The Hunters (Presidential Agent 3)

“Can you get him for me, please?

“Charley, sir. Sorry to interrupt.

“Yung would feel more comfortable dealing with that banking business we discussed earlier if he was assigned to the Office of Organizational Analysis and therefore under my orders. Is that going to be a problem?

“The sooner the better, sir. By the time the banks open in the morning. Tonight would be even better.

“He’ll be with Miller. Here in my apartment, sir.

“Yes, sir.”

There was a sixty-second period of silence.

“Yes, sir. Thank you very much, sir.

“No, sir. I’m going to go to Philadelphia and then to Biloxi. Maybe still tonight if there’s a way to get from Philadelphia to Biloxi. In any event, as soon as I can, sir.

“Yes, sir. I’ll let you and Secretary Cohen know how that went as soon as I can.

“Yes, sir, I will. Thank you very much, sir.”

Castillo put the handset back in the cradle and looked at Yung.

“Secretary Hall tells me the President has put in a call to the director of the FBI. When he gets him, or his deputy, he will order that you be placed on duty with the Office of Organizational Analysis. Either the director or his deputy will call you here and tell you that. That will place you under my orders. Any questions?”

Yung shook his head.

“Let me take this opportunity to welcome you to the Office of Organizational Analysis, Mr. Yung,” Castillo said, mock portentously. “We hope your career with us will last as long as the organization itself—in other words, maybe for the next two or three weeks.”

Torine laughed. Others chuckled.

A smile—small but unmistakable—crossed Yung’s lips.

“Just as soon as I can—within a day or two—I will open another account in the Liechtensteinische Landesbank,” Castillo said. “We’ll get the money out of your account as soon as possible.”

Yung nodded.

“You ever been to Langley, Yung?” Miller asked.

Yung shook his head.

“I’ll take you over there,” Miller said and then had a second thought: “Better yet, Charley, Tom McGuire knows his way around there better than I do.”

“You know where to find him?”

Miller nodded.

“Ask him to do that, please,” Castillo said. “How hard is it going to be to get Vic D’Allessando on the horn?”

Miller held out a cellular telephone. Castillo went and took it from him.

“Autodial seven,” Miller said.

“I don’t know when I’ll be able to get to Biloxi,” Castillo explained. “But I want to see Vic before I see the Mastersons.”

“It’ll probably be in the very wee hours when we get there,” Fernando said. “But if you go with me, I’ll bet you’ll get there sooner than if you went commercial.”

“I want to go to Philadelphia first,” Castillo said.