Hazardous Duty (Presidential Agent 8)

“Yes, sir, Mr. President,” Ellsworth said.

The President resumed reading:

AND I GOT MINE. I AM TO BE STANDING, WITH MY LUGGAGE, OUTSIDE MY HOTEL AT NINE TOMORROW MORNING. I ASKED WHERE WE WERE GOING AND WAS TOLD VATICAN CITY, BUT I DON’T BELIEVE THIS.

WE SHALL SEE.

DAY TWO—JUNE 12, 2007

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

AT EXACTLY NINE A.M., A MERCEDES SPORT-UTILITY VEHICLE WITH DARKENED WINDOWS PULLED INTO THE RECEPTION AREA OF THE ALVEAR PALACE HOTEL. TWO BURLY MEN GOT OUT. ONE TOOK MY ARM AND LOADED ME INTO THE REAR SEAT WHILE THE OTHER LOADED MY LUGGAGE INTO THE BACK.

HOW THEY KNEW WHO THIS REPORTER WAS, I DON’T KNOW, AND WHEN I ASKED WHERE WE WERE GOING, THEY PRETENDED NOT TO HEAR. I DID NOTICE THAT BOTH MEN WERE ARMED WITH UZI SUBMACHINE GUNS.

AFTER A FIFTEEN-MINUTE DRIVE THROUGH THE HEAVY EARLY MORNING BUENOS AIRES TRAFFIC, WE ARRIVED AT THE “BUSINESS SIDE” OF JORGE NEWBERY AIRFIELD, WHICH ABUTS THE RIVER PLATE.

THIS REPORTER WAS DRIVEN TO THE SIDE OF A GULFSTREAM V AIRCRAFT.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL ¦¦¦¦¦¦, A TALL, GOOD-LOOKING MAN IN HIS LATE THIRTIES OR EARLY FORTIES, CAME DOWN THE STAIR-DOOR STEPS AND GAVE ME HIS HAND.

“HELLO, ROSCOE,” HE SAID. “PLEASE GET ABOARD.”

THIS REPORTER HAD MET COLONEL ¦¦¦¦¦¦ BEFORE, WHEN HE HAD FLOWN INTO ¦¦¦¦¦¦ AIR FORCE BASE AT THE CONTROLS OF A ¦¦¦¦¦¦ AIRCRAFT. THE STORY GOING AROUND AND EMPHATICALLY DENIED BY THE CIA WAS THAT ¦¦¦¦¦¦ HAD STOLEN THE SECRET RUSSIAN AIRPLANE IN ¦¦¦¦¦¦ AND THAT THE CIA HAD PAID HIM ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS FOR IT WHEN HE DELIVERED IT TO THEM.

“What the hell is going on here?” the President said. “If that black box stands for Castillo, what the hell is this? ‘He had flown into Castillo Air Force Base at the controls of a Castillo aircraft he had stolen in Castillo’? Tell me that makes sense!”

“Those redacting remarks, Mr. President,” Secretary Cohen explained, “replace other words that have been obscured. A redacted block has no meaning in and of itself.”

“I think I’m getting it. Bear with me,” the President said, and resumed reading:

THE ENGINES OF THE GULFSTREAM V STARTED AS THE DOOR WAS CLOSING, AND TEN MINUTES LATER WE HAD TAKEN OFF.

AS SOON AS WE REACHED CRUISING ALTITUDE, ¦¦¦¦¦¦ INTRODUCED ME TO THE OTHERS ON BOARD, STARTING WITH HIS FIANCÉE ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦, A REDHEADED BEAUTY ALLEGED — SHE REFUSES TO CONFIRM OR DENY — TO HAVE EXTENSIVE INTELLIGENCE EXPERIENCE.

“I think I’m getting this,” the President announced. “He crossed out the name of his girlfriend, the Russian spy, right?”

“‘Redacted’ it, sir,” Robin Hoboken said.

“Why the hell can’t we just say ‘crossed out’?”

“If that is your pleasure, sir, we certainly will,” Robin Hoboken said.

The President resumed reading, this time finishing the report before saying anything else.

ALSO ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT WERE LIEUTENANT COLONEL ¦¦¦¦¦¦, JR., WHOM THIS REPORTER KNEW TO BE THE SON OF GENERAL ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦, SR., WHOM THIS REPORTER HAS DESCRIBED AS THE “MOST IMPORTANT ¦¦¦¦¦¦ IN THE U.S. ARMY”; ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦, A LEGENDARY SPECIAL OPERATOR RUMORED TO HEAD THE TOP SECRET DELTA FORCE UNIT IN FORT BRAGG, N.C.; FORMER MARINE GUNNERY SERGEANT ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦, A SNIPER WHO DOUBLES AS ¦¦¦¦¦¦ BODYGUARD; CWO(5) ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦ AND COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦, BOTH RETIRED MEMBERS OF DELTA FORCE; FIRST LIEUTENANT ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦, KNOWN AS “¦¦¦¦¦¦” MAKING REFERENCE TO ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ WHILE A GREEN BERET; ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦, FORMERLY OF THE SECRET SERVICE, AND HIS WIFE, DR. ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦, A PHILOLOGIST.

¦¦¦¦¦¦, ¦¦¦¦¦¦ AND THE ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ARE AFRO-AMERICAN AND ¦¦¦¦¦¦ EXPLAINED THEY WILL FUNCTION PRIMARILY IN SOMALIA, WHERE IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT FOR HIM AND THE OTHERS TO “BLEND INTO THE WOODWORK.”

THE GULFSTREAM AIRCRAFT, CHARTERED WITH ITS CREW FROM PANAMANIAN EXECUTIVE AIRCRAFT IN PANAMA, WAS FLOWN BY COLONEL ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦, USAF, RETIRED, AND MAJOR ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦ JR., RETIRED. ¦¦¦¦¦¦ HAD BEEN WITH ¦¦¦¦¦¦ IN THE SEIZURE OF THE ¦¦¦¦¦¦ AIRCRAFT, AND ¦¦¦¦¦¦ HAD SERVED WITH THE 160TH SPECIAL OPERATIONS AVIATION REGIMENT, INCLUDING SERVICE IN SOMALIA. ¦¦¦¦¦¦ IS AN AFRO-AMERICAN.

THIS WAS THE TEAM ¦¦¦¦¦¦ HAD ASSEMBLED AT THE ORDERS OF PRESIDENT CLENDENNEN TO “PUT A FRESH AND KNOWLEDGEABLE EYE” ON THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS AND THE PIRATES OF SOMALIA.

¦¦¦¦¦¦ TOLD THIS REPORTER WE WERE HEADED FOR MEXICO, AND WOULD THEN GO TO BUDAPEST, HUNGARY.

EIGHT HOURS AFTER TAKING OFF, WE LANDED IN COZUMEL, MEXICO, WHERE TWO GMC YUKONS WERE WAITING TO TRANSPORT US TO THE FIVE-STAR ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦ BEACH & GOLF RESORT, WHERE WE WERE INSTALLED IN THE 24TH FLOOR IMPERIAL PENTHOUSE SUITE.

AFTER A GRILLED SEAFOOD DINNER, ¦¦¦¦¦¦, USING A SHORTWAVE RADIO OF A TYPE THIS REPORTER HAD NEVER SEEN, CONTACTED ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦, OF THE POLICIA FEDERAL, WHOM HE DESCRIBED AS THE “ONLY HONEST COP IN MEXICO.” FOLLOWING A BRIEF CONVERSATION, ¦¦¦¦¦¦ SAID THAT ¦¦¦¦ WOULD COME TO THE HOTEL FIRST THING TOMORROW MORNING.