Rex Dalton Thriller series Boxset 2

by J C Ryan

  Rex shrugged, “I have no idea why she didn’t discuss it with you. As for your question about national security, both Margot and I are trying to figure it out. That’s the reason she needs to talk to Lucien and the President. What we do know are that there are forces at work that are bigger than any of us. The Russians obviously want to use it for some nefarious purposes. As for the DGSE, that’s what Margot wants to find out from Lucien and Aguillard.”

  Bert was still staring at Rex in disbelief. “Well, I have my suspicions…”

  “So do I, but you must understand the importance of not mentioning them to anyone. I mean anyone.”

  Bert nodded. “Yes, I will honor her wishes.”

  “Thanks. She will be grateful.”

  Rex then took out the second satphone, the only one in the world besides Rehka’s that had his own satphone’s number programmed into it, and explained how it worked. “You’ll have to be the go-between communicating securely through this phone with me.”

  Bert shook his head. “I never thought that when my sister went into politics it would involve me at some stage. But thank you for keeping her safe. Tell her not to worry about anything. I’ll do as she asks.”

  ***

  REX LOOKED AT the signal strength on the satphone he gave Bert and saw that it was good enough to make a call from the cellar. He told Bert that he was going to get Lucien on the phone so that Bert could talk to him and make arrangements for an urgent meeting.

  Bert agreed.

  From memory, Rex typed in Lucien Laurent’s secured mobile phone number given to him by Margot earlier, and when he heard a sleepy male voice answering, he handed the phone back to Bert.

  “Lucien, it’s Bertrand Lemaire,” he said.

  “Bert! Why in God’s name are you calling so early?”

  “I can’t say, Uncle Lucien,” Bert said, emphasizing the uncle. But I need to see you today. It’s very, very important.”

  “Are you driving or flying?”

  “Flying, but I still have to book it.”

  “Okay, let me have the details when you’ve done that, and I will arrange for my chauffeur to pick you up at the airport and bring you straight to my residence.”

  Bert hadn’t considered what he should tell his wife, he asked Rex.

  “I’d say be as honest as you can without telling her everything. In other words, just tell her you’ve been called to Paris to meet with Lucien, it’s about Margot, and that you don’t know anything else.”

  Bert grinned. “The only honest part about that is that this is about Margot. But I think that’ll have to do. My wife is okay. She loves Margot like her own sister.”

  Rex stayed behind in the cellar while Bert went to explain to his wife about his urgent trip to Paris.

  As Bert expected, his wife was alarmed when she heard the news but was also very supportive.

  Fifteen minutes later, Bert dropped Rex off at his car which he had parked about two kilometers from the farmhouse. They shook hands, wished each other the best, and Bert drove off to the airport to try to get the first available commercial flight, or if necessary, he’d hire a private charter.

  Rex drove around in Lyon and surrounding areas, doubling back a few times and taking sudden turns, and when he was sure he was not being followed, he headed back to Switzerland, taking a different route than before.

  Chapter 52

  Paris, France

  TWO AND A half hours later, after managing to get a seat on a domestic flight from Lyon to Paris at the very last minute, Bert was seated in Prime Minister Lucien Laurent’s residence, known as Hôtel de Matignon in the seventh arrondissement of Paris.

  It was a palace-like building with an illustrious history, constructed between 1722 and 1725 by Jean Courtonne and Jean Mazin. Since then it had changed hands a number of times, Napoleon Bonaparte being one of the most famous of the owners. There was a time when the city council of Paris wanted to convert it into a museum, but eventually it became the official residence for the Prime Minster of France. It was said to have the largest private garden in Paris. Over the years, since it became the official residence for the Prime Minister, a tradition was established that every new prime minister who moves into the residence plants a tree. The only prime minister who didn’t follow the tradition was Jacques Chirac who served as France’s prime Minister from 1974 to 1976.

  “I don’t know what this is all about…” Bert began, “but the message is from Margot.”

