Chapter Twenty-Seven #3
Riegel felt like his head was on the chopping block much like Lloyd’s.
Not literally like Lloyd. Riegel was certain Laurent would eventually order Riegel to have Lloyd killed if the operation failed.
Riegel would not die for this fiasco like the young American, but still, his career would be ruined if his corporation’s excesses in Africa were brought to light by that shameless son of a bitch, Julius Abubaker.
The phone rang again. With a sigh that blew vapor into the night, he pulled the phone from his pocket.
“Riegel.”
“Sir, it’s the Tech. There’s a call for you on the landline. I can send it to your mobile.”
“The landline? You mean the chateau’s phone?”
“Yes, sir. Wouldn’t say who he was. He’s speaking English.”
“Thank you.” A click. Riegel asked, “Who is speaking, please?”
“I am the guy you just can’t quite seem to kill.”
A chill ran up Kurt Riegel’s spine. He did not know Fitzroy had given his name to the Gray Man.
After a moment to collect himself, he said, “Mr. Gentry. It is an honor to speak with you. I have followed your career and consider you a very formidable adversary.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere.”
“I’ve been looking over your file.”
“Interesting?”
“Very.”
“Well, read up, Kurt, because I intend to pull my file out of your cold, dead hands.”
Kurt Riegel chuckled aloud. “What can I do for you?”
“I just wanted to make a social call.”
“I have hunted all manner of quarry in my life, big and small, including quite a few humans. This is the first time I have had a social conversation with my prey shortly before the kill.”
“Same here.”
There was a short pause. Then Riegel laughed. His laughter carried across the dark expanse of the chateau’s rear garden. “Oh, I am your prey now?”
“You know I am coming for you.”
“You won’t make it, and if you somehow do make it to Normandy, you certainly won’t make it to me.”
“We’ll see.”
“We know you are in Paris.”
“Paris? What are you talking about? I’m standing right behind you.”
“You are a funny man. That surprises me.” Riegel said it with a chuckle, but he could not help himself from looking back over his shoulder and at the empty walkway around the chateau’s roof. “We have all your known associates covered with literally dozens of watchers.”
“Really? I wouldn’t know.”
“Yes. You must be going from one old friend to the next. You are identifying my surveillance teams because you are good, but you are not good enough to become invisible. So you must turn away from your potential source of aid. Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.”
“Proud of yourself, aren’t you?”
“As soon as we see you, we will swoop down. I have nearly as many guns in Paris as I do sets of eyes.”
“Lucky for me, I’m not in Paris.”
Riegel paused. When he spoke again, his tone had changed. “I want you to know, Phillip Fitzroy’s death was a regrettable accident. I was away at the time. It should not have happened.”
“Don’t bother to try to charm me with professionalism. That won’t save you when I come. You and Lloyd both are dead men.”
“So you continue to say. You should know, I recovered the telephone Sir Donald took from the guard. Your intelligence source from inside the chateau has been eliminated.”
Court said nothing.
“It’s looking bleak for your side, my friend.”
“It is. Maybe I’ll just walk away. Give up.”
Riegel considered this. “I don’t think so.
When you went south to Geneva, I thought perhaps you were leaving the chase.
But no. You are a hunter, as am I. It is in your blood, isn’t it?
You can’t turn away. You have your quarry, your objective, your raison d’être.
Without men like Lloyd and me to target, you would be a sorry soul, indeed.
You will not walk off into the morning. You will come for us, and you will die along the way.
You must know this, but you would rather be killed by your prey than give up the hunt. ”
“Perhaps we can make an alternate arrangement.”
Riegel smiled. “Ah. Now we come to the reason for your call. Not just being social, then. I am listening with interest, Mr. Gentry.”
“You will lose the contract. When I am still alive in seven hours, Abubaker will give your natural gas deal to your competitor, and he will use whatever it is he has on LaurentGroup against you. You cannot avoid that. But if you let the girls and their mother go, just get them to a safe place, when I come tomorrow, after the deadline, I will kill Lloyd, do your job for you, but I will spare you.”
“Spare me?”
“You have my word.”
“In my mind’s eye I always pictured you as a two-dimensional predator. A gunman, nothing more. But you are actually a clever fellow, aren’t you? You and I could be friends under other circumstances.”
“Are you flirting with me?”
“You make me smile, Gentry. But you will make me smile even more when I am standing over your body, another trophy for my case.”
“You really should consider my offer.”
“You overestimate your negotiating leverage, sir. We will have you within the hour.”
A pause. “You’d better hope so. Sleep well, Mr. Riegel.”
“I might stay up awhile. I am expecting some good news from my associates in Paris. Bon soir, Court.”
“à bient?t, Kurt. See you soon.”
“Just one more thing, Mr. Gentry. Call it professional curiosity on my part. Kiev . . . Not you, was it?”
The line went dead, and Riegel shook in the cold that seemed to have just blown down from the coast, four kilometers to the north.