Point of Contact

by Tom Clancy

  “You need an independent, third-party audit, I take it,” Paul said.

  Rhodes flashed his million-watt smile. He turned to Hendley. “Didn’t I tell you? Paul’s the best. Just the best.”

  “Believe me, I know,” Hendley said. “And when we hired him, you were his strongest reference.”

  Rhodes shrugged. “I just call ’em like I see ’em.”

  Paul had been grateful for the reference at the time. But even back then, he couldn’t shake the feeling that someday he’d have to pay it back.

  In spades.

  10

  A firm knock on the door caught everyone’s attention. It swung open. Jack stood in the doorway, harried and apologetic.

  “Sorry I’m late. There’s a wreck two blocks up.”

  “Jack, it’s great to see you,” Rhodes said. He and Hendley stood to greet him. After a brief struggle, Paul managed to stand up, too.

  Rhodes examined Jack’s face. “I like the mustache, Jack. There’s something else about you, but I can’t quite make it out.”

  Since the hostage-rescue operation Jack had shaved his beard, keeping only a thick but well-groomed mustache, and cut his long hair short and parted it in the opposite direction. He’d even put on a little base makeup to hide the remnants of his black eye. It wasn’t vanity. As the son of President Jack Ryan, Sr., “Junior” liked to change up his looks every once in a while to avoid being recognized when he was out in public.

  “You look like a young Burt Reynolds,” Hendley said.

  “Who’s Burt Reynolds?” Jack asked.

  “My wife’s childhood crush,” Hendley said. “Before your time. Say, have you met Paul Brown?”

  Jack extended his hand, smiling. “Accounting, right?” He liked Paul’s unexpectedly firm grip.

  “I’m surprised you remember me. We’re on opposite ends of the building and on different floors.”

  “You do good work,” Jack said. But in truth, Jack hardly knew the man. He met him a couple times at Christmas parties, saw him in a few general staff meetings. But Paul Brown’s reputation was sterling.

  “You do good work, too,” Paul said. “Or so I hear.”

  For a moment Jack hesitated. Neither Paul nor Rhodes knew about The Campus, Hendley Associates’ “black side” operations. In order to fund those operations, Hendley and Jack Ryan, Sr., also formed the “white side” private-equity management enterprise known to the public as Hendley Associates. The firm had grown exponentially over the years, both in terms of personnel and AUM—assets under management. Jack actually began his work on the white side as a first-rate financial analyst before joining The Campus as a special operator—without his father’s knowledge or permission.

  “We never worked together, did we?” Jack said.

  “No, but you worked with Kevin Hedrick on a project I’m familiar with a few years back. He said you were the sharpest knife in the drawer.”

  “Kevin was the lead on that one. He just made me look good.”

  “I know what it is,” Rhodes said, like a math student solving a problem. “You’ve put on some muscle since I last saw you. Hitting the gym pretty hard these days, eh?”

  “You look pretty good yourself, Senator,” Jack said, trying to take the attention away from himself. In fact, he’d recently added another five pounds of muscle, thanks to a new training regimen, bringing the total to fifteen since he left college.

  “Pilates and yoga, mostly,” Rhodes said. “And Whole Thirty.”

  Jack and Rhodes shared a couple personal stories for the next few minutes, pulling Hendley into the friendly mix. Rhodes had been a frequent guest at the White House and even the President’s personal residence when he was a senator. Rhodes had worked tirelessly on behalf of President Ryan’s defense agenda in his first term, earning him both Hendley’s and Ryan’s gratitude and allegiance.

  Paul Brown noted the easy familiarity between the three men. Old friends, it seemed to him. Two former senators and the son of a President. Paul felt like an intruder. He was just the son of a beat cop who was raised on his grandfather’s dairy farm. “Can I get you something to drink, Jack?” Hendley asked.

  “I’m fine, thanks.”

  They all took their seats and Rhodes filled Jack in on the part of his presentation he’d already given to Paul. He picked up where he’d left off.

  “So the bottom line, gentlemen, is that we need an independent, third-party firm to conduct a ‘good faith’ audit of their assets, and in the end, you’d both sign a form that would summarize your findings. Nothing too complicated or involved. That way, both parties can be assured we’ve negotiated a reasonable purchase price.”

  “Any doubts about that by either party?”

  Rhodes shrugged. “We’re offering double the current stock price. If they’re as good as we think they are, it’s more than worth it. But two more sets of eyes on the prize will put a few hearts at ease, including mine.”

  Rhodes leaned forward. “And as everyone in the industry knows, Hendley Associates has a sterling reputation for this kind of work, and nobody”—Rhodes waved a finger at Paul—“is better at forensic accounting than Paul Brown. I’ve seen him at work, believe me.”

  Jack frowned. He’d never seen Rhodes at Hendley Associates before. He wondered when Paul and Rhodes had worked together—and why.

  Rhodes said, “Paul, what I’d ask you to do is look at their books—it’s all digital now, of course. Root around in there, make sure everything is on the up and up.”

  “Do you have your suspicions?” Hendley asked.