  It had been a little more than a week since Aguillard had received the inconvenient, worrying, and infuriating news that his top DSGE agents had not only lost Margot Lemaire but had been bullied, cowed, and thoroughly embarrassed by someone they thought was a countryman but couldn’t identify.

  While matters of state kept him busy, his mind, most of the time, was occupied with Margot and the damage she could do to him, his marriage, and his country. Some of his thoughts were egotistical in nature, some of them were totally irrational, and all of them only served to increase his trepidation.

  When Laurent requested an urgent meeting to discuss ‘personal matters’, he was in such a state of flux that the only logical conclusion he could reach was that the time of his downfall had come. Resigned to imminent disgrace, he had his chief of staff clear his calendar for the afternoon after agreeing to Lucien’s request.

  He looked at the ornate Louis Quatorze clock on his office mantel. The trumpeter figure atop it seemed to herald doom. The face indicated it was almost time for the meeting. Aguillard had a strong impulse to seize the heavy object and throw it through one of the office windows as if destroying the clock would freeze the time, and he wouldn’t have to go through the ordeal he was sure awaited him. Fortunately, Laurent turned up right on time to save the priceless object from an ignominious end.

  “Well?” Aguillard prompted without a greeting.

  “She wants to meet with you.”

  Aguillard’s heart plummeted, but Laurent put out a hand. “Giles, I don’t think she wants to cause trouble.”

  “And what makes you take such a sunny view of my downfall?” Aguillard asked.

  Ignoring the implied accusation of disloyalty, Laurent went on. “First, let me tell you how I received the message. You know, of course, that the Lemaire children are like a niece and nephew to me. Our families are very close, and their father was my best friend before his death.”

  “Yes, yes. You are fond of Margot.”

  “Not only Margot, but her brother, Bertrand. He contacted me after her disappearance in Vietnam, very worried. I told him we had not heard from her. Giles, it pained me to deceive him. But that matter has been put to rest. Bertrand paid me a visit today. The long and short of it is he has heard from Margot, and her message was that she would like to meet with you to assure you she will not cause trouble.”

  Aguillard brightened a bit. “And you trust him?”

  “With my life,” Laurent answered simply.

  “How are we to arrange this meeting?”

  “Bert and I are to act as go-betweens until the terms are satisfactory to both you and Margot. I am happy to serve in that context if you agree.”

  “What choice do I have? This matter is driving me insane, wondering when the other shoe will drop. By all means, arrange this meeting. Just be certain I cannot be followed by journalists or Russian spies. That would easily snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”

  And thus, began an elaborate dance of power play between two strong-willed people just to reach agreement to meet with each other.

  ***

  THE NEGOTIATIONS WOULD probably have been much quicker and more efficient if Margot and Giles could talk to each other directly—maybe. With both of them hard-headed, it probably had an equal chance in ending in a stalemate. So, frustrating as it was for the go-betweens, they all knew it was the best strategy.

  At the outset, the President was adamant to establish the upper hand. So, his first salvo, relayed through Laurent, was that he would not m
eet Margot in secret and demanded that she present herself in Paris to explain herself.

  Rex talking on behalf of Margot, through her brother, told Bert, to tell the Prime Minister to tell the President to think carefully about his demand, and maybe to be a bit more realistic about how much clout he had in this situation. If Margot would’ve allowed Rex to formulate the reply, he would’ve been a bit more direct and would’ve told the President to go jump in a lake, but in all likelihood it would have been something much more discourteous. As it were, he was, just like Bert and Lucien, only a messenger and therefore passed it on as Margot dictated.

  Next, Aguillard cited her deliberate attempt to defraud him and the people of France by faking her death and her suspicious ‘dealings’ with Russian agents in Vietnam. So, according to him, she was the one who had to reconsider the sway she held.

  In the end, after a lot of back and forth, it came down to Margot putting her foot down when she said, “No, I will not go to France. Tell him the baby will not be born in prison. The meeting will be in Switzerland, or there will be no meeting.”

