Even he had to admit that Chellis had come a long way from Omaha, Nebraska. But the man still had the petty mind of an American.
The main doors led to a spacious atrium and waiting area that looked like a men’s luncheon club. Large windows, painfully tasteful brown leather, and subdued plaids on the furnishings made one think of cigars and chess. According to Benoit, people congregated here to talk sometimes about business and usually when Chellis was out of the office. This was the policy center of the holding company, where business strategy at the highest levels took place.
Chellis’s personal offices were through a second set of double doors off the atrium and down a long hall lined with other offices, making the path to his suite a little like an obstacle course for unwanted visitors. Chellis did not care for confrontation unless he had arranged for one of his rages, and then he sought it.
Gaudet used a pass provided by Benoit. He had arrived early deliberately; he wanted to get the feel of the place. Benoit had explained the sorts who hung out at the main office and she certainly had it pegged. Largely the working technical fellows would be found at the company’s regional centers. Here scientists who no longer did science came to spend their last few years with the businessmen and MBAs and occasionally with the boss himself.
Gaudet made his way into the inner office without drawing a glance; he tried out Chellis’s chair and used his phone for fifteen minutes before Chellis and Benoit arrived, fresh from the flight in from Kuching. He heard Chellis well before he saw him.
“So they can screw themselves and go straight to hell and I want you to tell them that,” he said. When he walked in the door he was pocketing a cell phone.
“Soon it will be time for your brunch,” Benoit said as she put her purse down on Chellis’s table. It irritated Gaudet that she occupied the man’s space so casually.
“Why hasn’t Roberto called back? What in the hell are they doing? Do I have to wipe his ass?”
At that moment they both saw Gaudet standing behind the desk.
Without smiling or offering a greeting, Gaudet walked to the sitting area toward the front of the office. He knew that when his clients needed him they had no alternative, so unlike in most personal service businesses the niceties could be ignored. When they were seated, each with a cup of coffee, Gaudet looked longer at Benoit than at Chellis.
“Your mistress is very beautiful. Like your wife.”
“She is my assistant.”
“Tell me the problem, then. But be more truthful about the problem than you are about your love life.”
“You show respect or we have no deal.”
“Relax. She is not ashamed of you. Why are you ashamed of her?”
“Get out.”
Gaudet rose to leave.
“Wait. Just wait,” Benoit said. “DuShane is not ashamed of me. He is protecting someone I love. Marie, his wife, is my sister. There is no disrespect. So why can’t we all sit down and do our business?”
Gaudet hesitated.
“Sit down. I have always paid you. That should mean something,” Chellis said. “We know you are the best. There are others, but everyone tells me none as good as Gaudet.”
Gaudet sat. “As I said before, I no longer work merely for cash.”
“I’d heard. What do you want?”
“A piece of something. Part of a venture. I think you need me in the arms part of your business. Ten percent. I want ten percent You’ve been holding out on me.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? Think of the future. In that line of business you may need a scapegoat who can disappear into thin air. Think of the advantages.”
The men wrangled for fifteen minutes over their egos and their money.
“Five percent,” Chellis finally said. “And that is asinine. You didn’t build this business.”
“I’m about to save your skin.”
“And you have to take care of things without additional fees since you’d be a partner.”
“Five percent will do, but I get full audit privileges. My people look at anything and everything any time they want. And of course I will still receive basic cash fees in addition.”
“You’re not being rational.”
“To the contrary. The business of killing people is a precise science. You clearly need someone dead. Take it or leave it.”
“My attorneys will make a draft of the assignment documents.”
“My attorneys will make the first draft after conferring with your lawyers on the subject of the involved entities.”
“It’s only the weapons stuff.”
“That’s right. Samir’s side,” Gaudet said. “So let’s start with the facts of the problem.”
Chellis began telling the story, and when he was nearly through the phone rang.
“It’s Roberto,” Benoit said, looking at the name flashing.
“You’ll want to hear this,” Chellis said.
Gaudet nodded. They turned on the speakerphone.
“What’s the status?”
“They are afraid of Jason being arrested for the rocket launcher so they’re saying nothing. They acted like a couple of rich tourists that lost another yacht. No big deal.”
“Did you get the picture of the man?”
“No. He’s smart and tough.”
“For that you deserve a gravestone.”
“We did the best we could. Oh, and we heard her call him ‘Sam.’ ”
“So exactly what did happen?”
Roberto told them the whole story and Chellis vented his anger by hanging up abruptly.
“Can you tell me in a few words why this Jason is worth the dough?” Gaudet asked.
“All you need to know is that he’s valuable.”
“Why is he crazy?”
“I don’t know. Paranoid schizophrenia. Rare form.”
“What about this man that is with Anna?”
“He just picked her up in his boat. Had to be a coincidence. How bad can that be?”
“Usually it is a coincidence that kills people like you and me. You don’t know the name of the boat?”
“They never got it. Roberto couldn’t see the stern when it picked her up.”
“You need Jason all to yourself, the CD returned, and you need Anna Wade to forget about it.”
“And her new friend or whatever he is. Someone took a rocket launcher to his boat. How would you respond? Plus we have one more problem.”
“Another problem?”
“Jason has a daughter. Grady. She’s a well-paid stripper. We have a handle on her, and we know she hates her father. Likewise her Aunt Anna. But if she turned and joined forces with Anna, a French court might give custody of Jason’s person and estate to Anna or the daughter. It’s not likely, but I can’t risk it.”
Chellis went on to give Gaudet everything they had on the girl.
“All right, the five percent interest will do. As for the fee, one million if it requires wet work. And if this man with the boat has to be killed, that’s another million. Another half million if I have to kill Grady Wade.”
“That’s outrageous,” Chellis said.
“Those are my terms.”
“How hard can it be to kill some sailor?”
“You want to kill him, you go ahead. I do it as part of this package and it’s a million dollars U.S. Period. Any other incidental kills are covered by the five percent; plus you get one unrelated noncelebrity kill.”
“Fine. Fine. Maybe Anna will buy off the yachtie to protect her brother. Or charm him. Or something.”
“I have a feeling about this. It isn’t a good feeling. But I will take care of it. Tell Roberto and all your men
