The Hunters (Presidential Agent 3)

“Am I intruding?” he said.

“Of course not,” Castillo said. “Your family is in the Belmont House Hotel. Everything went perfectly.”

“Am I going to get a chance to talk to them?”

“Can you wait until we get to Quito, Ecuador?”

“Of course.”

“The Herr Oberstleutenant, Herr Oberst,” Kocian said, “is about to tell us all of a mistake he made. I’m breathless with anticipation.”

“My mistake was in thinking we could hide Herr Kocian here,” Castillo said. “But now I realize that would be about as difficult as concealing a giraffe on the White House lawn.”

Munz, Susanna Sieno, and Darby could not resist smiling at the image.

Kocian glared at them.

“So what do you suggest?” Kocian asked, rather icily.

“The opposite,” Castillo replied. “He’s an important journalist, publisher of the Budapester Tages Zeitung, vice chairman of the board of directors of Gossinger Beteiligungsgesellschaft, G.m.b.H….”

Castillo saw the sour look on the old man’s face and had a hard time restraining a smile. You didn’t mind me mentioning that, did you, Uncle Billy?

“…and I don’t think the Argentine government would be happy if anything happened to him.”

“I see where you’re going,” Munz said.

“I don’t,” Kocian said.

“They would want SIDE to keep an eye on you, Herr Kocian,” Munz said. “They would not want anything to happen to an important man such as yourself.”

“You think it’s a good idea, Alfredo?” Kocian said.

“I think it’s a very good idea,” Munz said.

“All I am is a simple journalist plying his trade,” Kocian said.

“We know that, but the Argentine government doesn’t,” Castillo said. “We’ll get Otto to exaggerate when he calls the German ambassador here.”

Kocian glared at him.

“Okay, so that’s what we’ll do,” Castillo said. “I’ll get on the horn right now.”

When they walked to the quincho, Corporal Lester Bradley came to attention as they approached him.

“Lester, try not to do that,” Castillo said. “You’re in civilian clothing.”

“Yes, sir,” Bradley said and lost perhaps ten percent of his rigid posture.

Sergeant Kensington was inside the quincho, on a twin of Kocian’s recliner, reading the Herald. There was a Car-4 leaning against the recliner. Kensington lowered the newspaper but did not get up.

“How soon can you get the radio up, Bob?” Castillo asked.

“We’re up and all green, sir,” Kensington said. “I just talked to Major Miller.”

“Where’s the antenna?”

“On the roof, sir. It says DirecTV on it.”