The Outlaws (Presidential Agent 6)

Svetlana then removed any doubt he might have had that there was a certain sexual overtone to her remark by quickly groping him.

It was not to be.

When they got to Penthouse B, they were not alone. Everybody who had been on the plane was with them.

“We had to move some guests,” Alek Pevsner explained. “That shouldn’t take long. I always like to know who’s in the room next to mine.”

“How long is ‘long’?” Castillo asked. “As in ‘shouldn’t take long’?”

Pevsner ignored him and went to the bar and reached for a bottle of bourbon.

Alex Darby opened a sliding glass door and inhaled appreciatively.

“The final death blow to my marriage will come when my wife hears I’m in a penthouse in Cozumel by the Sea,” he announced, “while she is in the snow and slush of Washington, trying to find some roof over her and our abused children.”

“Is that good or bad?” Delchamps asked.

Max pushed Darby out of his way, having seen Penthouse B’s swimming pool, which had obviously been put there for his use. He immediately decided that a quick dip after the long flight was just what he needed.

A Bouvier des Flandres is a large animal and can cause a substantial splash when diving into a pool.

The splash reached Darby.

Everyone laughed.

Pevsner went to a bathroom and returned with a towel for Darby.

By then Max, having enough aquatic activity, had climbed out of the pool and was now standing on the edge of the pool shaking the water from his body. The fur of a Bouvier des Flandres can hold an astonishing amount of water. Pevsner’s shirt and trousers had received a good deal of flying water, and there were drops all over his face, which was now pale with anger and tight-lipped.

Everyone waited for Pevsner’s explosion. When it didn’t come, Castillo poured gasoline on the smoldering embers.

“Well, it was high time you had a bath,” Castillo offered. “And Max was just being helpful.”

Pevsner looked at him and then said, “I have just had a horrible thought.”

“I can’t wait to hear what that is,” Castillo replied.

“Those adorable puppies you gave my Elena and Dmitri’s Sof’ya are going to turn into uncontrollable beasts like that.”

Pevsner took another look at his drenched trousers, and announced, “Believe it or not, this place makes it clear on all the advertising that it is not a pet-friendly hotel.”

“I hear that they make exceptions for friends of the owner,” Castillo said.

“Sometimes the owner is sorry he has certain friends,” Pevsner said as he patted his clothing with a towel.

“Sweaty, I think he means me,” Castillo said. “Say something rude to him.”

“Why doesn’t everybody get out of here so that I can have a shower?” Sweaty said.

“Methinks the lady has carnal desires on our leader’s body,” Delchamps said.

Throwing water on that topic, Pevsner said, “Colonel Torine and the others are on their way from the airport.”

“They just got here?” Castillo asked.

“The manager just told me. I told him to send them here when they arrive,” Pevsner said, and glanced at Svetlana. “While we’re waiting for rooms.”

“Further delaying Svet’s bath and the satisfaction of her other desires,” Tom Barlow said. “Now she will say something rude.”