"Would you break out in tears if I told you that you have the reputation for being a ruthless sonofabitch?" Castillo said. "Helping Alfredo was a no-brainer for me, Alek. I knew that Alfredo hadn't betrayed you-"
"How did you know that?" Pevsner interrupted.
"We were talking a moment ago about there being men you instinctively trust. And you do have that ruthless sonofabitch reputation, Alek. Who should I have trusted? A man like Alfredo, or a man with a reputation like yours? Who, incidentally, had a known ruthless sonofabitch whispering in his ear?"
"And that brings us to tha
t treasonous scum, doesn't it?"
"Does it?"
"A traitor who told my good friend Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Komogorov that I was going to meet with you in the Sheraton in Pilar, knowing full well-"
"Well, that didn't happen, did it?"
"If it were not for you, Janos and I would be dead."
"True."
"And I am grateful."
"Which gratitude you demonstrated by having Howard Kennedy and Viktor Zhdankov beaten to death-slowly, apparently-in Punta del Este. After I told you I wanted Kennedy alive so that I could ask him a couple of dozen questions."
"Howard knew too much about me for him to continue to live. And I could not permit it to get around that anyone who attempted to assassinate me would live very long."
After a moment, Castillo asked: "Are we getting near the end of our walk down memory lane, Alek? I'd really like to know who wants me whacked."
Pevsner ignored the question. He took a long, thoughtful sip of his drink.
"And now you are here, friend Charley, presumably to ask me something, or for something. I wanted you to know where you and I stand before you do that."
"Okay. Cutting to the chase, a DEA agent by the name of Timmons was kidnapped in Paraguay. So far as I know, he's still alive. As quietly as possible, I want him back. Alive."
"'A DEA agent'?" Pevsner parroted, incredulously.
"A DEA agent named Timmons," Castillo repeated.
"How did you get involved in something like that?"
"How would you guess?"
"The President of the United States is involving himself personally in rescuing one drug enforcement agent?"
Castillo didn't answer.
"And how did you think I could help?"
"I thought maybe you could get word through mutual acquaintances to whoever is holding him that if Agent Timmons were to miraculously reappear unharmed, either in Asuncion or somewhere in Argentina, I would not only be very happy but would be out of here within twenty-four hours. Otherwise, I'm going to have to come after him, which would make everybody unhappy, including me."
"I think I'm missing something here," Pevsner said. "You don't really think you can load a half-dozen men on my helicopter and just take this man away from these people?"
"Your helicopter is not in my contingency plans, Alek, but thank you just the same."
"Do you even have an idea who has this man? Or where?"
"I'm working on that."
"Or who they are? I don't think they're liable to be Bolivian drug dealers."