18 - Both Ends against the Middle

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The woman composed herself, patting her hair and clearing her throat as Monique entered the shop.

"Bonjour."

"Bonjour, Madame." Monique smiled and wandered to the counter. "I would like some stamps and a small writing tablet, please."

"Of course. One packet?"

"Yes."

The woman got the stamps from a drawer beneath the counter and then selected a small writing tablet from a rack at the end, placing the items in a paper bag and totaling the cost.

"Merci. I love these little tablets for keeping my shopping lists and appointment times." She placed some money on the counter, considerably more than necessary, picked up the bag and left." When the woman didn't respond negatively to the code phrase Monique was comfortable that all was well.

She hurried down the side street and out into the sunshine of the main square. Across the road she saw the elderly couple seated on the café patio and she knew the Agency hounds were on her back again. Nathan left nothing to chance except the questionable abilities of his team. Of course there was always Murray. Murray the wraith. The spook's spook . . . the Agency killer.

She turned down the street and made her way to the lobby of the Hotel du Lac. Inside, Monique went to the bar and straight on to the restroom where she found an empty stall and opened her envelope from the stationery shop.

The message was innocuous enough, with a few tidbits about her last client meeting and a further enquiry about Richard. Nothing special, still it was good to have someone checking for her. She tore it up and flushed it down the toilet then straightening her skirt she exited the stall.

"Hello, Monique. We have to stop meeting in this place I could develop a questionable reputation."

Her hand flew to her neck and she stumbled to an awkward halt, reaching back to the stall door for support.

"Surprise, nobody to signal this time." Richard offered a sardonic smile and sat back on the sink counter.

"I- what signal . . . "

"Please, don't insult me. Moving the purse is spy school one-oh-one."

"It was Nathan. He made me, Richard. I had no choice." She lied.

"I would have thought Nathan was a little more subtle than that. He must be getting old or desperate."

"He wants the money." She moved to the sink beside him and rinsed her hands, drying them on a paper towel.

"I've been interviewed for over a year now about what Nathan wants and suspects so don't waste my time with meaningless statements.

Her face twisted angrily and she took it out on her hair, poking and fluffing with jerky movements.

"He asked me as well, Richard."

"And of course you told him where it was."

"I didn't tell him where it was if that's your concern."

"But he knows you know where it is and therefore knows you took it."

"We took it. Yes, he knows. They know you are here to see me, Richard."

"Gosh, what a surprise! His Keystone Kop team were looking for me when I first got here which begs the question, how did they know?"

"Not through me I didn't know you were coming."

He turned toward her, his eyes tracing the sculptured features of her face in profile. In fact her entire profile stirred memories for him.

"You did confirm it though after I showed up. What else did he want with you?"

"I told you, the money."

"C'mon, Monique. If Nathan had wanted the money from you he'd have it, Murray would see to that."

The mention of Murray gave her weak knees and she leaned on the counter, dropping her head and letting her hair fall over her face. Richard recognized the move and smiled to himself. Good old Monique. When in a bind trot out all the old dramatic ploys.

"What did he offer you?"

"How do you know he-" Richard just shook his head contemptuously. She sighed and turned around sitting as he was, both facing the row of cubicles."He offered me the entire network . . . exclusively."

"Dalton must have really put quite a hole in the Agency operation when he shut down."

"Nathan was un-remorseful. He said they could always rebuild."

"I'm sure. He moved quickly enough to remove Peter's players from the board including Peter himself." He felt her looking at him and he faced her to see the puzzled frown.

"You didn't know?"

"I heard about Peter but nothing else." She maintained a straight face; some things still needed to remain ambiguous.

Richard related the details of Roger Léger, Pierre Tremblay and the goons someone sent after Roger.

"They made their own misery but it forced Nathan to clean house, Monique."

"Who went after Roger?"

"I don't know for certain. Maybe that mystery organization I mentioned in Juan-les-Pines."

"I have no idea."

"No association or a group?"

"No. Why?"

"Nothing to worry about right now." He crossed his arms and looked sideways at her. "How long do you think you'll last when Nathan's finished his rebuilding?"

Monique turned around and stared at herself in the mirror. She knew very well Richard was right. "What can we do?"

"Oh, now it's we again." Richard laughed and stood up from the counter. "What we can do, Monique, is give me your access codes for the money we were going to share in Toronto and I'll be on my way."

"Alone! Without me?"

"You have your new position with the Agency, you can start over and more quickly on your own."

