The Hostage Part 29

Well, if the President had thought about it, he would have.

"That's very kind of him," Mrs. Masterson said. She did not offer her hand and her smile was visibly an effort.

"And if I may, I would like to offer my own condolences."

When there was no response to this except the frozen smile, Castillo went on, "My orders, ma'am, are first to absolutely guarantee your safety, and that of your children, and then to get you to the United States just as quickly and as safely as possible."

The smile remained fixed, and she said nothing.

"Has Amba.s.sador Silvio told you that Mr. Santini has many years' experience on the Secret Service Presidential Protection Detail?"

"Yes, he has."

"And the Argentine authorities have provided us with some of their very best men to help Mr. Santini."

"So the amba.s.sador has told me."

"We hope to have word very soon about the arrival of the aircraft the President has sent down here. One of them is a transport, which will carry you and your family to the United States just as soon as you feel up to it, and the other is bringing both a team of FBI experts to a.s.sist in the investigation, and two Secret Service agents for your protection detail. One of them is a female agent."

Mrs. Masterson nodded.

"I'm very much aware, Mrs. Masterson, that this is a difficult time for you . . ."

Mrs. Masterson snorted.

". . . but I hope you'll understand that certain plans have to be made."

"Such as?"

"Where in the United States would you like to go?"

"Keesler," she said. "Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi is closest to Jack's parents' home. In Pa.s.s Christian."

"Pa.s.s Chris-tee-ann"? That's the French p.r.o.nunciation. And while I'm on that subject . . . what about her brother, who's supposed to be in France?

"Is there someone there, in Pa.s.s Christian, who we can contact? Your father?"

"My father lives in Metairie-New Orleans. And he has a heart condition. My father-in-law lives in Pa.s.s Christian. I really think he'd be the man to break this to my father. I was just talking about that, frankly, with Mrs. Silvio when you came in, Mr. Castillo. She's going to call Jack's father, or the amba.s.sador is, just as soon as they can get to a phone. I hope they can get through to him before he sees it on CNN or Fox. And then I'll call him, of course, when they let me out of here."

"Have they told you when that's going to be?"

"They want to keep me overnight for observation," she said, then turned to the amba.s.sador. "Juan, can't you do something about that? I want to be with the children."

"I understand," Silvio said. "But they really want to look for signs of whatever that drug might have done to you. If you'd like, we can bring the kids here to see you."

"No. I don't want them to see me like this. They're better off with Julia."

Julia, presumably, is Darby's wife.

"They're in school now?" Castillo asked.

"Their father has just been murdered," she snapped. "Of course they're not in school."

"Forgive me," Castillo said.

Then the other woman is Lowery's wife; Darby's wife- Julia, the old friend of the family-is with the kids.

"Is there anyone else, ma'am, that we should contact?"

"No. I'll notify everyone just as soon as I'm out of here."

That "no" came really quick. Wouldn't she want to tell her brother, even if he didn't get along with her husband?

"Mrs. Masterson, I won't intrude on your grief anymore. If there's anything you need, all you'll have to do is tell Mr. Santini."

"Thank you."

Castillo nodded at the people in the room and walked out.

He had taken half a dozen steps to the elevator when Amba.s.sador Silvio caught up with him. Santini was on the amba.s.sador's heels.

"I'm forced to agree with you, Mr. Cas-Charley," Silvio said. "She's concealing something."

"I got nowhere with her, either," Santini said.

"Mr. Amba.s.sador, she didn't even mention her brother," Castillo said. "Would you be willing to try to get him on the telephone?"

"I thought that was odd, too," Silvio agreed. "I'll put a call in to him just as soon as I get back to the emba.s.sy. Where will you be?"

"At the emba.s.sy, sir. I want to get the ETAs of the airplanes."

"Then I'll see you there."

[EIGHT].

The United States Emba.s.sy Avenida Colombia 4300 Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1450 23 July 2005 It was a frustrating forty-five minutes on the telephone.

Even getting the number of the United Nations European directorate of interagency coordination was frustrating. The Buenos Aires international operator had trouble first connecting to and then communicating with the Paris information operator.

Silvio gave up on that and called the American emba.s.sy in Paris. The political attache had somewhat reluctantly-and only after Silvio had proven to him who he was-provided a listing for the directorate, but said he had neither an address nor a number for a Jean-Paul Lorimer.

A somewhat nasal-voiced French woman at the directorate told Silvio-whose French was fluent-that M'sieu Lorimer was out of the office, that she had no number at which he could be reached, and that any further inquiries should be directed to the director of information. She was unmoved by Silvio's announcement that he was the United States amba.s.sador to Argentina, and was trying to contact Lorimer because there had been a death in the family.

The only address and telephone number the State Department in Was.h.i.+ngton and the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York City had for Lorimer was his office.

"Let me see what the Secret Service can do, sir," Castillo said, finally, and started to punch in Isaacson's number in Was.h.i.+ngton on his cell phone.

