"No, sir."
"But you will tell me, right, why you need him when we have our chat?"
"Yes, sir. Of course."
"At the risk of repeating myself, let's have that chat as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir."
"Anything else, Charley?"
"No, sir."
"Nice to talk to you," Montvale said and hung up. "White House."
"I need to speak with Mr. Otto Gorner in Fulda, Germany," Castillo said. "The number is…" "Otto Gorner," Gorner's voice came over the phone.
"This is the White House calling, Herr Gorner," the operator said, in German. "Will you hold please for Colonel Castillo?
"Colonel, this line is not, repeat, not secure."
"I understand. Thank you," Castillo said. "Wie gehts, Otto?" Otto Gorner was not at all happy to be reminded that Kocian needed protection at all and that Castillo wanted to get at least part of it from the Argentine SIDE.
"You know what happened in Budapest, Otto," Castillo said. "Even without involving the Argentines, he's safer here than he would be there."
"And you trust the Argentines?"
"I trust them to act in their best interests. Keeping Eric safe is in their best interests. And I'll have people-good people-on him as well."
It was a moment before Gorner responded. "I'll call as soon as we hang up."
"I'll keep you posted," Castillo said.
"Yes, of course you will," Gorner said and hung up.
Castillo turned to Alex Darby.
"The next call is the local one," he said. "Will you call the embassy switchboard and get the operator to block the caller ID?"
Darby nodded, took out his cellular, and punched an autodial button.
"This is Darby," he announced. "In the next thirty seconds or so, there will be a secure call from Colonel Castillo from the White House. He will give you a local number to call. Block the embassy's caller ID." He paused. "Yes, I understand that from our switchboard the call here will not be secure."
He broke the connection and looked at Castillo. "Done."
"Go kick the ball for Max, Alex, and take Susanna with you, please." He looked at Kensington. "You stay, Bob, but go deaf."
"Yes, sir."
Darby and Susanna walked out of the quincho.
"Okay, Bob," Castillo ordered, motioning with the handset, "get me the embassy on here." "?Hola?"
The male voice answering Pevsner's home telephone did so in Spanish, but the thick Russian accent was apparent in the pronunciation of the one word. Castillo thought it was probably the gorilla who had followed Pevsner into the men's room at the service station.
"Let me speak to Mr. Pevsner, please," Castillo said, politely, in Russian.
"There is no one here by that name."
"Tell him Herr Gossinger is calling and get him on the line," Castillo ordered, nastily.
There was no reply, but twenty seconds later Aleksandr Pevsner came on the line.
"Guten Morgen, Herr Gossinger," he said.
"Did Alfredo get the pancake flour and maple syrup to you all right, Alek?"
"Yes, he did, and thank you very much. But why do I suspect that isn't the purpose of this call?"
"Paranoia?" Castillo asked, innocently.
It was a moment before Pevsner replied, a chuckle in his voice. "Do you know how many people dare to mock me, friend Charley?"
"Only your friends. And I don't suppose there are many of those, are there?"
"Or insult me?" Pevsner asked.
"Probably about the same number," Castillo said, solemnly.
"When was the last time you saw Alfredo?"
"When I gave him the syrup and flour. Paranoia makes me wonder if that question implies more than idle curiosity?"
"He seems to have disappeared," Pevsner said. "I'm concerned."
That sounded sincere.
"Have you asked Howard Kennedy?"
"Kennedy's the one who told me. He can't find him. Or his wife and daughters."
I am going to have to resist a strong temptation to trust him-and not tell him not to worry.
"Jesus H. Christ!" Castillo said, hoping he sounded concerned and angry. "What the hell would your friends want with Munz?"
"What friends would those be, Charley?"
"You know goddamned well what friends. The ones who tried to whack me in Budapest and tried to kidnap and/or whack one of my men in Montevideo."
"If my friends had tried to whack you, Charley, we wouldn't be talking," Pevsner said, matter-of-factly. "Other people-not my friends-might be interested in what Munz knows about that missing money in Uruguay."
"Why don't you have Howard tell the other people that I have it?"
"That presumes Howard-and, for that matter, me-know who the other people are."
"Yes, it does. I hope Howard has relayed my message that anything done to Eric Kocian I will take personally."
Pevsner didn't reply.
"Since you brought it up, Alek," Castillo pursued, "that's the real reason I called. Has Howard relayed it?"
There was a brief hesitation as Pevsner carefully framed his reply. "I believe Howard has spoken to some people who may know some other people."
"Well, tell him to speak to them again and this time tell them I'll take anything that happens to Alfredo or his family just as personally as I would anything that happens to Kocian."
"Why are you so concerned about Munz? Does he know something you don't want other people to know?"
"You sonofabitch! I'm concerned because he's a friend of mine. For Christ's sake, he took a bullet for me! We apparently define the word 'friend' differently!"
"'Sonofabitch'?" Pevsner parroted, coolly. "It's a good thing you're a soldier, friend Colonel Charley. Soldiers swear. Otherwise, I would really take offense at that."
"Would it break your heart to hear that I hope you did?"
"No," Pevsner said, chuckling. "Not at all. Would you be surprised if I told you you're wrong? That I think we both define 'friend' the same way?"
"Yeah, it would."
"Alfredo Munz is a good man. He has become almost as close a friend of mine as Howard is. I trust him as I do Howard. He worked well for me. I try very hard to take care of my friends. As you do, Charley." He paused, then went on: "If anything happens to my friend Munz or his family, then I would take it personally."
I'll be a sonofabitch if I don't believe him!
"Maybe you better tell Howard to tell some friends who may know some other friends that you feel that way, Alek."
"I have," Pevsner said, simply.
"I'm on my way to the States," Castillo said. "If you hear anything, let me know. Howard always seems to be able to find me."
"Is your friend Kocian going with you?"
"So long, Alek. Always nice to talk to you."
Because of the complex connection, there was no easy way to hang up. All Castillo could do was cover the receiver with his hand and hope that Pevsner would become impatient and hang up before the White House or embassy switchboard operators came on the line.
He was lucky. He first heard Pevsner swear, then the sound of Pevsner slamming his handset into its cradle three seconds before the White House switchboard operator asked, "Are you through, Colonel?" "Mr. Alicia Castillo, please. The White House is calling."
"This is Alicia Castillo."
"One moment, please…
"Colonel Castillo, this line is not secure. Your party is on the line."
"Thank you, I understand," Castillo said, then asked, "Abuela?"
"I'm very impressed, Carlos. Or should I call you 'Colonel'? It's been a long time since I had a call from the White House."
"Don't be."
"Are you all right? Is Fernando with you?"
"We're both fine. He's getting the airplane ready. We're about to leave Buenos Aires for home."
"By home you mean San Antonio?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"How long can you stay?"
"Just long enough to drop Fernando off. Then, via Midland, I'm headed for Washington."
"And you can't-or won't-tell me about Midland?"
"The same people who murdered Mr. Masterson have threatened the family of a man who works with me. An Argentine. We're bringing them with us to protect them until we get this mess straightened out. That's why I don't want you anywhere near the Double-Bar-C."