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What I should do is push the button for the sergeant major, and when he and Jack Brewer come in, say, “I have placed General McNab under arrest. Please escort the general to the visiting senior officers’ quarters and hold him there.”
And then what do I do?
Call the chief of staff and tell him?
Tell him what?
McNab has friends. Somebody who was there in the Oval Office when the President gave me this mission not only told him exactly what was said, but lost no time in telling him.
Is there a plot against the President? Is that what this is all about?
That’s a credible possibility.
McNab is entirely capable of being involved in something like a coup d’état.
So do I go to the chief of staff with that? Or the President?
With what? All I have is suspicions.
What I have to do is find out as much as I can from the sonofabitch!
McNab blew a smoke ring.
“I always have trouble with names,” McNab said. “Okay! I got it! His name is Andy McClarren and the show is called The Straight Scoop. Are you familiar with it?”
Naylor thought: I’m not going to let him drag me into a discussion.
When it became evident that Naylor wasn’t going to reply, McNab went on: “You really should watch it, Allan. They say it’s the most watched show on television. You might learn something from it.
“Anyway, as soon as I thought that through, I realized that when the dust had settled, all that that would accomplish would be Congress considering impeaching the sonofabitch, and that would tell the world what an idiot we have in the White House, which wouldn’t do the country any good, and even if the impeachment went through, which would take a lot of time, all we’d be doing is replacing one idiot with another.
“So I decided to put Andy McClarren on the back burner. I may have to go that route, but I’d rather not.”
“So, then what are your intentions, General?”
And I will be very surprised if you don’t tell me them in sufficient detail to hang yourself, you egotistical maniac!
“Well, the first thing, obviously, is to find Charley and see what he wants to do.”
“To see what he wants to do?” Naylor blurted incredulously.
“By now, I’m sure, Charley knows people are looking for him and his girlfriend—”
“His girlfriend ?”
“Her name is Svetlana. They call her ‘Sweaty.’ Real beauty. Dark red hair, built like a brick ... outdoor sanitary facility.”
“You’ve lost me, McNab. What does this woman have to do with any of this?”
“She’s one of the defectors Putin wants back. She was a light colonel in the SVR. The other one—he was a full bird—is her brother.”
“And Castillo is ... emotionally involved with her?”
“Think Romeo and Juliet, Allan.”
“Has he lost his mind?”
“His heart, certainly. His mind, I don’t think so. If Charley doesn’t want to be found, finding him is going to be difficult. And if you think he’s going to pop to attention, salute, and load himself and his girlfriend and her brother on an airplane en route to Moscow, think again.”
