Hunters pa-3

by W. E. B Griffin

  "…And he's going to tell Putin that I called him, had him meet me at Unicenter, and gave him the flour and syrup, then asked him to take it to him. He will also cleverly drop into their conversation that I told him I was going to the States either tonight or tomorrow."

  Munz nodded.

  "I'm going to follow him out there-and I think I better have a weapon-Tony?"

  "I just happen to have a spare Glock in my briefcase," Santini said.

  "I'm going to wait for Alfredo in the supermarket parking lot near where Putin's holed up. You know where I mean, Alfredo?"

  Munz nodded.

  "When Munz comes back from delivering the flour and syrup to Putin, he will drive to his apartment with me following him. There he will put his car in the garage, go to his apartment, and turn on the lights, then turn them off again and go out of the apartment and to the kiosk around the corner. Somehow, during this time, he will get into the backseat of the Cherokee without being noticed and I'll take him to the apartment on Arribenos."

  "What's that?" Munz asked.

  "It's where you'll spend tonight," Castillo said. "Tomorrow, presuming nothing went wrong with renting it, you-and Eric Kocian, Max, and Kocian's bodyguard-will as quietly as possible be moved to a safe house in the Mayerling Country Club in Pilar."

  "Who are those people?" Munz asked.

  "One is a man named Eric Kocian. He's a journalist. He's got a lot of material I want you to go through to see if we can make a connection."

  "I don't like journalists much myself," Munz said. "But he needs a bodyguard?"

  Castillo nodded. "They tried to kill him twice in the last week. They also tried to stick a needle full of phenothiazine in him. You'll like the bodyguard. He used to be an inspector in the Budapest police department, and, before that, a hitch in the French Foreign Legion."

  "They speak Spanish?"

  "German and Hungarian."

  "And the third one? Max Something, you said?"

  "Max Bouvier," Castillo said. "He doesn't talk much."

  "Another bodyguard, Karl?"

  "Oh, yes," Castillo said.

  "Jesus Christ, Charley!" Santini said, shaking his head. "Alfredo, he's pulling your leg. Max is a dog. An enormous dog."

  Munz looked at Castillo.

  "True," Castillo said. "Which just made me think of something. I was planning to move Kocian to the master bedroom in the suite in the Four Seasons. He's in his eighties, has two 9mm holes in him, and just flew from Budapest. But I can't do that, obviously, with Max. He's going to have to stay in that apartment. And won't like it."

  "Leave the dog in the apartment," Solez said.

  "Not an option. Where Kocian goes, so does Max. He even had him in his hospital room in Budapest."

  "Which just made me think of something," Santini said. "What do we do with Familia Munz in Montevideo until you can pick them up with the Gulfstream?"

  "Alfredo took me to a first-rate hotel in Carrasco…" Castillo began.

  "I sent you there," Ambassador Silvio said. "The Belmont House. I'll call over, and get them a suite."

  "No," Castillo said. "That would involve you personally. I don't want that. I'll call. We'll have to get them to hold the room anyway if that boat doesn't get over there until one o'clock in the morning."

  "And where is Familia Munz going in the States?" Santini asked. "Washington?"

  Jesus, I didn't even think about that! Castillo thought.

  He then said, "Not at first. At first, we need something in the boonies."

  "Carlos," Solez said. "The ranch?"

  "My first thought just now was to take them to the plantation-there's people already there sitting on the Masterson family-but obviously that wasn't one of my brighter ideas."

  "When Dona Alicia sent me the e-mail about you getting promoted, she said she had just been up to the ranch and it was so hot she wasn't going back until November."

  Castillo chuckled. "It does get a bit warm in Midland in August, doesn't it? Okay, I'll give Abuela a call and ask her to stay away until further notice. Tony, can we get some Secret Service people to go to Midland until I can make better arrangements for Alfredo's family?"

  "You can, Charley," Santini said and pointed in the general direction of the secure telephone.

  Artigas thought: The Ranch? The Plantation? Dona Alicia? Abuela?

  For Christ's sake, abuela is Spanish for "grandmother."

  Does everything these people do come with a code name?

  And how I am supposed to figure out what they mean?

