David Dun - Unacceptable Risk

"I don't believe you."

"Well, you'd better because it is true. Did he tell you what he learned from a Turkish prisoner by the name of Alfawd?"

"I never heard of Alfawd," Larive replied.

"Well, you should have." Then as the admiral sat dumb founded, she told him all that Baptiste had learned about the investment group and Gaudet's tests of the technology with Sam's neighbors and at Northern Lights.

"Did Baptiste tell you that Figgy Meeks accidentally killed an associate of the man they call Sam and that he then, at Baptiste's direction, made it look like Gaudet by gutting the man, as Gaudet often does?" She was relentless in her disclosures.

"This could implicate the French government. It's a disas ter." Larive nearly moaned.

"Yes, and apparently the autopsy showed the heart still beating when he was gutted."

Larive groaned.

"I could fix that too with Gaudet. I could provide testimony that one of Gaudet's men did it. A man who is now dead."

"Why would you do this?"

"I'm getting to that. One more thing: did you know that one of your agents, a Rene, accidentally killed Michael Bowden's girlfriend when he tried to take a gun from her? A gun that she was using to protect herself against Gaudet and his men?"

"This is true?"

"All of it. Baptiste is planning a meeting with Gaudet to make that deal. And he is going to allow Cordyceps to go forward. If you put that together with the money…" She allowed Larive to make his own deduction.

"That makes the French government an accomplice. Fucking Baptiste is out of control!"

"That's why you should let me go to the States when Baptiste asks. You will know everything that is going on. You will then, on behalf of the French government, be seek ing to thwart the plot of a renegade agent."

"It's not that simple. I should turn him in and replace him."

"Keep in mind, first and foremost, that you want the tech nology. Diplomatically, you need only a fig leaf. You need complete success and not another horrible scandal in your agency. And most important of all, you may need someone to blame. Baptiste has done this on his own, but if you replace him, then suddenly you become solely responsible for whatever happens. Or am I incorrect about that?" Benoit had built a tower of irrefutable facts.

The admiral sighed-as she knew he would. "Tell me ex actly what you will do."

"First I will go to Gaudet. I will be present when Gaudet meets Baptiste, but Baptiste will be unaware of this. That way the French government is spying on its own and is not acting in concert with the renegade Baptiste. I will tell you exactly what goes on. Then, in New York, I will broker deals with Bowden, Raval, and Gaudet. I will ensure that Gaudet offers all of his vector technology as part of the bargain. I know about it and am the best one to judge. We will open a Swiss escrow. The formula, notes, and so on will be deposited in escrow, along with contact numbers for ex-Grace employees and their job functions, et cetera. France will deposit two hundred million; ten million will be deposited for kickbacks, leaving a net one hundred ninety million."

"Wait, I thought you said Baptiste was getting five million, not ten million."

"I'm coming to that. There will be a period of examina tion to authenticate the materials. If I'm able to bring Bowden into the deal, the Chaperone molecule will be part of the escrow. Finally Raval will deliver that actual, authen tic Grace record of invention for Chaperone, along with everything he knows about Chaperone. I will do everything in my power to learn the date when Cordyceps will be un leashed-how Gaudet's going to do it and what exactly he is going to do. I will deliver that information to the French government before it happens. You will notify the Americans. That will avoid any scandal. The French did their part. If for some reason it is too late to stop Cordyceps, then you, Admiral, can invest the five million I'll earmark for you."

The admiral slammed his fist in his hand. "I would do no such thing. I will not take money. Do you think I am a dog like Baptiste?"

"Calm down. You can tell the Americans the details of Cordyceps once escrow with Gaudet closes and not before. If you tell them before, then the whole deal could come apart and you will not get Chaperone or the rest of the vector technology. Once the Americans know of Cordyceps, they will go crazy. Gaudet will know that you have told them. He will cancel the escrow with immediate document destruction as provided in the escrow. And then he will unleash Cordyceps anyway."

"But we must tell the Americans."

"And you will. After escrow."

"I will tell them and that is all there is to it. And I cannot take this money."

"You need to calm yourself and think this through. Your money will be in a numbered account. You will have the number. In truth, if discovered, it will be part of what Baptiste expected to get. That will be the story. He'll get arrested for five million. The other five million will be missing. Yours. Leave it in the anonymous account if you don't want it. You can always turn it in to the French government. Say you tricked Gaudet and it would be a feather in your cap. I am putting it there in any case, and only you and I will know. The point is, you don't have to decide now. The key, remember, is making the deal for the French with Gaudet before telling the Americans about Cordyceps. Under stand?"

"Benoit, I have one simple question: why would you risk telling me all this?"

"I want a pardon. Don't underestimate me, Admiral. I can do this. Not only that, I'm the only person who can do all of this. Without me, Chaperone will be lost to France for at least your lifetime, and you can take that to the bank. Without this deal another country or entity will get the func tioning vector technology first."

"Why do you wish to involve me?"

"Because you can send me to the States. And because you are almost a minister. I need the promise of a pardon from the French government from someone who counts."

She had shifted on the bed, revealing a firm thigh.

"Would you like me to take off this blouse?"

"You know I would." His heart was beating hard as she teased off the blouse to reveal a sheer bra and a firm, high set of breasts with dark rose nipples. His throat constricted and he became fully erect.

"Where do you get such lingerie in prison?"

"My cousin in le Senat staff. But your staff are not com plete morons. They have to stretch the rules to let me wear it-I think that had something to do with the fact that I would be with you this afternoon."

She leaned forward and pulled him toward her, running his hand across her upper leg.

Larive swallowed. "You say this Raval is the only hope to understanding Chaperone?"

"Yes."

"And Bowden the only man to find the source of the Chaperone molecule."

"Yes."

"What does Bowden get?"

"France will have to pay him a royalty. You and I will ne gotiate it."

"Were you Raval's lover?"

"No. But we enjoyed each other's company. We flirted, but it never went anywhere. I was in charge of coordinating with Malaysia from an administrative standpoint, but not the science. Boudreaux, the chief scientist, kept the Chaperone research very much compartmentalized. It was even at an other facility a few miles from the main lab. Boudreaux kept a double set of books for the employees there and they were lumped in the budget under R and D Immunological Pathogens and Disease Processes. Those books are long gone, of course. But Raval knew everything. It was essentially his project."

"Why would Gaudet tell you his secrets, and if he did, why would you then tell me?"

"He may, he may not. We were lovers for years, as I told you. Also, I can make it part of the deal. After he launches Cordyceps, the technology no longer has much value to him. Making a deal with France first is his best choice. He'll want that two hundred million, have no doubt. And why tell you? Isn't it obvious? France is my whole life. I want to live here and be free. I supposed that if I obtained for France the secret of Chaperone, I could obtain a full pardon. To me, my darling, you are freedom."