The Hostage (Presidential Agent 2)

All of this while simultaneously spelling Daniel T. Westerly's name phonetically to Howard Kennedy for the third or fourth time, and being very much aware that Special Agent Schneider filled out both her sweater and her blue jeans in an incredibly delightful way. She wasn't wearing makeup, not even lipstick, and Castillo thought she looked fine without it.

Kennedy finally could hear Westerly's name spelled out phonetically.

"Westerly. Okay. He's a fingerprint guy. Damned good at it, too. He once lifted two eight-point digits from a used condom."

"That's it, Howard, that's the last of the names."

"All of them are on the major crimes team."

"Should any of them be of special interest to me?"

"No. Yung's the one who interests me. Watch yourself with him, Charley."

"I will. And you will inquire about Mr. Lorimer for me, right? Just as soon as you get where you're going?"

"The way it's raining, Charley, I may never get out of here."

That's two-no, four-sentences that came through intact.

"Howard, I like you. I'm going to make the rain stop."

"What?"

"Trust me, Howard, in ten minutes, fifteen tops, it will stop raining. I have issued the order. Have a nice flight, and remember to call."

He pushed the END button and laid down the cellular. "What was that all about?" Special Agent Schneider asked.

"Not that I'm not delighted to see you, but I thought women took longer to shower and dress than men."

"That means you're not going to tell me, right?" Betty replied. "To answer the second question, Jack's calling his wife."

"You really don't want to know," Castillo said.

She raised her glass of bourbon.

"You're not drinking?"

"I'm going to have the wine."

"On your good behavior, are you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"This quote room unquote looks like a set for a movie," she said. "And mine's not exactly a slum, either. The whole bathroom is marble. Which raises the question, how do we pay for all this?"

"Wait until you see the view," he said and went to the windows and found the switch for the opening mechanism.

"That's beautiful!" she said and walked and stood beside him. "But it doesn't answer the question about the bill."

"When we get back to Washington, Agnes-Mrs. Forbison, who runs things in the Nebraska complex- will show you how to fill out the forms for travel expenses outside the country. When you get the check, sign it over to me."

"What I think that means is that you intend to pick up the difference between what the Secret Service will pay and what you will."

"I wanted to keep you and Jack separate from the FBI," Castillo said. "This is the only answer I could come up with on short notice."

The chimes bonged again.

This time it was Jack Britton and two waiters pushing two room-service carts loaded with food covered by stainless-steel domes. Britton was wearing a sports jacket, slacks, and a shirt and tie.