Black Ops (Presidential Agent 5)

"I'm in a very nice room on the top floor of the Portofino Island Resort & Spa, which is on Pensacola Beach about half an hour from the Pensacola Airport and about thirty miles from Hurlburt."

"It must be nice not to have to worry about living on per diem."

"Yes, sir. It is."

"You have wheels?"

"A small fleet, sir."

"I'm in the Hurlburt O Club. On the beach?"

"Yes, sir. I know where it is."

"The question would then be: Does Phineas know where it is?"

"I'm sure he can find it, sir."

"What kind of wheels?"

"Two Suburbans and a Mustang convertible, sir. A red one."

"The Mustang sounds nice, but I have with me my aide, an old friend of yours and Miller's, and the co-pilot. And, of course, the AFC. I don't think we'd all fit in a Mustang. Send Phineas in one of the Suburbans."

"Old friend"?

Probably Vic D'Allessando.

But more likely somebody from the Aviation School, maybe somebody from the 160th.

"Is putting everybody up going to cause any problems?"

"No, sir. I'm sure they'll be happy to accommodate everybody."

Especially since this place doesn't seem to be turning away people rushing to pay them two hundred and fifty bucks a night minimum.

"Well, make sure."

"Yes, sir. I will. Sir, if DeWitt leaves now, he can be there in, say, thirty-five, forty minutes."

"Does this Porto Whatever Resort & Spa have a restaurant? One I can afford?"

"Sir, you will be an honored guest of the Lorimer Fund."

"We didn't have any lunch, and until seventeen hundred, all the O Club has to offer is stale peanuts and even more stale popcorn."

A wild hair popped into Castillo's mind. He considered it briefly.

Well, why the hell not?

He's a general officer and a gentleman.

He's not going to throw one of his celebrated tantrums in McGuire's.

"General, there's a great steak house in Pensacola called McGuire's. We need to eat, too. May I suggest you have DeWitt take you there directly? And then we can come to the hotel."

"I know McGuire's," General McNab said. "Every once in a great while, Colonel, you have a decent idea. This one, however, is an excellent one. We'll see you at McGuire's when we get there. McNab out."

[EIGHT]