Black Ops (Presidential Agent 5)

"I'm Alicia Castillo, my dear. Carlos's grandmother."

Svetlana said nothing.

Dona Alicia gestured. "And this is my other grandson, Fernando, and his wife, Maria."

"You talked to Randy?" Svetlana suddenly said.

"As soon as he got back to Fort Rucker, he called me. He was quite excited to report that Carlos 'has a girlfriend. A real looker.' "

Svetlana said nothing.

"He said your name was Svetlana--what a pretty name!--and he told me that my grandson was no longer alone, and wasn't that great?"

"Randy is a nice boy, a very nice boy," Svetlana said. "And you're his great-grandmother?"

"He calls me Abuela."

Svetlana sighed. "The bull is out of the pen, or whatever Carlos is always saying. I stupidly let it out when I met Randy. But now that I think about it, I am glad that I did."

"The cow is out of the barn?" Fernando said.

"Yes," Svetlana said.

"Randy knows?" Fernando pursued.

Svetlana nodded.

"Oh, my," Dona Alicia said. "How did that go?"

"Very well. They had a long talk, and agreed to keep the secret."

Fernando grunted. "It was bound to come out. It's hardly going to be a 'secret' long."

"Goddamn you, Fernando," Maria said furiously. "I knew it all along, and you kept saying I had a dirty, suspicious mind."

"Where is the Gringo?" Fernando asked.

"Fernando!" Dona Alicia said warningly.

"Who?" Svetlana asked.

"Carlos Guillermo Castillo, or Karl Wilhelm von und zu Gossinger, or whatever name he's using today."

"I let him sleep; he was exhausted."

"I can imagine," Maria said with a knowing look, then sipped her coffee.

Svetlana shrugged. "I guess that bull is out of the barn, too."

"Is Estella aware of the sleeping arrangements?" Fernando asked.

Svetlana nodded.

He looked at Dona Alicia and grinned. "Well, that explains the missing housekeeper, doesn't it, Abuela? She heard us land, saw you get off the plane, and decided that anywhere else would be the safest place to be."

The kitchen door opened again. Corporal Lester Bradley, USMC, walked in. "Well, the Marines have landed," Fernando said, "but I don't think the situation is well in hand."

"Be quiet, Fernando," Dona Alicia said. "Hello, Lester."