The Hostage (Presidential Agent 2)

The secretary of state nodded at him. The secretary of Homeland Security gave him a thumbs-up.

Castillo got up quickly and started for the door.

"Charley," Hall called. "Your source is your friend from Vienna, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, he has proven reliable in the past, hasn't he?" Hall said.

"Yes, sir, he has," Castillo said, and went through the door.

Isaacson pulled the door closed.

"He didn't answer my question, did he?" Montvale said.

"The President sent for him, Charles," Hall said.

"I'm not accustomed to having junior officers not answering questions I put to them, and, frankly, I don't like it," Montvale said.

"Charles," the secretary of state said. "May I say something?"

"Of course."

"The impression this meeting left on me is that the President made it clear that he places in Major Castillo a trust that you and I might not share-"

"I picked up on that," Montvale said, just a bit righteously sarcastic.

"The impression this meeting left on me, Charles," Secretary Hall said, "is that the President made it absolutelyclear that Charley Castillo is answerable only to him. Or did I get that wrong?"

Montvale looked at the secretary of state for help. When it was not forthcoming, he stood up.

"I'd like to freshen up before we go to the ceremony. God alone knows how long we'll be standing out there in the heat and humidity for that." [TWO] The Presidential Suite Aboard Air Force One Keesler Air Force Base Biloxi, Mississippi 2105 25 July 2005 "Charley," Supervisory Special Agent Isaacson said, as he put his hand on the door to the presidential suite, "Tom McGuire brought a bag for you."

"Containing, I desperately hope, some summer clothes."

"It does. And a.45. I had to clear the bag aboard, which meant I had to see what was in it."

"Where is it?"

"In there," Isaacson said, pointing to a door next to the entrance to the presidential suite. "It's the medical office. If the president lets you go in time, you could probably get out of those winter clothes. It's going to be hot as hell in that hangar."

"You will get your reward in heaven, Joel Isaacson."

Isaacson smiled, then opened the door to the presidential suite.

Castillo could see what was obviously the President's private office. It contained an angled desk with a high-backed red leather chair bearing the presidential seal in gold facing aft, two armchairs facing the desk, and a credenza behind the desk.

"Mr. President," Isaacson called. "Major Castillo is here."

"Come on in, Charley," the President called. "I'm in the bedroom. Straight through to the front."

When Charley made his way all the way forward, he found the President of the United States supporting himself with one hand on a chest of drawers as he fed his right leg through his trousers. There were two single beds in the small area, on one of which lay the suit the President had just taken off, and on the other, the jacket to the suit he was now putting on.

"God, you're going to be hot in that," the President said, as he stuffed his shirt in his trousers.

"Tom McGuire brought a summer suit for me, sir."

"Well, as soon as we're finished here, you better put it on. Quickly. God and the presidential protection detail wait for no man, including the President."