"Moving right along," Castillo said. "While I am figuring out where to get Hueys, and how to get them down there black, I thought I would send Munz, Lorimer, and Mullroney down there right away-"
"I guess I don't get to go?" McGuire interrupted.
"Tom, you'll be more useful in Washington," Castillo said.
"I guess," McGuire said, sounding disappointed.
"But keep your bag packed," Castillo said. He went on: "And on the airplane, if I can keep abusing Frank's generosity, there will be two-preferably three-ground versions of the radios. There's two-old models-down there already, and we're going to need at least two more in Paraguay. Plus, I just thought, operators for same. You'll probably have to stop by Bragg to pick them up, Jake."
"Not a problem," Torine said.
"The ones you have in South America still working?" Casey asked.
"You heard me talk to Argentina yesterday," Castillo said.
Casey nodded, then offered, "I think there's a half-dozen new models waiting to be shipped to Delta, to General McNab, at Bragg-"
"Think about that, Frank," Castillo said, stopping him. "Maybe there's only three waiting to be shipped to General McNab. The other three have mysteriously disappeared. If that was the case, I won't have to get on my knees and beg him for any."
"If he finds out, he's not going to be happy."
"I devoutly hope he never finds out," Castillo said. "But a bird in hand is worth two in the bush." He looked at Lorimer. "You may want to write that down, Lieutenant."
"Yes, sir," Lorimer said, and took a notebook from his pocket and started writing in it.
Torine and McGuire shook their heads. Mullroney appeared to be confused.
Casey chuckled and said, "It'll take me a couple of days to come up with-what did you say, four?-sets of GPS and that many aviation radios, maybe a little longer for them."
"All contributions gratefully-"
"Yeah, yeah," Casey interrupted impatiently.
He took a cellular from his pocket and pushed a speed-dial key.
"Casey," he announced into it. "There's a half-dozen Model 3405s waiting to be shipped to Bragg. Put three of them in the Gulfstream in the hangar."
Then he hung up.
"What are you going to do about the ambassador?" McGuire asked.
"Try to hide from the one in Washington," Castillo replied, "and put the one in Mississippi on hold. What I have to do now is get to Washington."
Mullroney's face showed that he was trying hard to make sense of what had been said and not having much success.
[FOUR]
Double-Bar-C Ranch
Near Midland, Texas 1225 3 September 2005 As Torine lined up with the runway, Castillo saw there was a Bombardier/Learjet 45XR parked beside the horse-head oil pump.
"Look who's here," Castillo said.
"Put the wheels down, First Officer," Torine said. "We can chat later."
Dona Alicia Castillo was again waiting for them, this time beside a Chevrolet Suburban, and this time a heavyset, almost massive dark-skinned man was with her.
Castillo came down the stair door first. He went to his grandmother and kissed her.
"Nice landing, gringo," the large man said. "Jake must have been flying."
Castillo gave him the finger.
Fernando Manuel Lopez and Carlos Guillermo Castillo thought of themselves as brothers-they had been raised together since puberty-but they were in fact first cousins.
"Are you on parole, or are Maria and the rug rats here, too?" Castillo asked.
Dona Alicia shook her head at both of them.
"Now stop it, the both of you, right now," she ordered.
Lopez answered the question anyway.
"They're in Cancun," he said. "Taking a pre-going-back-to-school vacation."
"You are going to have lunch," Dona Alicia said. "That's in the nature of a statement, not an invitation."
"Nevertheless, I gratefully accept, Abuela," Castillo said.
"Eddie," Castillo ordered, "why don't you take Sergeant Mullroney for a walk?"
Lorimer made a Get up, let's go gesture to Mullroney, who stood up and followed Lorimer off the verandah where lunch had been served.
"Presumably, you think you have a good excuse for that discourtesy," Dona Alicia said when they were out of earshot.
"There are some things we have to discuss that are none of his business," Castillo said.
"Then why is he here with you?" she demanded. Before Castillo could reply, she said, "I just saw on Colonel Torine's face that he thinks I'm wrong. Sorry, Carlos."
"I'm the one who should be…is…sorry for involving you in the first place," Castillo said. "If I could have thought of someplace else to take Munz's family, believe me, I would have."
She looked at him for a moment. "Thank you, Carlos."
"For what?"
"For bringing them here. And for not reminding me you tried very hard to keep me from coming here."
He didn't reply.
"What do we have to discuss?" she asked after a moment.
"We're all…Colonel Munz, Tom McGuire, and me…agreed that there's no longer a threat here to Senora Munz and the girls."
"Well, that's good news! Thank God for that."
"So Tom's going to call off the Secret Service," Castillo said. "Which then raises the question what to do with them for the next two, three weeks, however long it takes to be sure they can safely return to Argentina."
"Why, they'll stay here, of course," she said. "Where else would they go?"
"I hate to ask you to stay with them," Castillo said.
"Don't be silly, Carlos," she said. "I enjoy being with them." She paused. "But…Mr. McGuire?"
"Ma'am, could I get you to call me 'Tom'?"
"Tom, if they would be safe here, would they be safe in San Antonio?"
McGuire considered the question before replying.
"At your home there, you mean?"
She nodded.
"No," Castillo said.
"Actually, Charley, that might be a better solution than leaving them here," McGuire said. "Ma'am, would having a driver for your car raise any eyebrows?"
"Abuela usually has a driver when she goes out at night," Fernando Lopez said. "What are you thinking, Tom?"
"That, to err on the side of caution, instead of just canceling the protection detail, I have it cut from what we have here now…twelve, probably?"
"So Mr. Alvarez told me," Dona Alicia said.
"If it's been a twelve-man detail," McGuire said, "that means there were at any given moment three agents on the job, which means that nine agents were lying around the swimming pool at the local motel, or drinking coffee in the snack bar, with people starting to wonder aloud who were all these guys in suits with guns and Yukons."
McGuire looked at Castillo.
"And we're agreed, Charley, that the threat is almost certainly gone, right?"
Castillo nodded reluctantly.
"So we call off the detail here completely, and we set up a three-man detail in San Antonio. Which means one will be available at all times to do the job when necessary-whenever they leave the house, in other words, they have an agent with them. If we call off the detail here, that means no agents, period. And Alvarez can have a word with the San Antonio cops to keep their eyes open. What's wrong with that, Charley?"
Dona Alicia did not give him a chance to answer.
"That's what we'll do," she said. "And I'll have a little party or two for the girls, so they can meet people their own age. They're already bored being here, and I can't say that I blame them."
"I think we should leave it up to Munz," Castillo said.
"I think we should, too, Chief," McGuire said. "Want to know why?"
"Why?"
"Alfredo has a lot of protection experience. Like I do. Who do you think he's going to agree with, you or me?"
"I guess we'll have to see," Castillo said, a little lamely.
"Carlos, I suppose it's important that Colonel Munz go to South America right away?" Dona Alicia asked.
"I'm afraid so, Abuela. And that means right now. I'm sitting here wondering if I can work up the courage to tell him it's time to go."