The Hostage (Presidential Agent 2)

"Painfully," Darby chuckled.

"Joel said you were really a hardnose," Santini said. "You did very well in here just now, Ace."

"I wish I thought so."

"I thought so, too," Ambassador Silvio said. "I did wonder, however, why you claimed my decision not to go for extradition as your own?"

"We had a saying in Afghanistan, sir, when we did something we suspected might get us in hot water. 'Screw it. What are they going to do, send me to Afghanistan?'"

Silvio chuckled.

"There's also an expression, 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.' But that was gracious of you, Mr. Castillo. I'm grateful."

"Sir, do you think you could bring yourself to call me 'Charley'?"

"Of course. Thank you. My first name is Juan. My friends usually call me John."

"My real first name is Carlos, sir, and with your permission, I will continue to call you 'sir' and 'Mr. Ambassador. '"

"Charley, who are these two agents they're sending down?" Santini asked.

"They're both ex-Philadelphia cops. We worked with them when we were looking for the 727. The lady was a sergeant in intelligence, and the guy worked deep cover for years for counterterrorism. Hall was impressed with both of them, and told Joel to recruit them. Joel just got them out of the training academy early to work in Hall's office. So they were available."

"What are you going to do with them?"

Well, as far as the sergeant is concerned, I am going to look passionately into her beautiful eyes and get as much cabernet sauvignon down her lovely throat as possible.

"This is why I asked you to stay, Mr. Ambassador," Castillo said. "Alex, I was at the hospital when you and Lowery were talking with her-"

"Munz told me you were there," Darby interrupted.

"-and I had the feeling, Alex, that you weren't getting the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but."

Darby's eyes first registered surprise, and then hardened.

"Charley, she was coming out of the drug; she didn't know what she was saying."

"She knew enough to be very concerned about her kids," Castillo said. "But when it came to any detail of her abduction, she drew a blank. Not a partial blank, Alex, a blanket blank."

"That was not the feeling I had," Darby said.

"Well, what we're going to do now is go over to the hospital so that you-and if you can spare the time, Mr. Ambassador, you, too-can introduce her to Tony and me. At which time, Tony will ask her what happened, and what she remembers."

Darby shook his head.

"Why would she lie? About what?" he asked.

"I think Mr. Cast-Charley-is suggesting that her abductors told her to tell you-us-as little as possible, and threatened her," Silvio said.

"Yes, sir," Castillo said. "And we need all the information we can get."

"After they blew Jack away," Darby pursued, "it seems to me she would want to tell us anything we wanted to know."

"Unless they threatened her children," Castillo said. "If they were willing to blow her husband away, she knew they'd be willing to hurt the kids. Kill the kids. Or maybe her family. Her father and the brother."

"I think you're really reaching, Charley," Darby said.

"What brother?" Santini asked.