The Hostage (Presidential Agent 2)

"Aren't you taking a chance, Karl?" Munz asked when the waiter had gone to fill their order.

"That I'll really get Famous Grouse, you mean?" Castillo asked innocently. "Instead of some locally distilled copy thereof?"

"You know what I mean," Munz said.

"I've learned that every once in a while, you have to take a chance," Castillo said. "I'm taking one on you not to interfere with this operation by either telling Alex about it until it's over or choking the canary before he can sing."

"When I went to work for Alex-"

"You mean full-time? After you were retired, in other words?"

Munz's face tightened. "When I was with SIDE I never gave Alex any information that in any way betrayed my duties or my country."

"Okay."

"I told Alex, before I went to work for him, that there were certain things I would not do," Munz said. "'Choking canaries,' as you put it, was among the things he understood I would not do."

"I'm sure Howard Kennedy made a deal very similar to yours," Castillo said. "But what I was wondering about, before I decided on 'in for a penny, in for a pound,' was whether or not the things you would not do included giving him information that might see my canary choked by somebody else."

"If you feel that way, why did you agree to my coming with you?" Munz asked icily.

"I agreed to your coming along after I decided that you're not the sort of man who could look at himself in the mirror after deciding that it would be morally justifiable to arrange for a canary to be choked, providing someone else did the choking."

Munz looked at him coldly but didn't reply.

"And because Alex was right," Castillo went on. "I think you're going to be useful. We're back to having to take a chance every once in a while."

"Like flying a single-engine helicopter across the River Plate? That was taking a chance, wasn't it? What if the engine had failed?"

"We would have drowned," Castillo said. "Unless you're a much better swimmer than I am."

Munz shook his head.

"The seats-like those on airliners-are flotation devices," Castillo said. "We might have had to float around in the river for a while, but I filed a flight plan, and if we hadn't showed up on time, they would have started looking for us. I don't like to take foolish chances, Alfredo, and don't."

The waiter appeared with a tray holding a bottle of Famous Grouse, glasses, a silver ice bucket, a silver water pitcher, and a pair of tongs. He was pouring whiskey into the glasses when Special Agent David William Yung, Jr., came into the bar. He was visibly surprised to see Alfredo Munz.

"Right on time," Castillo said, half-standing to offer Yung his hand. "You two know each other, right?"

"How are you, Colonel?"

"Mr. Yung," Munz said.

"I'm sure you're both wondering what happens next," Castillo said.

Their eyes reflected their interest.

"I'm going to have at least one more of these," Castillo said, raising his glass and taking a healthy swallow, "have some dinner, and go to bed." He paused and added, "A very wise friend pointed out to me that people who haven't had much sleep tend to make bad decisions. I haven't had much sleep, and I can't afford to make any more sloppy, much less bad, decisions. So just a question or two, Yung. What do you hear about visiting friends from Montevideo?"

"They'll be on the first Busquebus from BA. It gets here at about ten-thirty."

"And you found accommodations for them?"

"Yes, sir."

"You have those maps I asked you for?"

"Yes, sir."