  "Okay," Castillo said, "I'll do that. I'll call Dona Alicia and Miller right now. And while I'm doing that, make sure everybody has everybody else's number on their cellulars. And when you use them, remember to use the code names. Which reminds me, we'll need one for Familia Munz. How about 'Mother'?"

  "That's easy to remember," Santini said, drily. "Give me your cellular, Charley, and I'll make sure you have all the numbers."

  Castillo handed it to him, then looked at Ambassador Silvio, wordlessly asking permission to use the secure telephone.

  Silvio nodded and said, "Of course." "That was a hell of a lot easier than I thought it would be," Castillo announced when he came back into the room several minutes later.

  He looked at Santini and went on: "Joel was there. He said no problem, and gave me a number to call when we know when we'll be at the ranch and they'll be waiting for us. He said to tell you hello."

  Santini nodded.

  Castillo turned to Solez. "Dona Alicia sends you a kiss. She made me promise to get a little rest while I'm having 'our meeting' at the ranch."

  Solez nodded.

  Castillo turned to Munz.

  "The ranch is outside Midland, Texas, Alfredo. It's been in my family for a very long time. It's pretty large, even by Argentine standards. The reason for that is here you wonder how many head you can graze on one hectare. Out there, we wonder how many hectares it will take to feed one steer enough so that we can move him to a feeding pen. There's a nice house; your family will be comfortable. Most important, it'll be absolutely safe. There's an airstrip which can't be seen from the nearest road. No one will know who's there. And you heard what I said to Joel about the Secret Service?"

  Munz nodded. "Thank you, Karl."

  "Is that about it? Are we ready to move? Have we forgotten anything?"

  "You can bet on that," Santini said. "But, yeah, we better get moving." [FIVE] Unicenter Panamericana Highway Buenos Aires, Argentina 1830 8 August 2005 David W. Yung, Jr., was more than a little embarrassed at the emotions he was feeling as he sat drinking a cup of hot chocolate with Julio Artigas at a small table in the food court, a collection of fast-food vendors on the top floor of the vast, multilevel shopping center.

  He was sad and angry, emotions he knew were inappropriate for a special agent of the FBI, and especially for one who had just been assigned to the OOA and really wanted to stay there, which meant that he was going to have to prove he had the ability to be really calm and professional under pressure-not sad and really pissed-off.

  He had just watched Colonel Alfredo Munz casually get up from another small round table forty feet away-one with a woman and two teenage girls sitting at it-and walk to the men's room.

  Except going to take a leak and wash his hands wasn't what Munz was really doing.

  What Munz was doing was carrying his family's passports to Solez, who was waiting for him in the men's room. What that in effect meant was that Munz was saying good-bye to his family for God only knew how long, turning them over to the protection of people-including a Chinese man with a bandaged hand-whom they had never seen before.

  This showed on the girls' faces. They were young and pretty, Yung thought. One was about sixteen years old, the other a little older-on the cusp of young womanhood-and they were clearly frightened.

  They should not be involved in something like this.

  Goddamn these bastards!

  The younger girl glanced at their
table. Yung caught her eye and smiled at her, hoping it helped in some way tell her, It's going to be okay.

  She looked startled for a moment, then looked away.

  I shouldn't have done that. Someone may have seen it.

  But, dammit, I wanted to give her some sign of encouragement.

  As choreographed, Solez came out of the men's room, fumbled through his pockets, and just perceptibly nodded at Yung and Artigas. He took a package of cigarettes from his pocket and, taking his time about it, lit one with a Zippo lighter.

  Munz, also as planned, came out a moment later, took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, put one to his lips, then looked unsuccessfully for a lighter or match. He looked at Solez, then asked for a light. Solez produced his Zippo and lit Munz's cigarette.

  Munz looked very quickly at his wife and daughters, then headed for the escalator. Solez walked in the other direction, toward the elevator. This, too, was according to plan.

  Castillo now appeared from the direction of the escalator. He feigned pleasant surprise when he noticed Yung and Artigas and walked to their table. They shook hands, patted backs, and made kissing gestures in the Argentine manner.