  Rex called Bert and dictated the words of the message to him. It included words to the effect that Margot had a considerable distance of between seven and ten hours flying, a long one for a woman in her condition, to travel to attend a meeting in Switzerland. Thus, making sure no one would suspect where they were.

  Bert who knew they couldn’t be too far away from where he lived just chuckled while he took down the message.

  “Okay, I’ll get on the phone to Lucien right now. Please give Margot my love,” Bert said.

  Rex said, “Give it to her yourself,” and handed Margot the phone. A few minutes later, she gave it back with tears in her eyes. “Thank you so much, Rowan. It means so much to us to have heard each other’s voices.”

  Rex smiled gently. It was such a small thing to do for her happiness.

  A couple of hours later, the satphone rang again. It was Bert, and he had the happy news that the meeting in Switzerland had been accepted. Now what?

  “Date, time, and location,” Rex answered.

  ***

  IN PARIS, AGUILLARD and Laurent conferred about how to get themselves out of the country without having a gaggle of reporters follow. After considering many options, including Laurent’s suggestion that Aguillard announce a personal retreat day, they settled on the coming Sunday, four days hence. It was a day when he would not be expected to be seen by the public, his constant media entourage, or any other government official. Only his security guards would be let in on the secret, and they were notoriously close-mouthed about Presidential movements.

  Rex had used the intervening time to consult with Rehka about a place near Geneva to meet. She’d suggested a private airfield.

  When Bert and Rex next talked, they discovered both parties had been thinking along the same lines; with much secrecy, a skeleton security detail, and in a private plane Laurent would rent for the purpose in the name of a non-existent entity. Rex gave them the name of the airfield, and it was agreed that Laurent, Aguillard, and three security guards, one of whom would be the pilot, would fly in for the meeting.

  Only one more point of contention came up, and that was that Aguillard didn’t want to get out of the plane. And on Rex’s advice, Margot was adamant not to get into the plane. This point required several phone calls back and forth, and the President tried his tough-guy tactics again until Rex had enough of it, got on the phone, and dictated another message for Bert to pass on.

  “Tell him this, and say it word for word, Bert. He knows, Laurent knows, you know, and I know, that Margot has and had nothing to do with Russians. She never met with them, didn’t even know they were following her until they tried to kidnap her. She will not be put in a position to be kidnapped by the French now. Tell Aguillard that she doesn’t trust him, and with good reason. He has one chance and one chance only to turn this mess around, and that’s to meet with her, on her terms. She held out the olive branch, and he’d better take it.”

  “You want me to say all that verbatim?” Bert asked.

  “Just change the pronouns, Bert. That’s the bottom line.”

  “Will do. May I speak to Margot now?”

  Rex gave Margot the phone.

  It wasn’t another half-hour before Bert called back with good news. “They have accepted the terms. They’ll taxi into the hangar as you’ve suggested and meet with her there.”

  “That’s fine, so long as the President’s men get out on the tarmac, they must be at least five hundred meters away from the hangar, and they’ll stay there until the meeting is over. The pilot takes the plane into the hangar, but he does not leave the plane when it gets into the hangar. Only Laurent and Aguillard come out, and then the door is closed.”

  Bert conveyed the final demands to Laurent and phoned back to confirm they had agreed to it.

  At dinner, Rex asked Margot, “How are you feeling?”

  “Much, much better,” she replied with a big smile on her face.

  Digger looked up from his dinner bowl, stared at Margot, and broke into his signature smile, which made her laugh.

  “It’s almost as if he can understand our conversation.”

  “Don’t doubt it for a minute,” Rex answered. “Sometimes, I could swear he can even read my mind.”

  Chapter 53

  Geneva, Switzerland

  REX HAD SHARED with Margot his expectation to be at the meeting to protect her. She at first protested that it wasn’t his fight, but a look from him quelled her objections.

