Black Ops (Presidential Agent 5)

"I don't like to fly, period. And the dogs have suffered enough from the miracle of travel by air."

"And have you a suggestion about what I should do with the airplane?"

"Aside from the scatological one that leaps to mind, you mean?" Kocian asked innocently, looked smugly around the room, then went on: "Jacob and Richard can fly the others to Schwechat, go to their hotel, the Bristol, and wait for us. Unless, of course, we get there before they do, which is a possibility. As soon as I have another little taste of the Slivovitz, I shall get on the telephone and ask Frau Schroeder to get us on the train." He looked at Davidson. "And, Jack, I will call the manager of the Bristol, a friend of mine, to beg him not to put you and your friends in those terrible rooms he reserves for you Americans."

Davidson laughed appreciatively, but said, "I'll be going with you on the train, Billy. I'll need a room where Charley's staying."

Kocian made a face no one would confuse with being friendly. "At the risk of sounding rude, Jack, I don't recall inviting you to go along."

"You didn't have to. McNab did."

Castillo chuckled.

"Who is McMad?" Kocian demanded.

"McNab. And if I told you, I'd have to kill you," Davidson said.

Torine and Delchamps chuckled. Kocian glared at them.

"Think of him as Charley's fairy godfather, Billy," Delchamps offered.

"That," Davidson put in, "is a very dangerous choice of words."

"Yes, it was," Delchamps agreed. "I hastily withdraw that description and replace it with 'Charley's guardian angel.'"

"I thought that the Boy Marine was his guardian angel," David Yung said.

"Corporal Bradley is Charley's guardian cherub, Two-Gun," Torine went on. "General McNab is Charley's guardian angel."

Everybody laughed.

"Another very dangerous choice of words, Colonel," Davidson said.

"But, oh, how appropriate!" Delchamps said. "Charley's Cherub!"

"You do have a death wish, Edgar," Davidson said. "If Bradley hears that you called him that, you'll have one--probably two or more--Aleksandr Pevsner Indian beauty spots on your forehead."

"I have no idea what any of you lunatics are talking about," Kocian said.

Davidson took pity on him.

"Billy, General Bruce J. McNab," he explained, "is who I work for. When he sent me to work with Charley, his orders were to keep Charley out of trouble and never let him out of my sight. I hear and I obey. It's not open for discussion."

Kocian looked at Castillo, who nodded.

"Jack goes," Castillo said. "Jake, any problem about taking the Gulfstream to Vienna?"

"Not today. I've been--I am--tippling. But if I get to the airport by noon, I can probably be in Vienna about the time you get there. Unless the weather really gets bad, of course."

Castillo turned to Inspector John "Jack" Doherty.

"Jack, any reason for the FBI--you and/or Two-Gun--to stick around here?"

"The guy from the Bundeskriminalamt showed us what they had, and what the local cops had. Conclusion--mine and Two-Gun's--is that it was a professional hit by people--probably ex-Stasi--who knew what they were doing and who now are probably in Russia. He said if anything turned up he'd let Otto know."

"So you guys can go to Vienna with Jake?" Castillo asked.

Doherty nodded.