Black Ops (Presidential Agent 5)

Who the hell is Holy John whatever she said?

"Would you like me to . . . uh?" Castillo asked, pointing to the bathroom door.

"This concerns you, too, Charley," Anna said.

Svetlana nodded to confirm this.

"Then somebody please tell me about Holy John," Castillo said.

"You are a Christian, Charley?" Anna asked.

"I don't think I'm in particularly good standing."

"I'm sorry," Anna said.

"I will fix that," Svetlana said.

"What about Holy John Whatever?"

"Holy John Chrysostom said one must avoid . . ." Anna began.

"What he said was one must certainly avoid judging or condemning one's brother or sister," Svetlana corrected her. "Certainly avoid."

"And that's what I'm trying to do. If you want to . . . be intimate . . . with a man not your husband, that's between you, God, and Evgeny."

"Between me and God, certainly. It's none of Evgeny's business."

"Evgeny's your husband."

"Was my husband. If he's still alive, he's trying to find me so he can kill me."

"He is still your husband," Anna insisted.

You didn't challenge that "he's trying to find me so he can kill me," though, did you, Anna?

"No, he's not. I left his bed four years ago."

Four years ago?

"You can't break the covenant."

"I did. And you know that the Holy John Chrysostom wrote that it's 'better to break the covenant than to lose one's soul.' "

"That's between you and the Lord."

"Yes, it is. And as far as my Charley is concerned, I'll go with what Saint Paul said in First Corinthians."

"That's up to you."

"I'm a little rusty about First Corinthians," Castillo said. "What exactly did Saint Paul say?"

Anna looked uncomfortable. Svetlana blushed.

"Well?" Castillo pursued.

"Why not? You know anyway. 'If they cannot control themselves, they should marry.' The moment I saw you on the train, I knew I was through controlling myself."

"Saint Paul said that about the unmarried and widows," Anna said.