“I’m going to call for the Secret Service if you don’t hurry up.”
The butcher didn’t look up, keeping his eyes focused on the meat lying across his cutting board. He swung the knife down hard, trimming a thin slice of fat along the left edge.
“Ms. Petrov would like to strongly urge you to reconsider your position on the one-world currency,” the Russian said. “The execution of her plan is going along as expected with one exception—you. If you continue to prevent the U.S. from joining, there will be dire consequences for both you and your country. However, if you change your mind, you’ll be compensated handsomely for your efforts. The Chamber holds fast to the belief that happy leaders make the best leaders.”
Michaels shook his head. “More like the most compliant ones . . . as you lead them to slaughter.”
“President Michaels, feel free to draw any conclusions that you so desire from our conversation, but know that this offer will not remain on the table for very long.”
The butcher came down even harder on the meat again.
“Sorry, not interested.”
“It’s a shame that you are making such a curt dismissal,” the Russian said. “It will be tragic for you once you leave office. All that money that you saved up will be gone, rendered as worthless as the paper it is printed on. On the other hand, Ms. Petrov can secure a wealthy future for you by way of this deal.”
“And how does she intend to do that?”
“A favorable exchange rate should suffice.”
“How much are we talking about here?” Michaels asked.
“Now you’re asking the right questions, Mr. President. I knew you’d come around. I’m sure the equivalent of a hundred billion dollars should suffice.”
“So, what do you want me to do?”
The butcher trimmed the last side of the piece of beef in front of him.
“Why, Mr. President, I never thought you would ask.”
CHAPTER 5
Istanbul, Turkey
KATARINA PETROV FLICKED HER LIGHTER and ignited another cigarette. She took a long drag and threw her head back as she blew a long plume of smoke into the air. She ran her tongue across her top teeth and leaned forward at the table, peering at the laptop in front of her.
“What exactly am I looking at here?” she asked.
Bartu Kemal scooted closer to her and pointed at the screen.
“This is a list of all the files that we know Ahmet Polat accessed,” Kemal said. “However, we were able to recover the flash drive he used to download all the files and didn’t find any trace of them on his computer.”
“So, what you’re saying is that he never knew that you switched his flash drive?” Petrov asked.
“That was our goal. We monitored him for several weeks and once we learned of his connection to Blunt, we lured them in.”
Petrov took another drag and released the smoke out the side of her mouth.
“And yet we still have no idea how successful your operation was. It’s still possible that he was able to get a copy of the device to the Americans, no?”
“It’s highly unlikely,” Kemal said. “He was a trained analyst with a background in computers, not a highly-skilled operative. He would’ve had to have given my men the slip one night and figured out a way to mail the drive back to Blunt, all without us seeing, knowing, or suspecting anything. The chances that happened are extremely rare.”
“So what you’re saying is that you had eyes on him all the time?”
“Ears too. We had a surveillance team listening around the clock. There were no phone conversations. I don’t even think Polat had any friends. The only people who came by his house were people delivering food. And we vetted them all. Nothing.”
“This whole situation still makes me nervous,” Petrov said. “It’s a loose end and you know how much I hate loose ends. We need to tie it off quickly.”
“What do you suggest?” Kemal asked.
Petrov stared pensively out of the window as she filled her lungs with smoke. She then exhaled slowly. The smoke rolled out of her mouth and settled in a low-hanging haze above the table.
“There is no easy answer here,” she said. “If Polat stole the information and transmitted it back to the U.S., all of our assets could be burned.”
“And if not, we’d be the ones burning them.”
She nodded. “Do you see my dilemma here? It’s very perplexing.”
“I could set up something in our server that would alert us if an outside party with access to any of our files attempted to breach our system.”
“And how long would it take you to do that?”
“I could finish it in a day or so.”
“Good,” Petrov said. “Make it happen. I don’t want to let this linger for long.”
“But that’s not the only issue we’re facing as it relates to your security,” Kemal began.
“Do you think Brady Hawk is going to come for me?”
“I’m almost certain of it,” Kemal said.
“What changed your mind? Because you dismissed my inquiry into it just yesterday.”
“Just a gut feeling I have,” he said. “I don’t really know how else to describe it.”
“So, he’s coming for me—as the Americans would say, sarcastically of course, big deal.”
“I wouldn’t be so flippant about it,” Kemal said, choosing his words carefully. “If they capture you, you will have a difficult time launching anything else in the near future, perhaps even the distant future, too.”
“I have a feeling you’re not telling me everything. What else are you holding back?”
“Nothing, I swear. I’ve just worked in this business long enough to know that the Brady Hawks of this world will stop at nothing to capture you and persuade you to think differently about your position.”
Petrov smiled. “I welcome the challenge. It’s not as if I’m going to be laying down for him, allowing him
