The Hunters (Presidential Agent 3)

“Yeah,” Castillo said. “Let’s hope.”

He looked around the room.

“Anything happen while we were talking our walk?”

“Ambassador Silvio called,” Torine said. “He said to tell you that Ambassador McGrory called him to tell him that Artigas has been transferred to Buenos Aires. Who’s Artigas?”

“An FBI agent—one of those in Montevideo looking for laundered money. He’s clever. He pretty much figured out what happened at Lorimer’s estancia, so I figured the best way to make sure he kept his mouth shut was to have him assigned to OOA.”

Torine nodded.

“We haven’t heard from Alex Darby?” Castillo asked. “Or anyone else?”

“Alex Darby three or four times,” Sieno said. “The last bulletin was half an hour ago. He expected then to finally have the owner, the escribiano, and the lawyer all in one place in the next few minutes.”

“Explain that, please,” Castillo said.

“One of the interesting requirements of Argentine law is that when you sign a contract—like a lease on a house in Mayerling—all parties have to be present at a meeting at which the escribiano, who is sort of a super notary public, reads the whole thing, line by line, aloud. The lawyer’s function is to explain any questions about the contract.”

“They do about the same thing in Mexico, Gringo,” Fernando Lopez said.

“Mr. Darby said that Kensington has the radio set up, and it shouldn’t take more than an hour or so to finish signing the lease—presuming all parties did, in fact, show up—and wants you to call him and tell him whether you want to move in out there tonight.”

“Are there sheets and blankets, etcetera?” Castillo asked. “Food?”

“I don’t know about the sheets and blankets,” Sieno said. “But I don’t think there will be food. And the Argentines have another interesting custom. When they move out of someplace, they take the lightbulbs with them.”

“Great!” Castillo said.

“There’s a Jumbo supermarket in Pilar that would have everything we need,” Susanna Sieno said.

“If you were to go out there and shop, who would watch the Cuban embassy?”

“Most of that’s automated,” she said. “And Paul will be here. Won’t he?”

“He will. Can I ask you to do that?”

“Certainly.”

“Lester will go with you,” Castillo said. “Go to Pilar, please, and buy what you need in the Jumbo, but don’t go to Mayerling until we hear from Darby that it’s a done deal and the owner and the others have left.”

“You want me to use our car?” she asked.

“There’s CD plates on it?”

“We have one of each,” she said.

“Take the one with regular plates,” Castillo said.

She nodded.

“Can we get Lester a weapon?” Castillo asked.

The faces of both Sieno and his wife showed their surprise at the request.

Davidson chuckled.

“There are those who refer to Corporal Bradley as Deadeye Dick,” he said. “He’s one hell of a shot.”