AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The two men proceeded down the long hallway to the kitchen. Wilson opened the door to the basement, flipped a light switch, and then motioned for Cooke to go ahead. The secretary followed and closed the door behind him.
Cooke watched the older man go through the same routine he’d been through the day before. He went behind the bar, opened a panel, and pressed several buttons. A few seconds later the sound of a string quartet drifted down from the ceiling speakers. After that Wilson grabbed two lowballs, tossed in a few ice cubes, and filled them with scotch. Cooke was about to protest. He had work to do, and the middle of a Sunday was no time to start drinking, but Franklin Wilson was not the type of man to be rebuffed. It was better to take the drink and baby it.
Wilson came out from behind the bar with a glass in each hand and gestured toward the two leather club chairs on each side of the fireplace. Apparently there would be no billiards today. “If I’d known you were stopping by, I would have had a fire going.” Wilson handed Cooke his scotch on the rocks and after both men were seated he asked, “So what’s on your mind?”
“As I said, I’m headed to Paris in the morning.”
“Yes, what’s that all about?”
“A couple of things. I want to see my people at our embassy and get a sense of their morale.” Cooke looked at his drink and added, “I also have a meeting with some of my contacts at the DGSE.”
“French Intelligence?” Wilson asked with an arched brow.
Cooke nodded. “As you can imagine, they’re not very happy about the current situation.”
“Have they told you who they think was behind the attack?”
“No,” Cook answered with a shake of his head, “but there are certain things in my business that we’re loath to discuss over the phone.”
“Of course.” Wilson took a gulp from his drink and sighed as
it warmed his throat. “Do you have a sense, though, that they might have some leads?”
“Apparently it’s turned into a spook convention in Paris and everyone is a suspect.”
“And Stansfield?”
“He’s flying over with me.”
Wilson stared at his visitor for a moment. “Your idea or his?”
“Mine. I thought it would be a good idea to get him out of his element. I have some surveillance teams set up to follow him. If he does anything unusual or meets with anyone of interest we’ll know.”
“Sounds like a good idea. What else?”
Cooke took a tiny sip and said, “Hurley showed up.”
Wilson edged forward in his seat. “Interesting. Where is he?”
“Paris . . . DGSE has him under surveillance.”
“You’re good,” Wilson said with an admiring tone. “Has he done anything stupid?”
“Not yet, but knowing his history, there’s a good chance he’ll give the French a reason to arrest him before the week is over.”
Wilson smiled. “I hope you’re right. What else?”
Cooke nodded and then took his time. He took another small sip, set his glass down on a cork coaster sitting atop a small wood side table, and leaned forward, placed his elbows on his knees, and folded his hands. “I’m not sure how to put this, so I’m just going to come out and say it. Is there something between you and Stansfield you haven’t told me about?”
Wilson gauged that Cooke was in possession of some information that had caused him to ask the question. Being an attorney by trade, he did what all good attorneys do: Rather than answer the question he asked one. “What do you mean?”
“I mean some problem . . . some bad blood between the two of you?”
Wilson shook his head, gazed into his drink for a moment, and then said, “Other than the fact that I don’t trust the man, and that I think he should be tried and thrown in jail, no . . . there’s nothing I can think of.”
“Nothing specific?”
“Paul,” Wilson said, his tone turning testy, “if you have some information come out and say it. There isn’t anything that I can specifically think of that has transpired between Thomas Stansfield and me. He is my subordinate and has always been. When I was a senator, and I sat on the Intelligence Committee, we had our brawls, but so did every other senator. It was our job to push him, and in light of his uncooperative nature, there were a lot of heated moments.”
