“Frankly, Colonel, I don’t know,” Danton replied. “But I’m sort of like Frank. I’ve learned to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys.”
“I see we’re back to a choice between trusting Roscoe and killing him,” Castillo said.
“You may think that’s funny,” Sweaty snapped, “but I don’t.”
“And that unsolicited and unwelcome opinion raises yet another question,” Castillo said. “What do I do with Big Mouth here and her big brother?”
Sweaty said unkind things to him in Russian.
Castillo went on: “I think the best thing to do is have Miller and Sparkman take them—and the Spetsnaz that Cousin Aleksandr was so kind to loan us, plus whichever of Sirinov’s Spetsnaz want to go to Argentina—to Cozumel to meet the Peruaire freighter.”
“You’re out of your mind!” Sweaty said in English.
“I think not, Charley,” Dmitri Berezovsky said.
“You mean you don’t think I’m out of my mind, or you don’t want to go to Argentina?”
“I can’t w
ait to get back to Argentina. You remember that my wife and daughter are there? But before this is over, we will certainly be talking with the Washington rezident, Sergei Murov, and perhaps even dealing with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin himself. Svetlana and I know them both well. I think you need our counsel.”
“What kind of passports do you have?” Lammelle asked.
“You mean besides our Russian Federation diplomatic passports?”
“Right.”
“Argentine and Uruguayan.”
“Are they in your names?”
Berezovsky shook his head.
“How much inspection will they stand?”
“My cousin assures me they were issued by the respective foreign ministries,” Berezovsky said.
“And would your cousin know?”
“I think he would.”
“Who is your cousin?”
“If he tells you, Frank, I’d have to kill you,” Castillo said.
“His name is Aleksandr Pevsner,” Sweaty said. “And if your knowing that in any way ever endangers him or his family, I will kill you.”
“On a threat credibility scale of one to ten, I think I’d rate that as a ten,” Lammelle said. And then added, “Well, knowing that name explains a lot of things I didn’t really understand. Pevsner is really your cousin?”
“Our mothers are sisters,” Berezovsky said.
“Charley, if they’re determined to go ...” Lammelle began.
“We are,” Berezovsky said.
“. . . and I agree they could be very useful,” Lammelle went on. “Hide them in plain sight.”
“Where?” Castillo asked.