"You don't want to get a secure line?"

"What's cla.s.sified?" Castillo said, and immediately added, "I didn't mean to sound flip, sir. Sorry."

"I didn't think you were being flip," Silvio said. "It was a dumb question."

"Isaacson."

"Charley, Joel."

"I see we're being telepathic again," Isaacson replied. "I was just about to call you about the FBI plane-on which, I'm sure you'll be thrilled to hear, Casanova, is the beauteous Agent Schneider-and the C-17."

"You didn't say something allegedly witty to her, did you, Joel?"

"No, but I was sorely tempted. She really is a delight to the eyes, and I felt duty-bound to warn her about you."

"Tell me about the airplanes."

"She and Jack Britton are on a Gulfstream Five, which left here at eleven-oh-five local time. They make about four hundred sixty knots, and it's about fifty-two hundred miles from here to there, so you figure it out."

Without asking permission, Castillo s.n.a.t.c.hed a pencil from a mug on Silvio's desk. Silvio quickly handed him a yellow lined pad.

"The call sign is Air Force Zero-Four-Seven-Seven. They're bound for an airport called Jorge Newbery, which I presume is somewhere near Buenos Aires. Also on the plane are six somewhat annoyed FBI agents, p.i.s.sed not only because they were told to report to you-as Secret Service, not Presidential Hotshot-but because two of their number got b.u.mped because Schneider and Britton got on."

"Jorge Newbery is the downtown airport in Buenos Aires."

"The C-17-tail number Air Force Zero-Three-Eight-One-left Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, an hour earlier, but it's going to-probably already has-made a stop at Hurlburt, where it picked up a dozen Air Commandos ready to go to war, and a ten-man spit-and-polish detail from the Old Guard under a lieutenant for the burial party, who were conveniently in Florida burying some retired general."

"Jesus."

"I think you can guess where that order originated," Isaacson added. "Anyway, the C-17 will be landing at an airfield called Ezeiza-"

"That's the main international field."

"I guess they couldn't get that big airplane into the little airport."

"You can sit a Globemaster down in your backyard, Joel."

"No kidding. Well, for some reason, that's where it's going. And it will take however long after it leaves Hurlburt to go forty-two hundred nautical miles at four hundred fifty knots."

Castillo scribbled down those numbers.

"Okay. Got it. Now I need something from you."

"Shoot."

"The widow's brother, Jean-Paul Lorimer, works for the UN in Paris. The amba.s.sador has been trying for forty-five minutes to get him on the phone without any luck. Have we got anybody in Paris who can help?"

"I'll get right on it."

"Call the emba.s.sy here and leave the numbers and address with the amba.s.sador's secretary."

"Done. You got anything else you want me to tell the boss?"

"I put Tony Santini in charge of the Mastersons' security. She came out of the drug they gave her all right, but they're keeping her in the hospital overnight. I don't know when she'll want to leave here, but when she does, she wants to go to Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, near where he lived."

"She wants to bury him there?"

"Apparently."

"I know the President was thinking of Arlington . . ."

"I think she wants the family plot in Mississippi, Joel."

"That's going to pose a little problem. I also know the President wants Walter Reed to do the autopsy."

"The Argentines are already doing the autopsy. And they're going to prosecute these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, presuming we can catch them, in Argentine courts."

"Who decided that?"

"I did," Charley said. He met Silvio's eyes, and added, "The amba.s.sador concurs."

"I think that may cause more than a little pique at the highest level, Charley."

"There was considerable doubt that we could extradite the doers. And the crime occurred here. And it's a done deed. The amba.s.sador has already told the Foreign Ministry."

"I think the boss will more than likely want to talk to you about that, Charley. Or maybe his boss will."

"I thought that might happen."

"We'll be in touch, Charley. Watch your back."

Castillo pushed the disconnect b.u.t.ton, and then did the calculation of the arrival times.

"Both planes will probably arrive here between eleven and midnight tonight," he announced to Amba.s.sador Silvio, "the Gulfstream to Jorge Newbery, and the C-17 at Ezeiza. There's an honor guard from the Third Infantry Regiment-'the Old Guard'-on the Globemaster, plus a detail of Air Commandos."

"As a suggestion, if you want to meet your agents and the FBI, I can have the defense attache meet the transport."

"Thank you."

"He'll have to arrange transportation for them, and a place to live. I think the best thing to do with the military personnel is move them in with the Marines. And you told that FBI agent Yung to arrange to take care of the FBI. What about your agents?"

"I'll take care of them. But I am going to need wheels. Can I rent cars for them?"

"You could, but the rentals here are generally small and not always reliable. And they don't have radios. I'll have Ken Lowery deal with it. How many are you going to need?"

"If I can keep the one I have, one more. I really don't need a driver."

"You never know," the amba.s.sador said. "I'll tell Ken to get you another car and a driver. Tonight?"

"First thing in the morning."