The Hunters (Presidential Agent 3)

“Yes, I do,” Darby said. “He’s Betsy Masterson’s brother. Where did you get this?”

“Artigas,” McGrory ordered.

“Yes, sir. It’s from an estancia called Shangri-La in Tacuarembó. I was taken there by an officer of the Interior Police Division of the Uruguayan Policía Nacional.”

“Why did he do that?” Darby asked.

“I now believe it was because a Uruguayan police officer on the scene recognized Mr. Masterson,” Artigas said. “The photo was in a scrapbook at the scene.”

“You’ve used the word ‘scene’ twice,” Darby said. “Is there an implication that something had happened at this estancia, that it was, maybe, a crime scene?”

“That’s something of an understatement, Darby,” McGrory said. “According to Artigas, there were seven bodies at that estancia.”

“Seven bodies?” Darby asked. “Seven bodies?”

“Seven bodies, including that of the man in the photograph,” McGrory said. “All shot to death.”

“And who were the others?” Darby asked.

Artigas saw that Darby was looking at Howell. The hair on Artigas’s neck curled.

“That seems to be the mystery,” McGrory said.

“You don’t know who they are?” Darby asked.

“According to Artigas, none of them had any identification on them, and they were all dressed in black.”

“Really?” Darby said and looked at Howell again—not for long, but long enough for Artigas to see it. “That sounds like something from a James Bond movie.”

“Or a Ninja movie,” Howell said. “All dressed in black.”

“Well, who shot them?” Darby asked.

“No one seems to have any idea,” Artigas said.

“No one seems to have any idea?” Darby parroted, incredulously.

Artigas suddenly had a number of thoughts, one right after the other:

You know all about this, don’t you, Mr. Darby?

Did Howell call you last night, after McGrory told Howell?

The CIA sticks together?

Jesus, did Howell know about this before McGrory told him?

Did they both know about it?

Were they both involved?

You’re letting your imagination run away with you, Julio!

You’ve seen too many spy movies—bad spy movies.

Yeah. But you always were a good interrogator, able to pick up things like the looks between Darby and Howell.

What the hell is going on here?