The Shooters (Presidential Agent 4)

Castillo made a T with his hands, signaling Time out, and walked to the quincho door.

"Sorry to interrupt, Colonel," Torine announced, "but I really need a moment of your time."

Castillo gestured for Torine to follow him outside.

"I called Rucker," Torine said once they were alone. "Major Ward told me they're going to fly to Jacksonville Naval Air Station tomorrow, and then, the day after tomorrow, fly out to the Ronald Reagan."

"Why?"

"Jacksonville, Florida," Torine explained. "East Coast, almost at the Georgia border."

"I know where Jacksonville is, Jake. But why not go to Jacksonville the day after tomorrow, take on fuel, and then fly onto the Reagan? Their sitting around Jacksonville for a day will cause questions to be asked."

"Ward says the Navy wants to make sure they're not going to sink the aircraft carrier trying to land on it."

"That's bullshit, Jake. The pilots in the 160th are the best in the Army, the most experienced. And landing a Huey on a carrier is a hell of a lot easier than making an arrested landing with a fighter."

"That's what I told Truman Ellsworth," Torine said. He waited until he saw Castillo's reaction to that, then smiled and nodded.

"I called him," Torine went on, "and reminded him that he had suggested I call him if you had done something impulsive. And then I told him you had arranged to send choppers to South America aboard the Ronald Reagan, and I was afraid that the Navy didn't like it-proof being the 'orientation' they were insisting on-and was going to cause trouble."

He paused.

"I was good, Charley. I didn't know I had it in me."

"Maybe because you don't like Ellsworth any more than I do."

"That's a real possibility. My conscience didn't bother me at all."

"And what did our mutual friend have to say?"

"He said he'd call me right back. Five minutes later, Montvale called me. First thing, he asked where you were. I told him you were somewhere between Buenos Aires and Asuncion. Which is true. So then he said he would have to deal with this himself. He said it was a pity I wasn't in the States, because what he really would like to do is send me aboard the Reagan to keep an eye on things."

"And?"

"I told him I would be in the States tomorrow."

"And?"

"And he said, 'Don't plan on unpacking your bags when you get to Washington, Colonel, you're going for a little voyage.' To which I replied, 'What will I tell Castillo?' To which he replied, "I'll deal with Lieutenant Colonel Castillo, Colonel Torine. You don't have to worry about that.'"

"So the thing to do," Castillo said, "is get you back to the States as so

on as possible. Which opens a new can of worms. For one thing, you just got here; you're tired, you don't want to-shouldn't-fly right back. The flip side of that is: What is the Evil Leprechaun going to say when I call him? He may consider the Gulfstream as one of the assets he wants me to share with him. So getting it out of here as soon as possible is probably smart."

"What about me taking Dave Yung and Colin Leverette to Montevideo?" Torine suggested. "Right now, I mean. Sparkman and I could crash in Two-Gun's apartment for a while-five, six hours, anyway-then leave for the States later today, tonight, or first thing in the morning."

"That'd work. But the worm that pops up there is: How do we get the airplane back here? Ambassador Lorimer, his wife, and the two guys from China Post will be on board."

"I can get another Gulfstream pilot from the Presidential Flight Detachment."

Castillo, visibly thinking, didn't reply.

"Isn't that what you meant?" Torine pursued.

Castillo didn't have time to reply. Edgar Delchamps was walking toward them from the house. Max decided Delchamps had come out to play, intercepted him, and dropped a tennis ball at his feet. Delchamps picked up the ball and threw it as far across the yard as he could, then walked up to Castillo and Torine.

"I just had a brilliant insight of my own," Delchamps announced. "Anybody interested?"