The Hostage (Presidential Agent 2)

Castillo walked to the door and embraced, one at a time, two boys, one ten and the other twelve.

The twelve-year-old asked, "What's Vietnam?"

"A terrible place a long way from here," Castillo said. "Changing the subject, Seymour, what time is it in Washington?"

"About half past six," Kranz replied.

"And how long is it going to take you to set up?"

"That depends on where you want it."

"How about next to the stable? Where the knight in shining armor once touched down?"

"Ten minutes. You planning to leave it there?"

"Not for long," Castillo said. "So why don't we have lunch, then while I have a little talk with Otto, you have it up and running by oh-eight-hundred Washington time?"

"Can do." [FIVE] "A marvelous lunch, Helena. Thank you," Castillo said.

"I'm glad you liked it, Karl," she said.

Castillo motioned to one of the maids for more coffee. When she had poured it, he said, "Danke schon," and turned to Goerner. "So tell us, Otto, what you heard at the fund-raiser in Marburg about the boys moving money to Argentina," Castillo said.

Goerner didn't reply.

"You said two things, Otto, that caught my attention. You said what caught your attention was they said something about, 'Ha, ha, Der Fuhrer was the first to come up with that idea…'"

Helena flashed him a cold look. "I don't think the children should hear this," she said.

"Your call, of course, Helena," Castillo said. "But when I was even younger than the boys, my grandfather, at this very table, told me all about the evils the National Socialist German Workers Party-more popularly known as the Nazis-had brought to our fair land. He thought it was important that I knew about it as early as possible."

Her face tightened and grew white.

"You remember, Otto, don't you?" Castillo went on. "The Old Man, sitting where you are now sitting; you and Onkel Willi and my mother sitting over there, and me sitting where Willi is…"

"I remember, Karl," Goerner said.

Helena stood up and threw her napkin on the table.

"Come on, boys," she said.

"You don't have to stay, Liebchen," Otto said. "But the boys will."

She locked eyes with him, and then walked out of the room.

Goerner looked at Castillo.

"Your mother used to say, you know, that the one thing you really inherited from the Old Man was his complete lack of tact," he said.

Castillo nodded, and then said, "You said you thought the money they were moving was from Oil for Food."

Goerner nodded.

"Let me tell you where I'm coming from, Karl," he said. "When you were being a smart-ass before, with 'the legend of the castle,' it started me thinking. You were right. Your grandfather didn't like Americans, and if the Old Man were alive today, he probably would like them even less. But then I realized that if he were still here, and knew what's going on, and an American intelligence officer-not you, not his grandson, any American intelligenceofficer he thought he could trust-came to him and asked about this, he would have told him everything he knew.

"And you're right, Karl, I am sitting in the Old Man's chair. And in this chair, I have always tried to do what the Old Man would do. You understand me? That's why we're talking about what we never said out loud before, what you really are; that's why I'm going to tell you what I know, and that's why I wanted the boys to hear this. The Old Man was right about that, too. You're never too young to learn what a lousy world we're living in."

"I understand, Otto," Castillo said.