"I am also convinced that the arrogant bastard thinks he's got me really scared. Which, as a matter of fact, he does. So we're going to go with exactly that-I'm scared and I'm leaving.
"What we're going to do is load in the van everybody who's going to Uruguay-that's Yung, Leverette, Sparkman, Munz, Torine, Bradley, and me-and have Neidermeyer drive us out to Ezeiza, where we will file a flight plan to Montevideo, then clear immigration and customs, and leave."
Castillo glanced at the others, who would remain at the safe house. Alex Darby, D'Elia, the Sienos, and Lieutenant Lorimer showed no signs of having any problem with that. But Castillo thought he saw questions in Sergeant Mullroney's eyes.
Questions, Castillo thought, that he's learned not to ask, thanks no doubt to our little incident in the mountains outside Vegas.
Maybe he's not completely stupid…
Castillo went on: "I think we can presume Duffy has a car-maybe two-sitting on us at the gate. We are not going to try, a la James Bond, to lose them in traffic. If they can't keep up, much better, but we're not going to look as if we're running away.
"We can also presume that if they have managed to follow us to Ezeiza, they'll follow us inside the terminal and learn what we're doing and tell Duffy. With a little luck, they'll also tell him we haven't tried anything sneaky.
"That'll give him the choice between letting us leave or trying to stop us, and he'll have to make that choice in a hurry. I think he'll decide, 'Okay, good riddance,' possibly because keeping us from leaving might be hard for him to do anyway. If we're brazen, he'll reason that's because we've destroyed everything-the radios, for example-that could get us in trouble. And he doesn't want the stink that would be made if a bunch of American tourists were stopped without cause. So I think we can make it to Uruguay.
"Once we're airborne, we'll call on the radio. If you don't hear from us, or if somebody comes knocking at the door, be ready to use the thermite grenades to torch the radios and anything else that's incriminating."
He looked at everybody and added, "If anybody has any better ideas, I'm wide open."
There was a moment's silence.
"What about Max?" Delchamps asked.
"What about him?"
"If you don't take him, Ace, that might give Duffy the idea you plan to come back. But if you do, what are you going to do with him? How are you going to get him back here from Uruguay? The Gulfstream's going to the States."
Castillo looked down at Max, who was lying with his head between his paws, his big eyes looking up at him.
"Max goes," he said after a moment. "You're right. Duffy would expect me to take him with me if I was leaving."
Did I say that because I believe it? Or because, quite clearly, I just again heard Abuela saying, "You don't even have a dog"-and I don't have the heart to just leave the big sonofabitch here not knowing if I am coming back.
He's saved my life, once for sure in Budapest and probably in the garage of the Sheraton Pilar, and I could hide behind that.
But the truth is, Castillo, that you're a goddamned softie.
You like the way he looks at you with those big, soft eyes.
"Okay, Lieutenant Lorimer, sound 'Boots and Saddles,'" Castillo ordered.
[TWO]
Suite 2152 Radisson Montevideo Victoria Plaza Hotel Plaza Independencia 759 Montevideo, Republica Oriental del Uruguay 1720 9 September 2005 Special Agent David W. Yung was smiling and shaking his head as he watched Jake Torine toss peanuts to Max, who snapped them from the air.
Chief Warrant Officer Five Colin Leverette, holding a bottle of beer, stood up from the minibar, looked at Yung, and announced, "Two-Gun is thinking about sex. He's shaking his head in disbelief and smiling."
"Close," Yung replied. "I'm thinking I can't believe the general manager believed Charley's yarn-'I'm an epileptic and this dog has been trained to alert me when he senses a seizure coming on.'"
"I was counting on him having seen that malady on Fox News," Castillo said, solemnly. "You always have to have an answer prepared, David."
"What our dog lover here was actually counting on working was that hundred-dollar bill he slipped the manager," Torine said.
"Max is up here, isn't he, despite those 'No Pets' signs in three languages on the door?" Castillo said.
"And a good thing for you that he is, Charley," Torine said. "You're going to need him to protect you from that cop when he learns you're back."
The telephone buzzed. Castillo signaled for Yung to pick it up.
"Thank you," Yung said in Spanish into the receiver. "We'll be right down." He hung up, looked at Castillo, and switched back to English: "The car from the embassy is here."
"That was quick," Leverette said.
"The embassy's only a couple of blocks from here," Yung explained, and then added, "Maybe I better take Max with me to protect me from Ambassador McGrory. I don't think he's going to be happy to see me."
"Nonsense," Castillo said. "He'll be thrilled. The secretary of State called him personally to tell him you're coming."
"That's what I mean," Yung said.
"Okay," Castillo said. "You get the keys to your apartment for Jake and Sparkman. And the keys to your car, if that's been fixed. All McGrory has to know about Jake and Sparkman is that they're pilots from the Presidential Flight Detachment, and will be leaving as soon as they get some rest. But tell him that, even if he doesn't ask; he's liable to be impressed with that. And then come back here and let us know how he reacted."
"Yes, sir," Yung said.
Castillo picked up on something in Yung's tone, something just shy of sarcasm.
"Dave," he said, "I learned a long time ago that it's better to piss off one of your guys by telling him again and again how to do something he already knows how to do than to take the chance he misunderstood you. If I didn't think you could handle McGrory, I wouldn't be sending you to the embassy."
Yung met his eyes, then smiled and shrugged.
"Yeah," he said simply.
Castillo raised his right arm and hand in the manner of a priest blessing one of the faithful. "Go forth and do good, Two-Gun," he said solemnly.
Yung smiled, shook his head, and started for the door.
Castillo waited until they had left, then turned to Munz.
"Let's get it over with," he said. "Call Ordonez."
Munz punched an autodial number on his cellular telephone. When it began to ring, Munz pushed the SPEAKER button.
"Ordonez," the familiar voice came over the speaker.
"Alfredo Munz, Jose."
"I've been waiting for your call, my friend."
"We're in the Victoria Plaza. 2152."
"I know. Stay there."
Munz exchanged glances with Castillo, who raised his eyebrows.
"Where are you?" Munz said into the phone.
"Sixty kilometers out of Punta del Este. I should be there in about an hour. Did you hear what I said about staying where you are?"
"Yes."
"That includes Colonel Castillo."
"Understood," Munz said, looking at Castillo again.
"They weren't supposed to permit Castillo or anyone with him to enter the country," Ordonez said. "When I pointed this out to them, they wanted to arrest you. I think I stopped that, but I would not try to leave the hotel."
"Yung and three others were with us; they were just picked up by an American embassy car."
"I know. Stay in the Victoria, Alfredo."
"Very well."
There was a change in the background noise, and Munz pushed the phone's END CALL button.
Munz said, "He apparently meant it when he said, 'Good-bye, and don't come back.' I don't know what to think, Karl."
Castillo silently raised his hands in a gesture of helplessness.
The door chimes sounded pleasantly almost exactly an hour later, and Munz went to the door and opened it.
Uruguayan Policia Nacional Chief Inspector Jose Ordonez, a trim, well-dressed, olive-skinned man in his late thirties, stepped into the room. He was visibly surprised to see Max-who sat with his head cocked, as if making up his mind about the visitor-but Ordonez didn't seem afraid of the dog; he ignored him.