The Hostage (Presidential Agent 2)

"I'm to find the people responsible for the murders and render them harmless," Castillo said.

" 'Render them harmless'? Is that the same as 'terminate with extreme prejudice'?" Kocian asked. "Isn't that the euphemism for assassination you Americans used in Vietnam?"

"My orders are to 'find them and render them harmless, ' " Castillo repeated. "The idea is to make it clear that there are certain things you can't get away with."

"And that sounds like vengeance to me. So what does that make you, the agent of the Lord?"

"No. Not of the Lord. It doesn't say 'Gott Mit Uns' on my uniform buckle."

Kocian nodded at him. "Touche," he said, and then looked at Goerner. "There's a lot of the Old Man in him, isn't there?"

"Yes," Goerner said, simply. "There is."

"Your grandfather was a man of his word," Kocian said. "When he told you something, you could trust him. Are you that way, Karl?"

"I like to think of myself as an officer and a gentleman, if that's what you mean."

"That's what I mean," Kocian said. "What I'm going to do, Karl, if you give me your word you won't turn it over to the CIA, or anyone in your government, is give you the names of Germans I believe have both profited from Oil for Food and are now trying to hide that money in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay… all over the southern tip of South America. If you can use this information to find Lorimer, fine. But you give me your word you won't use it for anything else."

"You have my word."

"And that you won't tell anyone where you got it."

"Agreed."

"And that these gentlemen will be similarly bound by our agreement."

"Agreed. When do I get the names?"

"Once I get to the office, it will take me an hour or more to go through what I have. I want to make sure in my own mind that if you have to render any of these people harmless-that's a much nicer phrase than 'terminate with extreme prejudice,' isn't it?-that they really deserve such treatment."

"Fair enough."

"And I don't want you-especially Otto-coming to the office and making people curious. So why don't you meet me at the Karpatia at noon? You know where it is, Otto."

Goerner nodded.

"And so do I," Castillo said. "Not far from the American embassy."

Kocian nodded. "We can have a nice lunch," he said and, not without effort, got to his feet. Then, grunting, he bent over and picked up his ashtray, his cellular telephone, and the books and magazines.

Then he waddled down the tiled floor of the bath and disappeared through a door.

"You got more out of him, Karl," Otto Goerner said, thoughtfully, "than I thought you would. I can only hope that's a good thing. What he didn't say was that these people would torture and kill him without thinking twice about it if they knew he knows as much as he does. And unless you're very careful with those names, they will learn he does."

Castillo nodded but didn't reply. Then he stood up.

"Let's get out of here," he said, wrapping a towel around his waist. "I want to get on the horn." [TWO] The Embassy of the United States of America Szabadsag ter 12 Budapest, Hungary 1105 28 July 2005 Otto Goerner touched Castillo's arm as they started to get out of the taxi in front of the American embassy, a seven-story century-old mansion.

"You're not going to need me in there, are you?" Goerner asked.

"No."

"And it might even be a bit awkward, no?"

"I'll handle it," Castillo said.

"Why don't I keep the cab, go to the Karpatia, get us a table, get myself a cup of coffee…"