Renard sighed.
“There was, of course, the splendid fireworks display over the harbor and young men from military academies across Europe in their finest dress uniforms. Many Aspirants brought their sisters, and I fell prey to the most beautiful. We met at a caviar table next to an ice sculpture of the Jean d’Arc, our sacred training vessel.”
“I remember there was no lack of babes.”
“Well, this ‘babe’ as you say, was indeed beautiful, and quite amazing. Considerate, intelligent, refined. We married six months after the dance. We had a son.”
“Sounds like a textbook story — easily memorized.”
“I prefer to forget. I returned from a deployment on the Rubis submarine to discover that I’d lost my new family to a drunk driver.”
Renard looked at the river. The sun had set over the tree line, but its receding light cast a shadow across the Frenchman’s face. Jake noticed pain that looked genuine.
“Is the inquiry over?” Renard asked.
“One last question,” Jake said. “Bearing to a contact is due north. Range — ten nautical miles. You’re steaming east at ten knots, the contact is steaming west at ten knots. What’s the bearing rate?”
“I’ve not done target motion analysis for years.”
“I made the numbers easy. Prove you know the formula that every submarine commander knows.”
“Ten nautical miles, twenty knots across the line of sight? Roughly four degrees per minute bearing rate.”
“Alright, I’ll buy that you were a submarine commander, at least for now.”
“Then you will accept my payment?”
Renard extended the envelope again.
“How have I earned this?”
“I’m paying for your planning. You will brainstorm possibilities, using any resource you can imagine, to acquire at least ten warheads from your ship. If you agree to share your thoughts, then meet with me at the Jacksonville Airport Hilton, room two-zero-three, within three days.”
Jake took the money.
CHAPTER 9
Jake knew the mysterious Frenchman had set him up and used him, but he overlooked this and focused on the promise of revenge. The Frenchman didn’t grasp the full hatred Jake felt for his captain’s role in the accident, but he knew enough to offer him the retaliation he desired.
Jake mulled over the words that the ex-French submarine commander had delivered convincingly.
‘Using any resource you can imagine… ’
At three in the morning, Jake’s mind raced as he sifted through the library of fantasies of destroying Commander Thomas Henry that he had created since the accident. Twisting the fantasies, splitting them, and recombining them became his evening’s mental adventure.
As the sun rose, Jake had devised a final vision, and if the Frenchman had the guts and resources to commit to it, the vision would become his vengeance.
Sleep-deprived but enthused by his plan, Jake continued the charade he had begun after the accident that he was still a naval officer. Wearing a khaki uniform that he wanted to burn, he spent the day teaching young Colorado sailors damage control techniques and depth and steering control in shore-based training facilities.
In the late afternoon, he changed into jeans and drove south. He took I-95 over the bridge into Florida and followed the familiar path to Jacksonville Airport. He parked at the hotel and found the Frenchman’s room.
He knocked on the door, and when the Frenchman opened it, his eyes lit up.
“Please, come in. Would you like some cognac?” Renard asked.
“Not while talking business,” Jake said.
“So you will share your ideas with me?”
“I’m not here to ask you on a date.”
“Well then, as a gesture of good faith, let me pay you in advance.”
“Wrong,” Jake said. “Hold your money. I’m driving you somewhere.”
“I will entertain your suspicions. Lead on.”
“Wrong again. Strip down naked.”
“Excuse me?”
“Wires and taps are my enemies tonight. I know you’ve been naked in front of men on a submarine, so lose the shyness. Strip down.”
“Should I wiggle my ass for you?”
“Just do it.”
After Jake glanced over the Frenchman’s naked body and saw no wires or gadgets, he nodded toward the closet.
“Put on a new set of clothes.”
Renard donned a fresh pair of chinos and a white dress shirt. He threw his gray blazer over his shoulder and grabbed a duffel bag stuffed with hundreds.
“Okay. Let’s go,” Jake said.
At a table in an airport sports bar, Renard inhaled a fresh cigarette. Each step that Jake took in expressing interest drew him deeper into a commitment. Renard felt the steady wheels of recruitment in motion.
“I’m very curious to hear your ideas,” he said.
“You can’t get to the warheads unless you want to cut or blow through two inches of steel,” Jake said. “That’s too much noise, too much time, and too complicated. But you can have the entire ship itself.”
Renard held the Marlboro away from his face while coughing.
“Merde. The entire ship?”
“We’re scheduled for switching out a few missiles, so we’ll be in the explosive handling wharf the night before patrol. It’s a covered, solitary pier. You give me some commandos — Taiwanese I assume — and I can take control of the ship from the covered wharf and move it wherever you want. You interested?”
The naval officer’s ambition and audacity stunned Renard, but he hid his surprise.
“Yes, of course,” Renard said. “Explain your plan.”
“Tell me where you want to drop off the warheads.”
“I imagine that I could arrange for a transfer to a Taiwanese ship in secrecy, probably in the Pacific.”
“Fine,” Jake said. “I figured as much.”
Jake unfolded his ideas about stealing the Colorado. Renard listened and contributed his ideas to fill in the few gaps that Jake had not considered. Any doubt he had about Jake’s mental ability vanished as the lieutenant outlined his plans.
After half an hour, Renard had digested Jake’s thoughts. He found them impressive. He flicked the gold-plated Zippo under a fresh Marlboro as Jake qualified his commitment.
“I still need to recruit my men, but the guys I have in mind will jump at it. You can consider the success of your project a foregone conclusion, provided you give me the supporting resources and offer the right price.”
“I will see to your resources,” Renard said. “As for your payment, the duffle bag holds fifty thousand dollars. That makes sixty thousand thus far.”
“Petty cash,” Jake said.
“Agreed. For a plan of the magnitude you’ve suggested, if you can carry it out successfully, I can offer you five million dollars.”
“Do you think I can live on that forever?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I want one hundred million,” Jake said. “And you can call that a bargain.”
Renard had hoped Jake would focus less on the money than on the revenge but appreciated his cool business head. He liked that in his recruits.
He couldn’t finance the sum from his own holdings, but he trusted that the Taiwan Minister of Defense would consider it a bargain. And since he planned on negotiating his fee with the Minister as a percentage of the total price, a higher cost of business suited him.
“I will ask my clients for funding. Recruit your team, and I will return in ten days with your answer. I will send word of where to meet me.”
Alone in his hotel, the Frenchman reflected.