jack would almost certainly be a target for kidnappers."

"I don't think what's happened has anything to do with kidnapping," Castillo said.

"The trouble is we don't know what this is all about," the ambassador said. "How undiplomatic were you, Charley?"

"Not as undiplomatic as I would have liked to have been," Castillo replied. "I told him I would like to be a witness in Munz's defense, and then, after he told me twice that it was an internal matter, I told him it stinks, and he knows it, and that he can quote me."