The Hostage (Presidential Agent 2)

"Helena, you have to remember that your rug rats are my godchildren," Castillo said. "Bring 'em on!"

"Absolutely," Fernando chimed in. "The more rug rats, the better."

Frau Goerner, forcing a smile, turned to a maid wearing a crisp white cap and apron.

"Ilse, will you bring the children to the dining room, please?" she said, adding to everyone else, "I'll join you there."

She walked out of the foyer.

"Do you two have to do your best to destroy my happy marriage?" Otto asked. He didn't seem to be really annoyed with them.

"The both of you should be ashamed of yourselves," Frau Gertrud said, but she didn't seem very annoyed, either.

"I somehow got the feeling our hostess does not like my godchildren referred to as her rug rats," Castillo said to Torine and Kranz. "I will introduce…"

"You sensed that, did you?" Goerner asked, sarcastically.

"… you two to her when she gets her Bavarian temperunder control." He pointed to a door. "That's the elevator. The athletically inclined can use the stairs."

"When he was about nine or ten," Otto said, "Karl used to go to the stables, collect the cats-five, six, more-and load them on the elevator. His grandfather, who wouldn't let Karlchen use the elevator, and who hated cats, would summon the elevator, and when the door opened they'd all rush out into his bedroom. You could hear the Old Man in Fulda."

"He was a wicked little boy," Frau Gertrud said, smiling fondly. "Who looked like an angel."

"Is that a 'what the hell is this?' look on your face, Jake?" Castillo asked Torine, and then went on without waiting for an answer. "I was born in this house. I lived here until I was twelve." Castillo saw the look on Kranz's face, and went on: "Long story, Seymour. I'll brief you later. Let's go up to the dining room and have a beer. In a manner of speaking, I make it myself."

"If Helena offers champagne, Karl," Goerner said firmly, "you will drink it."

"Jawohl," Castillo said, smiling. He clicked his heels, and waved everybody onto the elevator. It was a tight fit, but they all managed to get on. The dining room

was an enormous room on the third floor. One wall was covered with a huge, heavy curtain. Castillo walked to it, found a switch, and tripped it. The curtains opened, revealing floor-to-ceiling plate-glass windows offering a vista of gently rolling farmlands.

"Nice view," Torine said.

"Come here," Castillo said, "and Professor Castillo will offer a lecture on fairly recent military history."

Another maid in crisp white cap and apron appeared with a tray holding champagne stems. Castillo, Torine, and Kranz were taking glasses from the tray when Helena appeared.

"Ah, our hostess," Castillo said. "You'll have to forgive my bad manners, Helena. This is Colonel Jacob Torine of the U.S. Air Force, and Mr. Kranz of AFC Electronics of Las Vegas, Nevada, who is going to demonstrate the satellite telephone I'm going to recommend to Otto that he buy for the Tages Zeitung's correspondents. Gentlemen, our hostess, Frau Helena Goerner."

Helena had her temper under control and was charming.

"You have a lovely home, Frau Goerner," Torine said. "The view is spectacular."

"Yes, it is, isn't it?"

"I was about to deliver a little lecture about the land, Helena. May I go on?"

"Of course," she said, with a hint of a smile and a visible lack of enthusiasm.

"If you will look halfway across that glorious field of corn," Castillo said, pointing, "you will see a strip perhaps seventy-five meters wide where the growth isn't nearly as luxurious as the rest."

"Yeah," Torine said, curiously, having spotted what Castillo had pointed out.

"At one time, as difficult as it might be to believe in this time of peace and love for our fellow man, that strip was sewn with mines, about half of them Bouncing Bet-ties. They were placed there by the East German authorities-"

"That was the East German-West German border?" Torine interrupted.

"Yes, it was. May I continue?"