  “No, not at all. Dalfan Technologies is an old and reputable firm in the most honest market and robust economy in Asia. But everyone thought Enron was the golden child, too, in its day. In the current market, large-cap companies like ours can only grow our market share and capture new growth through acquiring smaller, faster-growing companies like Dalfan.”

  “But your board doesn’t want to overpay for the privilege,” Hendley said. “Or buy a pig in a poke.”

  “Exactly. A third-party audit protects everyone’s interests.” Rhodes turned to Jack. “I’ve known Gerry for twenty years, and I cheered him on when he decided to jump into the private sector and start this magnificent firm.” He turned back to Hendley. “Wasn’t I your biggest cheerleader? Didn’t I tell you you’d succeed?”

  Hendley smiled. “Guilty on both counts. And I’m truly grateful for your support over the years.”

  Rhodes turned back to Jack and Paul. “So what other firm would I turn to other than Hendley Associates?”

  Hendley saw the hesitant look on their faces.

  “It’s a great honor for the senator to ask us to do this and I’d very much like to accept. The remuneration is extremely generous, too. However, he’s placed three conditions on our employment. And the first two conditions are the two of you, gentlemen.”

  Jack and Paul exchanged a confused look.

  Rhodes smiled. “I specifically requested you, Paul, because I know your work and I know you understand the value of discretion. There’s no one I trust in the world more than you to handle this thing.” He paused for effect. “I’d bet my life on it.”

  Rhodes’s little speech seemed kind of over the top to Jack, but by the look on Paul’s face, it had the desired effect.

  Rhodes turned to Jack. “And I didn’t ask for you, Jack. I asked Gerry who his best financial analyst was and he named you without skipping a beat—which was no surprise to me at all. You’re whip smart, just like your father. And given our past history together, I couldn’t be more delighted to have you on board with Paul.”

  “I appreciate that, Senator.”

  “And if I can’t have the two of you, well, it’s a no-go for me. Sounds crazy, I know, but that’s how strongly I believe in our little team.”

  “Well, there you have it,” Hendley
said. “Without the two of you, we don’t get the contract.”

  Jack and Paul exchanged a noncommittal look. They saw in each other’s eyes exactly the same thing. Neither wanted to do the job—for different reasons, obviously. But there would be an inevitable fallout for both of them if they didn’t take it, Gerry Hendley’s disappointment being the worst of it. Jack saw that his boss clearly wanted the gig.

  Rhodes saw this silent exchange as capitulation and took it as a sign of victory.

  “Paul, if you agree to take the assignment, you’d handle the forensic accounting. I’d want you to turn on that radar brain of yours and cut through all of the haze. I really don’t think you’ll find anything, and that’s as good an outcome as I can hope for.” Rhodes paused. “But don’t mistake my meaning. If there’s something wrong, something fishy, I want to know. I have a fiduciary responsibility to my company and I’m counting on you to help me fulfill it.”

  “Of course,” Paul said. “But any competent CPA can do that kind of work.”

  Rhodes pointed at Jack. “Jack, if you sign on, your assignment would be more qualitative in nature. I’d want you to look around, size up the people you meet there, the working conditions, the general feel of the place—even the city. Is it the kind of work environment you’d want to be in? Are the people happy, productive? What’s Dalfan’s quality control like? Their security? And I’d want you to take some time to confer with Paul. If he pulled up a questionable file or two, I’d hope you’d burn some shoe leather and check things out, kick the tires. Do you catch my drift?”

  “I think so.”

  “They’ll put on their very best dog-and-pony show,” Hendley said. “That’s to be expected. Just keep your eyes and ears open and try to see what’s behind the curtain.”

  Rhodes added, “I need you both to keep a very low profile while you’re over there. If word of what you’re doing gets out, it could affect the deal.”

  Jack and Paul nodded their agreement.

  “Questions?” Rhodes asked.

  “What was the third condition for the job?” Jack asked.

  “Oh, yes, I almost forgot. You would need to leave for Singapore tonight. We’re up against the clock and it’s a twenty-one-hour flight.”

  Paul Brown’s eyes got wide as dinner plates. Jack frowned.

  Rhodes saw that he hadn’t sealed the deal yet. He turned to Hendley. “Gerry, do you mind if I have a private word with Paul here in your office?”

  “No, not at all. I want to grab a cup of coffee, anyway, and catch up with Jack about another matter. Will thirty minutes do?”

  “That should be fine.”

  “Call me if you need more,” Hendley said. The four men stood. “C’mon, Jack. They’ve got prune Danish in the cafeteria this morning.”

  Jack sighed quietly and followed him out the door.

  Gerry Hendley was about to serve him a steaming pile of something, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be prune Danish.

  11

  Hendley poured himself a coffee, but the prune Danishes were already gone, so he grudgingly reached for a blueberry muffin. Jack snagged a granola bar and a bag of Jocko White Tea, his new favorite caffeinated beverage. Hendley led him to a table in the far corner, away from the other patrons. Free breakfast and lunch was one of the perks of working at Hendley Associates. So were eighty-hour weeks. It was a competitive industry and there was always a market open somewhere around the globe. Eating in meant less time away from the building. Adding a cafeteria had been a costly but necessary expense for the firm.