  Now Senora Munz and the girls had seen all the players.

  Castillo walked toward the elevator.

  Artigas murmured, "See you at the terminal," and got up and walked toward the escalator.

  Senora Munz waited until Munz had disappeared into the crowd that was waiting to get on the escalator, then collected her purse and stood, motioning for the girls to get up, too.

  Yung fished a bill from his pocket and laid it on the table as a tip for the busboy. He stood up and felt the weight of his semiautomatic pistol as it shifted slightly.

  Jesus Christ, he suddenly remembered. I don't have a round in the chamber!

  It'll take forever to work the action with this goddamned bandaged hand!

  He walked quickly into the men's room, into a stall, locked it, took out the pistol and worked the action by pressing the slide against the toilet paper holder. Then he put the pistol back in his shoulder holster, unlocked the stall door, and hurried out of the men's room.

  There was a moment's panic when he couldn't immediately locate Familia Munz. Then he saw them in the knot of people waiting to get on the escalator.

  The younger girl saw him walking toward them, looked a little relieved, and smiled.

  He smiled at her again, then made his way to the escalator.

  XI

  [ONE] Piso 16, 1568 Avenida Arribenos Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1940 8 August 2005 When Paul Sieno opened the steel apartment door for Castillo and El Coronel Alfredo Munz, SIDE, retired, Castillo saw that the living room of the apartment was crowded. Eric Kocian was sitting in a dark brown leather armchair, his elegantly shod feet resting, crossed, on a leather ottoman. He had a wineglass in one hand and a cigar in the other.

  Holding court, Castillo thought, smiling.

  A table holding platters of cheese and cold cuts, bottles of wine and ginger ale, and glasses was between two matching couches. Sandor Tor sat beside Susanna Sieno on one of them. Sergeant Major Jack Davidson and Colonel Jake Torine sat on the other, with Corporal Lester Bradley squeezed in between them. Fernando Lopez sat in an armchair obviously dragged from someplace else.

  Everyone looked at Castillo and Munz.

  Castillo thought, Davidson's wondering who the hell Munz is and what he's doing here.

  Mr. Sieno very probably knows who he is, so she's really curious about what he's doing here.

  And everybody-including Jack, Mr. Sieno, even Eric Kocian-is looking at me because they have the mistaken notion that James Bond just walked in with the answers to all their questions.

  The truth is, once I get everybody settled in the safe house in Mayerling, and Munz's family safely through Uruguay and onto the Gulfstream, I don't have any idea what I'm going to do.

  Since I don't know who the bad guys are, or even who they're working for, how the hell can I find the bastards?

  I'm an Army officer, not Sherlock Holmes.

  "Looks like we're going to need some more chairs, doesn't it?" Paul Sieno observed and went in search of them.

  Max, who had been lying beside Kocian's chair, got to his feet, and, with his stub of a tail rotating like a helo rotor, walked quickly to Castillo, obviously delighted to see him.

  Castillo squatted and rubbed Max's ears.

  "Until he started to behave like that to Colonel Castillo," Kocian announced, "I thought Max to be an excellent judge of character."

  The remark earned the chuckles and laughs Kocian expected it to.

  "Eric," Castillo said, in Hungarian, "say hello, politely, to Oberst Munz."

  Kocian replied, in German, "Since I don't speak a word of Spanish, how am I going to do that?"

  Mr. Sieno smiled. She was obviously taken with the old man.

  "Try German," Castillo said.

  "Guten Abend, Herr Oberst," Kocian said.

  "Guten Abend, Herr Kocian," Munz replied.

  "You're a Hessian," Kocian said, still in German. It was an accusation.

  "I'm an Argentine," Munz said, switching to English. "My parents were Hessian."

  "Karl, why didn't you tell me the Herr Oberst speaks English?" Kocian demanded.

  "You didn't ask," Castillo said, then, switching to English, went on: "Jack, this is Colonel Alfredo Munz. Kensington took a bullet out of his shoulder after the estancia operation."

  Davenport nodded.

  "Alfredo, Jack and I have been many places together…"

  Castillo felt a tug on his trouser leg. He looked down to see that Max had it in his mouth. Max let loose, then sat and offered Castillo his paw.