  “I won’t interfere unless they start something, Margot. I know these are private matters between you and Aguillard. But I’m not comfortable to leave you alone in their company. So far, they’ve not given me any reason to trust them. I can’t risk your safety. I hope you understand.”

  “I do, Rowan, and I’m grateful for your help. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for everything. It’s just… well, I’m embarrassed.”

  “No need, Margot. I want you to stop fussing about that. Consider me part of the woodwork.”

  She smiled. They were all ready to go, including Digger. Rex had already checked the location and surrounding areas out the day before and took careful note of where everything was. He still wanted to get there at least two hours ahead of schedule so that he could make sure that no one else was lurking around, there was nothing that would’ve stopped the DGSE to send in a few of their agents ahead of the meeting.

  Two hours later, right on time, they watched as a sleek Beechcraft G36 Bonanza landed gracefully and taxied toward the hangar they’d been directed to. Rex and Digger had scouted it for anyone who might be hidden and waiting for the meeting to start, clearing it and the well-appointed meeting room inside before the jet landed.

  Rex and Margot were watching through the window as the plane came to a stop about five hundred meters from the hangar, the door opened, the steps were lowered, and two men in suits and dark glasses, no doubt armed, got out, looked around, and nodded to someone up in the plane. They took up positions next to each other on the tarmac, one facing the hangar and the other facing outward.

  “So far so good,” Rex mumbled.

  When the plane approached the hangar, Margot went into the meeting room as pre-arranged, while Rex and Digger watched the plane enter the hangar. Rex activated the mechanism that automatically closed the hangar door.

  Laurent came first, and then Aguillard came down. His face showed arrogance and no fear, but Rex noticed he kept his hands and arms slightly spread away from his body.

  Rex waited for Aguillard and Laurent to deplane and the door to close again before he went into the meeting room and through to a small kitchen off the meeting room to wait for Margot’s signal to come out.

  Rex could hear and see the greetings as Laurent came forward to where Margot stood and tried to hug her. It was an awkward moment, with her standing stiff and unyielding. After a few seconds, Laurent stepped back, a curious combination of
grief and embarrassment in his expression.

  “Margot,” the President said, with a curt nod serving as greeting.

  “Giles. Before we begin, I would like to introduce you to my bodyguard and his partner.” Rex stepped forward on cue and stood silently, his arms crossed as Margot went on. “Meet Rowan Donnelly and his partner, Digger.”

  “This was not part of the agreement,” Aguillard started. “And why would you need a bodyguard when you meet with me?”

  “Giles, you’ve got three of them to meet with me. But if you feel intimidated by one man and a dog, get back on the plane and go back to Paris. And as for your question why I need a bodyguard, I had to hire them after you set the DGSE on me and tried to pin collusion with the Russians on me as part of your effort to cover-up your share in all of this.”

  Aguillard made no direct reply to that. Instead, he went on the offensive. “How could you have been so careless?” His arms were crossed, the picture of a closed-off attitude.

  Rex sighed. This is not going to be pretty.

  He was right. Margot immediately snapped, “Me? You’re the one who…”

  “How do you even know…”

  “Giles Aguillard! Don’t you dare say it! I’m not going to join you in the sewer of your mind. One more word of that nature and I walk out of here, and the next thing you’ll have on your hands is a paternity suit,” she shouted.

  Both were already red in the face when Laurent stepped between them. “Please! Both of you. We’re here to find solutions and make an agreement, not to insult and threaten each other.”

  Margot took a step back, tears threatening to fall. Aguillard maintained his stance, but Laurent tapped him on the chest. “Giles, stand down.”

  To Margot, he said, “It takes two to tango, young lady. You’re not insinuating that he raped you, are you?”

  “No, of course not, but do you think it’s acceptable for him to suggest that I’m trying to frame him as the father?”

  “No, of course not.” Laurent looked at Aguillard and shook his head in admonishment.