  “Ding and John gave me a detailed brief of the rescue mission yesterday,” Hendley said. “You and the team did excellent work. I never got the chance to tell you that in person.”

  “John told us to take some time off. I was sound asleep when you called this morning.”

  Hendley flashed a conspiratorial grin. “Late night, eh?”

  “Started a new Churchill biography I just bought, and binge-watched the whole first season of Stranger Things.”

  “Such a misspent youth,” Hendley joked. “But seriously, you doing okay? That was a hairy op you all pulled off.”

  “Yeah, fine. Still processing a few things. Looking forward to the next one.”

  “That rescue mission was kind of a fluke. I feel badly about it, to tell you the truth. Things could’ve gone sideways.”

  “It was lucky we were training for exactly that kind of mission. It paid off.”

  “I know. But if you guys hadn’t already been in the area you wouldn’t have received the call. John and I talked about it yesterday. We’re going to try and avoid that kind of thing in the future. Too many variables and too many unknowns on a mission thrown together like that.”

  “If we hadn’t gone in, the rest of the hostages would’ve been killed. It was worth the risk.”

  “Now that we know the outcome, I agree. But we could have lost both your team and the hostages, given the circumstances. If anything had happened to you or any of the others, I just don’t know what I would have told your father.”

  “You would have told him we did our best. That’s all he’d want to hear.”

  “You’re right about that.” But Hendley’s mood suddenly darkened. He still hadn’t gotten over the deaths of Brian Caruso, Dom’s brother, or Sam Driscoll. The Campus lost two good men when they lost the two of them in the last few years. The business they were in was risky, no question, and all of the members of The Campus were willing to take that risk on behalf of the country. But Hendley felt the responsibility to make sure that every effort was taken to mitigate those risks as much as possible. Advanced planning and intelligence were key in that effort, but the rescue mission had largely forsaken both because of the time factor.

  “Tell me about this thing with Rhodes. What’s really going on?” Jack asked.

  “You know as much as I do. He called me late last night and made his pitch. He and I go back a long way. It sounds like an easy gig for the two of you, and you’re going to love Singapore.”

  “It’s just that I haven’t done any white-side work for a while.”

  “All the more reason I want you to take this job. Your analytical work for Hendley Associates provides you with fantastic cover and you need to keep those skills up.”

  “I like The Campus work better.”

  “I bet you do. Firing a machine gun must be a little more exciting than reading 10-K reports or all of those other SEC filings. But remember, son, the analytical work is still part of your job description.” He took another sip of coffee.

  Jack frowned. It wasn’t like Gerry to pull rank. “What’s this really all about?”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “I get the feeling you want me in Singapore for some reason you’re not telling me about.”

  Jack wondered if he was being reassigned permanently. It had all been laughed off by now, but last year Gerry was none too happy about getting machine-gunned by Jack with Simunitions belowdecks on a yacht anchored off Carpenter Point. Jack had pulled the trigger too quickly on that mission. On the North Sea rig, he hadn’t pulled it soon enough.

  Hendley sat upright. “Frankly, you’re one of my best analysts and I really need you to do this assignment for Rhodes. It’s that simple. You know him as well as I do. He isn’t just connected to Marin Aerospace. He has ties all over town. If we do a good turn for him on such short notice he won’t forget, and that will lead to a lot more work, boring as it can sometimes be. But it’s that boring work that keeps The Campus fully funded and operational.”

  Jack examined Gerry’s determined eyes. He was a friend and a mentor even more than he was a boss. He could read between the lines. “And?”

  Hendley held Jack’s gaze for a moment, then his face broke into a smile. “Well, there is one more thing.”

  Jack smiled, too, trying not to gloat. It wasn
’t often anybody called Gerry Hendley’s bluff. “Yes?”

  The former senator laid a fatherly hand on Jack’s muscled forearm. “I just like the idea of you being in Singapore. It’s probably the safest city in the world—certainly the cleanest. This will be like a paid vacation. Give you a chance to rest up, see a part of the world you haven’t seen before.”

  “I knew it. You’re worried about me.”

  “Worried? Why would I be worried?”

  “Did Ding say something to you?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact. He said you did a good job on that rig, and that anybody could’ve made the mistake you did.”

  “And that’s all?”

  “Anything else you think I should know?”

  Jack knew that the senator’s Southern charm hid a ruthless instinct for weakness and a fishmonger’s skill for hard bargains. He needed to tread carefully.

  “We’re supposed to start the new training module in Colorado next week. I can’t miss it.”

  “John assures me that you’re not missing anything significant, and he’ll brief you when you get back.”

  “I don’t want to let the team down. If I’m in Singapore and they get the call, I can’t be there for them.” Jack took a sip of coffee. “Or is that the point?”

  “Look, you’re reading way more into this thing than you need to. It’s a job and I need you to do it. That’s all. If I wanted you off The Campus, you’d be off, right?”

  “Yeah, for sure.” Having once lost his place on the team before winning it back, Jack worried he could lose it again. He hoped this white-side assignment wasn’t the first gentle shove out the Campus door.