The Outlaws (Presidential Agent 6)

“Please accept my apologies for the misunderstanding down there,” Héctor García-Romero said, and then he took a closer look at Castillo.

“Holy Mother of God, is that really you, Carlitos?”

“It’s been a long time, Tío Héctor,” Castillo said.

“What did you call him?” Svetlana asked.

“Carlitos,” Héctor García-Romero said. “It means ‘Little Carlos.’”

“That’s sweet!” Svetlana said.

“I have known him since he was this tall,” García-Romero said, holding his hand flat a few inches below the level of his shoulder. “You were what, Carlitos, eleven?”

“Twelve,” Castillo said.

“I saw Doña Alicia ten days ago in San Antonio,” García-Romero said. “She said you were in Hungary with Billy Kocian.”

“I was.”

And now we’re both in the VIP Lounge of Drug Cartel International Airport in the middle of the Mexican desert.

What the hell are you doing here, Tío Héctor?

“I had no idea you knew Señor Pevsner,” García-Romero said.

“Likewise,” Castillo said. “And I’ve been wondering what sort of business you do together.”

“Carlitos’s grandfather was one of my dearest friends,” García-Romero said. “If he had one flaw, it was his habit of asking indelicate questions. Carlitos has apparently inherited that, along with his more desirable character traits.”

“Why don’t you answer the indelicate question?” Castillo asked.

“Why don’t we a

ll go sit in the great room, have a little snack, and a little something to drink, and then we can sort this out?” García-Romero said, and waved them into the house.

An elaborate buffet had been laid out on an enormous low table. Silver coolers held wine, champagne, and beer bottles, and there was an array of whisky bottles at the end of the table.

Max went immediately to examine them, and with great delicacy, helped himself to a wafer topped with salami and cheese. And then helped himself to another.

“I thought Doña Alicia was exaggerating when she told me how big your dog is,” García-Romero said.

“And what did Doña Alicia tell you about me?” Svetlana asked.

“That Carlitos had brought a girl to the Double-Bar-C Ranch she really hoped would be the one with whom he would finally settle down and start a family.”

“That’s the plan,” Svetlana said.

“And that’s about all she told me,” García-Romero said.

“Héctor,” Pevsner said, “Svetlana and I are cousins.”

“And this gentleman?” García-Romero asked, indicating Tom Barlow.

“Dmitri and Svetlana are brother and sister,” Pevsner said.

“And Carlitos fits in how?”

“We think of him as family,” Pevsner said.