'We should talk,' Sam said.
He met Georges at the Plaza Hotel in the same conference room where he had met Benoit, only this time they were alone. Georges always wore a blue blazer and tonight was no exception. Although he appeared worried, he also appeared collected. He was a strong man. It was 5:00 p.m., two days after the meeting in the park.
'I will send the Grace documents and the contract from the attorneys, like she asked,' Georges began.
'She knows what she is doing, we have a plan.'
'You know the real Chaperone document is in the safe-deposit box.'
'Yes. I know. Benoit knows it as well. She knows what we're doing, Georges.'
'I don't want to endanger her in any way.'
'We passed that point when she went to Gaudet. We have to stick with the plan.'
'What in the hell is the plan? I thought she was coming back.'
'Georges, we were going to keep it between ourselves- Benoit and me-but things are changing. So, I'm briefly going to give the broad outlines of what is happening. She's going along with Gaudet because we're trying to stop a terrorist attack on the United States. This attack is for money, not for revenge or ideology.'
'What kind of attack?'
'Using the raging soldier vector on millions in the streets of major U.S. cities. Gaudet calls this plan Cordyceps.'
'Oh, my God, that will be a disaster.'
'We know. Georges, to get the information about Cordy ceps, we need to go along with a sale of technology to the French government. But as you've figured out, it's a fraud. We intend to stop the sale before it closes. Rogue French agents are involved. We are risking France's two hundred million, but as I said, we'll stop the sale before money changes hands, if we can. We will halt the escrow immediately after we get all the information on Cordyceps. But if Benoit can't get away from Gaudet, or if we don't get the info on Cordyceps, then the deal will close and France may release their money without getting all they've bargained for.'
'So then I will be involved in a swindle.'
'Not exactly. You will have no legal problem, but we will explain that later. You just need to know that Benoit is going to try to leave Gaudet, and if Gaudet holds her, we are going to try and get her out.'
'What if you can't?'
'That's a problem. I won't lie to you.'
'This is not comforting.'
Sam put his hand on the scientist's shoulder. 'We are going to do everything humanly possible to get her back.'
Sam left a stunned Georges and stepped into the hall, where he found a pay phone to call Jill. He wasn't com pletely certain the cell would be free of tapping.
'What do you think?' Jill said.
'It wasn't supposed to go this fast. She was supposed to come out. I'm guessing Gaudet doesn't trust her. Either that or I misfigured her, and if that's the situation, I don't know where this thing is going.'
'We don't dare tell the Feds to warn the French and stop the deal.'
'No way. It will totally compromise Benoit and it will ruin our chances to get information through her.'
'Yeah. It is hard for dead people to talk,' Jill pronounced.
Benoit and Gaudet were in the St. Regis Hotel, near Central Park. They had been there two days with adjoining rooms, and Benoit's outer door came complete with a couple of guards. Her room was equipped with a high-speed Internet connection and an Inspiron 8500 laptop provided by Gaudet and an 'assistant,' by the name of Big Mohammed, who watched every move she made. Gaudet was in an easy chair in the next room and didn't come into Benoit's room unless Big Mohammed was absent. Often Trotsky was present; that plus Spring's magic had kept Gaudet at bay. She wondered how long it would last.
Unfortunately, the laptop computer left whenever Big Mohammed left. Benoit had opened the double escrow with Credit Suisse. Pursuant to contracts between Gaudet's company in Quatram and the French government, Gaudet ac knowledged in the documents that his company had no claim to the ownership of the Chaperone technology. Raval attested that he was the primary inventor of the technology and that the official Grace Technologies record of Chaperone would be deposited into escrow. For political and legal reasons Raval's attestation was critical because France's claim to the invention came through the bankruptcy of Grace Tech nologies, which owed massive sums in back taxes. Grace's ownership in turn came through Raval's employment by Grace, since for patent purposes he was the inventor. The entire transaction would be handled over the Internet, except for the phys ical signing of escrow instructions. In Gaudet's case it was agreed that an electronic signature would be acceptable. Benoit, on behalf of Gaudet, deposited electronically into escrow all of the manuals and information that he had obtained from the original laboratories in Malaysia, and even more critical, the Grace document provided by Raval, explaining Chaperone. Much of this material was new to the French laboratory, which had received only information from Grace labs in France.
France deposited the $200,000,000. The moment it was in the account, Benoit advised Gaudet. Returning to her room, she discovered the following message from Baptiste.
You need to return to France immediately. We need to work on your pardon. And we need a week for our scientists to verify the technology. Seven days from today should suffice. We will then need seven additional days in order to close.
Benoit printed the message and took it to Gaudet.
'This was not part of the deal. They are reneging. You know that the Chaperone document is correct… Hell… you have staked your chance for a pardon on it. That has to be good enough for them. Write that. Tell them no way. It must close now.'
'It is like the government. They are used to making demands,' Benoit said. She went back in her room and composed a message consistent with Gaudet's directive.
Big Mohammed was asleep with his chin cupped in his hand. Working fast she put the message into an e-mail by making it an attachment and sent it off to Baptiste. Next she went to the sent items, then re-sent the message to Sam's e-mail address. Then she double-deleted the forward to Sam.
'The government will not close without a chance to verify,' came the almost instant response from Baptiste.
At that moment Gaudet stuck his head in the room and saw Big Mohammed asleep. 'Wake him up and tell him to get out. Leave the computer.' Gaudet stepped out of the room. She woke Big Mohammed and explained that he had been sleeping in front of the boss. The man sprang instantly awake and tried to explain.
'Forget it. He'll cool off, but just leave for now. We'll call you.' She was hoping for a break like this.
'You should see this,' Benoit said when Gaudet returned.
Gaudet came and read over her shoulder.
'Bastards. They never said anything about this. Tell the bank the deal is off and they are to permanently delete all documents immediately. I can live without the two hundred million.'
'Let's give them one more chance.'
'How?'
'I propose the following response.'
We'll send the following message immediately to Credit Suisse if you do not retract: To Credit Suisse es crow holder — Permanently delete all documents as per escrow agreement clause 17.
They waited. Benoit could imagine Baptiste on the phone with the admiral. Baptiste would be taut as a bow string, his retirement on the line; Admiral Larive would be cursing, imagining his career, his honor, sliding into a garbage pit.
'I will kill that bastard if he backs out on me. I have done harder things than kill an admiral,' Gaudet said.
'He is not just an admiral, he is the head of an intelligence agency. Don't worry. They will not back out. They want this too badly.'
'Even so, they won't get their five before Cordyceps. I'll give them three days maximum.'
'Wait. You can't do that. Baptiste must believe I am play ing ball with him and that he will be rich and we will be lovers. The admiral must believe the same. I need my pardon. I can't change the play.'
'Damn the pardon. You will be with me.'
