At the worst, surprise might produce an observable reaction. The two of them had eaten a few bites in silence when Eric suddenly asked, “Exactly which government are you representing, Mister Coulter?”
The man looked at something over Eric’s shoulder, and chewed thoughtfully, then, “I work for people, not governments, but I must admit that many of my clients are well connected. Shakers and movers, Eric, the people who make the world go around. A man who provides for their needs can quickly become wealthy beyond his imagination. And that could be you.” Coulter wiggled an eyebrow at him, and took another bite of his omelet.
“I would have to sell a great deal of art for that to happen, even if I inflated my commission for you.”
Coulter smiled, took a sip of coffee, and the smile disappeared. “Let’s not dance any longer, Eric. I know who you are, and why you’re here. You have recently obtained access to a piece of technology that is stolen goods. It belongs to my client, and he wants it back. He’s aware of the difficulty in accomplishing that, and the political consequences of retrieving his property. But he will pay any amount of money to as many people as necessary for the task. Leon is on our team, and one other person I’m afraid we consider less than reliable. He’s privately made some contacts with aerospace giants who might pay him more than we have offered. He might even have to be removed. Since that could arguably be part of the assignment from your government masters, you would be an ideal choice for the job if it became necessary.”
Eric felt heat come to his face, and played on it. He gave Coulter what he hoped was an expression of both anger and surprise, folded his napkin and slapped it on the table by his unfinished breakfast. “This must be another one of Leon’s little pranks, Mister Coulter, and I don’t appreciate it at all. It’s not even amusing.”
“Twenty million, Eric. That’s my opening offer, and I’m authorized to go higher. Just agree to join our team. Assignments can be negotiated later.”
Eric stood up. “Don’t bother to call Leon. I’ll tell him what I think of this myself. Maybe he should start looking for a new partner.”
“Talk to him,” said Coulter. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Goodbye, Mister Coulter. Thanks for the breakfast, but otherwise you have wasted my time.”
Coulter only smiled. Eric turned, walked away from him with the air of one offended by a foul odor or presence, and left the restaurant. He kept his posture all the way to the car, and drove back to the office in three minutes. Leon was on the telephone when he arrived, and looked up expectantly at him.
Eric pulled up a chair by Leon’s desk, sat down and stared at the man until his call had ended.
“You don’t look happy,” said Leon.
“I’m not.”
“What happened?”
Eric recited the entire conversation he’d had with John Coulter. “So, what did you tell him about me? He must think I’m pretty easy to get right to the point like that. I assume the other guy he mentioned is Davis. Since when am I supposed to eliminate Davis? You’re worse that a leak, Leon. You’re a flood.”
Leon held up his hands. “All approved by Gil, right from the get-go. The agency orchestrated my contact with Coulter in the first place. There are a lot of things going on behind our backs. And I never said anything about you eliminating Davis. That has to be a plant, so ask Gil about it.
“At least one person outside the base knows our cover. I don’t find that comfortable.”
“Gil apparently thinks it’s necessary. I hope your act wasn’t so good that Coulter will have doubts and decide against working with either one of us.”
“I know the look, Leon. The guy is not an amateur. One or both of us will be getting a call from him soon. In the meantime, I’m calling Gil, deep line.”
Eric went to his desk, tapped at the keyboard. ‘Saw Uncle John, and his health worries me. Please call me tonight. Eric.’ He sent the message to his Aunt Emma via satellite link, then went back to work at his desk.
There were four telephone calls that afternoon, all of them for Leon, and none of them from John Coulter. At six, they closed the office. Leon looked at him darkly, and said, “If Coulter doesn’t call tomorrow, I’ll have to suspect your theatrics have fucked us up, my man. That will not be good for either of us.”
Eric didn’t offer a reply, and they went their separate ways. Leon headed uptown in his Humvee, and Eric drove home. Clouds were moving in from the southwest, and light rain was forecast. Eric checked his paper shard and thread indicators at the front door, and nothing was disturbed. There were no strange odors in the house. He changed into shorts and T-shirt, and popped two readymade chicken potpies into the oven.
His cell phone played a passage from Beethoven’s Ninth, and Eric answered it.
“Price here.”
“Gil. What’s the problem?”
Eric told him everything about the meeting with Coulter. “Leon says you set up the contact with this guy. How much does he really know, and where does he hear I have an assignment to get rid of Davis? That’s news to me. Anything else left out in my briefing?”
“The briefing was for you. The extra assignment was for whoever is running Coulter. It was in a supplemental file, and buried deep. I guess I’m a bit surprised Coulter dared to use it.
“So you’re telling me my dossier has been cracked, and my cover blown. Why don’t I just close up shop and head for home? Leon, too.”
“Easy. It’s all selective, all in the family for the little drama we’re writing here. Coulter has just told us he’s working for a government, not a corporation. No company has the hardware to decrypt that deep file as fast as he did. We added that file two days ago.”
“He offered me twenty fucking million just to get on his ‘team’. If he gives me the money, can I retire?”
“If we’d told you everything, how could you have acted so surprised and indignant? Leon says your face was nearly purple when you came back to the office. That doesn’t sound like you. Something else going on?”
“I don’t like being manipulated. There are too many players in this game, and God-knows how many I’m not aware of yet, and I’m not being told everything. I’d like to come out of this alive, something I was never concerned with when I worked alone. If that means I’m getting too old for this, then tough shit. I don’t like other people making up the rules of the game as we go along. I make my own rules, or I’m out of here.”
“Fair enough. There shouldn’t be any more surprises from our end, but I don’t regret not briefing you about Coulter. He’s been nibbling at the hook, but today he bit it. Accessing that deep file gives us a short list of countries he could be working for. Our insiders will be looking at the most likely candidates for decrypting the file so quickly. Sit tight. Coulter will call again. And watch Davis carefully. Look for any change in his attitude towards you. He and Coulter might be tighter than we think. Or not. If Coulter’s handlers want that aircraft back, Davis could be working with him or against him. It would be nice to know which it is.”
“I’m not sure about Leon, either,” said Eric.
“Treat him right. He’s as hard-core as you are. You don’t have to like him, but work with him. If you can’t do that, I’ll have to pull you out and give you a desk somewhere. I don’t think either one of us would like that.”
It was a light enough slap on the cheek, and Eric took it. “I hear you,” he said.
“Good. You’re the best at what you do, so do it. You could be in a central position soon. I want daily reports from now on, six p.m. eastern, this number.” Gil gave him the number. “I’ll pick up on the tenth ring. Otherwise, you hang up, even if I answer.”