The Hunters (Presidential Agent 3)

“Why the hurry?”

“Getting him out of here is the best way I can think of to keep him alive.”

“He wouldn’t be safe here?” Fernando asked. “At least for eight hours, so we can get some sleep? Christ, there were half a dozen of what I presume are Hungarian rent-a-cops in the lobby and four more when we got off the elevator.”

“You can sleep as long as you want to and then catch a plane home,” Castillo said. “Jake and I have to get Billy out of Budapest.”

“You really think they’ll try something again?” Torine asked.

“They already did,” Castillo said. “Two of them came in here at half past one.”

“And?” Fernando asked.

“Max woke me up. I took them out.”

“You took them out?” Torine repeated.

Castillo nodded.

“Jesus Christ!” Torine said.

“I didn’t have any choice, Jake.”

“And are there going to be complications from that? The local cops, for example?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Are you all right, Gringo?” Fernando asked.

“I’m fine,” Castillo said and turned to Torine. “If you get the Gulfstream in the air, Jake, I can steer while you take a nap.”

Torine’s face showed he was less than enthusiastic about that idea.

“I wouldn’t ask you to do this unless I thought it was really necessary,” Castillo said.

Torine shrugged.

“I penciled in a flight plan to Buenos Aires on the way over,” he said. “Budapest, Dakar, and across the drink to Recife, Brazil. Then down to Buenos Aires. It’s about six hours fro

m here to Dakar. Figuring two fuel stops at an hour each and fifteen hours in the air, give or take. If we leave here at, say, eight, we should be in Buenos Aires—there’s a four-time-zone difference—we should be in BA before midnight.”

“That’ll work,” Fernando said. “We can take turns sleeping. One of us on one of the couches, the other in the right seat.”

“You’re not going,” Castillo said. “You’re going home, commercial.”

“I’ll go home commercial from Buenos Aires,” Fernando said. “Not open for discussion.”

“Who all’s going,” Torine asked, “besides Kocian?”

“Billy, me, a guy named Sándor Tor, and Max.”

“And Sándor Tor is?” Torine asked.

“Billy’s bodyguard, and a good one.”

“He knows what’s going on?”

Castillo nodded.