"Ma'am," Bradley said politely.
"Semper Fi, Les," Fernando said.
"I told you to be quiet," Dona Alicia said. "What can we do for you, Lester?"
Bradley turned to Svetlana.
"Colonel, do you know where the colonel is?"
"What did he call her? 'Colonel'?" Maria said.
"The colonel is looking for his goddamn bathrobe, that's where he is," Castillo called from the corridor, and then came into the kitchen, buttoning the shirt he'd worn the previous day. Its tail covered--mostly--his undershorts.
Svetland pulled the robe tighter around her as she crossed her arms. "Oops!"
"Surprise, surprise, Casanova," Fernando said.
Bradley said, "Sir, Mr. D'Allessando's on the AFC. He says it's important."
"Stall him for a couple of minutes, Les."
"Yes, sir."
Lester quickly disappeared from the room.
"I didn't know you were here, Abuela," Castillo said.
"We sort of guessed that," Maria said.
"Or you," Castillo added.
"We were just having a nice chat with Svetlana, Carlos dear," Dona Alicia said. "Fernando and Maria wer
e nice enough to fly me up here, and now they're about to leave."
"And you're not?" Fernando asked.
"I need to talk to Carlos," Dona Alicia said. "Privately."
Fernando, to no one in particular, said, "That's what she used to say in the old days when the Gringo was caught, so to speak, with his hand in the cookie jar. It means she's about to drag him to the stable and have at him with a quirt."
"I'll have someone drive me home," Dona Alicia said. "You and Maria want to get back to the children, I'm sure."
"I wouldn't think of leaving until I hear how the two colonels met," Maria said. "You're old Army buddies, is that it?"
"Something like that," Castillo said. "I've got a plane here; I'll take Abuela home."
"I saw the Lear in the hangar," Fernando said. "What happened to your G-III?"
"I've got to take that call," Castillo said, avoiding the question. "You're going to have to excuse me."
"May I stay, Carlos?" Dona Alicia asked.
He looked at her for a moment.
"You know you don't have to ask, Abuela," he said finally.
[THREE]