  "I think your friend is telling you that nature calls, Charley," Torine said, cheerfully.

  "What?"

  "Obviously, he's been waiting for you," Torine said. "He made it…uh…toothfully clear that he wasn't going walking with any of us."

  "I would have been happy to take him, Karl," Kocian said. "But you made that impossible."

  "What?"

  "Had I known I was going to be held prisoner, Karlchen," Kocian said, "I would never have left Budapest."

  "Forgive me for trying to keep you alive, Eric," Castillo replied some what unpleasantly, in German.

  Max was now at the door, looking back at Castillo.

  Castillo looked at Sandor Tor and asked, in Hungarian, "You have a leash?"

  Tor reached into a well-worn leather briefcase by the side of his chair and took out a chain leash.

  Why do I suspect that briefcase also holds an Uzi?

  "Okay, Max," Castillo said as he took the leash, "I'm coming."

  "You want some company, Colonel?" Davidson asked.

  "I can handle walking a dog, Jack," Castillo snapped.

  After an awkward moment's silence, Sieno offered: "When you leave the building, turn right, Colonel. There's a park a block away."

  "Thanks, Paul," Castillo said. "And sorry I snapped at you, Jack. My ass is dragging." He heard what he had just said and added: "Pardon the language, Mr. Sieno. Same excuse."

  "Don't be silly," she said. "And I've asked you to please call me Susanna."

  "I'll be right back," Castillo said.

  "Max willing, of course," Kocian said. Max dragged Castillo through the lobby and out onto the street and headed for the first tree, which was to the left, away from the park Sieno had spoken of.

  "Your call, Max," Castillo muttered. "As if I have a choice."

  It became quickly obvious that Max did indeed have a massive need to meet the urinary call of nature.

  "Can we go to the park now?" Castillo asked, in Hungarian, when he had finally finished.

  Max looked at Castillo, considered the question, then dragged Castillo farther away from the park.

  The apartment building next to 1568 Arribenos was brightly lit. But beyond it, the street quickly became dark, as there were no brightly lit buildings and the stree
tlights were not functioning.

  Max sniffed every tree, came to an intersection, dragged Castillo across it, then across Arribenos, where he began nasally inspecting the trees there. When he had stopped at the third tree, there was a click and the sidewalk was brilliantly illuminated by floodlights mounted on an old mansion.

  They were turned on by motion sensors.

  Well, why not? That's cheaper than burning floodlights all night.

  Then he noticed the bronze sign mounted on the wall of the old building. It read EMBASSY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CUBA.

  "Oh, shit!"

  I am not really conversant with the security practices of the Cuban diplomatic service but it seems reasonable to assume that if they have gone to the trouble of installing motion-activated floodlights so they can see who is loitering in front of their embassy, said motion sensors more than likely also activate one or more surveillance cameras.

  He looked at Max, who apparently had taken Castillo's exclamation as a command and now was evacuating his bowels.

  Max isn't going to go anywhere until he finishes!

  Our likenesses are now recorded and filed under Item 405 on the Suspicious Activity Log of the embassy security officer.

  Congratulations, Inspector Clouseau, you've just done it again!

  Aw, fuck it!

  Lieutenant Colonel C. G. Castillo, USA, turned to face the Cuban embassy, put his right hand on his abdomen, bowed deeply, and said, "Up yours, Fidel!" [TWO] "Have a nice long walk, did you?" Eric Kocian asked as Castillo and Max came back into the Sieno living room.

  Max trotted over to Kocian, gave him his paw, allowed his head to be patted, then lay down by the footstool.

  "The Cubans now have a floodlighted recording of Max making an enormous deposit on their sidewalk while I cheered him on."

  "What?" Kocian asked.

  "That's why, Colonel," Sieno said, masterfully keeping a straight face, "I suggested you go to the park."

  "Max had other ideas," Castillo said, then asked, "Can they make me?"

  Sieno thought it over before replying.

  "Anybody follow you here?"

  "I don't think so. I came back by…" He stopped. "From the embassy, I went down the hill, turned left, and came back that way. I didn't see anybody following me."