Black Ops (Presidential Agent 5)

"Somebody had already whacked Kennedy when you got here, right?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. Pevsner decided that being raped on a regularly scheduled basis was not sufficient punishment for Howard having taken Pevsner's money and then betrayed him. When we got to the Conrad, which essentially is the Caesars Palace of Punta del Este, it looked like every cop in Uruguay was there.

"There's a Uruguayan cop--the chief inspector of the Uruguayan Policia Nacional, one Jose Ordonez--who also doesn't like me, by the way. I hope not to see him--"

"Charley, I've never been able to understand why so few people actually do like you."

Miller then pointed out the cockpit window.

The FOLLOW ME truck had stopped, and the driver and another man were getting out.

"Finally," Castillo said. "I thought he was taxiing us back to Montevideo."

They were wanded into a parking space, and they shut down the aircraft. Miller unfastened his harness.

"Hold it a second. Let me finish," Castillo said.

"Okay."

"Ordonez was in the lobby of the Conrad when we walked in. He took us to one of the better suites, where taped to two chairs were the bodies of Howard Kennedy and a guy who Delchamps recognized as Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Zhdankov of Putin's Service for the Protection of the Constitutional System and the Fight Against Terrorism. Taped because they had been beaten to death. Slowly, with what in Chief Inspector Ordonez's professional opinion was an angle iron. They started by smashing fingers and toes, then worked up to the larger parts. It was pretty gruesome."

"I wonder what your good buddy Pevsner would do to some guy who didn't do right by his cousin?" Miller asked lightly.

Castillo shook his head. "Not a problem, my friend, because that's not going to happen."

"I remember you telling me something in those exact words before. Actually, on several occasions. The first was years ago in that motel in Daleville, when you were contemplating nailing the deputy post commander's daughter. . . ."

Where the hell did that come from? Castillo thought.

He said: "That's a long time ago. This is now."

Miller shrugged.

"Cutting this short," Castillo went on, "Ordonez has twice told me I'm not welcome in Uruguay. The day we found Kennedy and Zhdankov, he told me to get out and stay out. And he told me again the time I used Shangri-La as a refueling point when we flew those black choppers off the Gipper. He sees me causing trouble for Uruguay."

"But he took the helicopters, right, when you were through with them?"

"Not the way you make it sound, Dick. He's a good guy, ethical, but not bribable."

"Really?" Miller replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, really," Castillo said angrily. "The point of this little lecture is that I want to pass through Punta del Este as quietly as possible. I do not want to have Ordonez adding to our problems."

"As quietly and inconspicuously as possible, right?"

"Right."

"That may be just a little difficult, the inconspicuous part."

He pointed out the cockpit window again.

A glistening white Lincoln stretch limousine had driven up beside the Gulfstream.

"That's a mistake; that can't be for us," Castillo said. "What that looks like is the Conrad Resort & Casino meeting a Brazilian high-roller."

Miller chuckled.

The liveried chauffeur got from behind the limousine wheel and opened the passenger door. An elegantly dressed man got out and with a welcoming smile waved at the airplane.