"No way, Richard. We go together or not at all."

"You are wrong, Monique. There is no more, together. I'll take my share and you can do what you like with Nathan. I'm retiring."

"Your share?"

"I'm not greedy I just want what we agreed on then I'm gone . . . for good."

"They'll never let you go. They know you're here now. This is exactly what Nathan wants. You and the money." She didn't expect he would just want a share!

"No thanks to you I'll wager."

"If I give you my password code you'll be right in their sights." She put a hand on his arm and he felt the remembered thrill of the first time he felt her touch.

"Richard, think this through. What you'll be giving up." Her fingers flexed on his arm.

"It's what I'll be gaining, Monique."

"What?"

"Peace of mind."

Her lips compressed and she dropped her hand. "Very well. I'll give you my half of the code but I want yours as well. If something happens to you I want to know I still have a chance at getting it."

"I just need to know you won't be pointing them in my direction." He saw something slide behind her eyes and he knew his success was going to depend on a considerable amount of luck.

"Of course not, I have a financial interest here too you know." She turned and examined her face in the mirror.

"Fine. The code then." He could almost hear her mind clicking over. To comply or to delay, that was her dilemma.

"How can I trust you to just take half should you be able to get any of it?"

"You'll just have to take my word, after all it was you that gave me up not the other way around." His comment landed with a smack and Monique knew she had lost this battle.

"I have to have something in return."

"Like what? I'll give you my code after I get the money; I think that's as fair as I should be expected to behave."

"If you are successful I need you to put my share into another account . . . " She tried a weak smile and shrugged.

"So Nathan can't get it." Richard twisted his lips into a mocking grin.

"It's as you said, Richard. How long can I last trusting Nathan."

"I promise I will move your share but in the same bank. I'll set up another account in the name of Madame Benoit."

"Madame?"

"No time for vanity, Monique. The code." He held out a hand.

She took out a pen from her handbag and scribbled the code on a tiny piece of paper. Richard took it and his eyebrows rose when he saw that it was connected to the powerful Bank of St. George in Genoa, Italy.

"You certainly didn't go below any radar did you? I should have looked up the blind I sent mine to."

"We agreed it was my choice."

"We did." He pocketed the paper, patting it and fixing his eyes on hers. "Just remember, Monique we are taking each other's word here." With a hint of sadness he gave her a small smile, nodded and left.

******

"You gave him the code?"

"Yes."

"Did he verify it in front of you? Did he contact the bank?"

"No."

"No?"

"I- he knew I was being truthful. Richard has a knack." Monique looked up at Nathan from her seat on the lounge. "You trained him very well."

"Too bad you weren't as truthful with us to begin with." Nathan's hand was out and she handed over her half of the code. "What else did he say? When is he getting the money? Where is he planning to go?"

"All he said was goodbye and success in my new position."

"You mentioned our deal?"

"I had to. Richard is no fool, Nathan. The more truth he hears, the more likely he'll swallow the rest."

Nathan mashed his umpteenth cigarette on the outside of the balcony railing."You realize my dear that your admission to stealing our money, an act you adamantly refuted earlier, has placed you under another light."

"I didn't lie it was all Richard's idea . . . " Her words turned to mist under Nathan's patronizing stare.

"And he let you have sole knowledge of where you placed the account."

She chewed her lip and squirmed on the lounge. "He had half the code, I couldn't--"

"Monique, carrying on with this charade is a complete waste of valuable time and your credibility. We know what happened. We know what you both planned and we know that at some point you would have found a way to get it all for yourself . . . without Richard. That's what Toronto was all about."

Nathan took out another cigarette and lit it, coughing violently into his fist. "And now we also know which bank." The coughing cut off his sentence and he reached for his drink while wiping at his watery eyes with the fist holding the cigarette.

On some unseen signal, Murray stood and left the balcony of the hotel room and went inside. Monique watched him with trepidation. Was this all just a ruse to get her to tell Richard about the money? Was Richard still working for Nathan and this was all an elaborate trap for her?!

"Are we clear on the facts now, Monique?" Nathan had quit smoking for the moment and recovered his breathing.

Her attention snapped back and she wet her lips, nodding.

"Just to allay the fears I'm sure besetting you at the moment the plan I laid out initially was legitimate. We want you to take over the network."

She felt a massive load calve away in her chest and she blinked a few times before swallowing and nodding again.

"Will I still be getting the necessary funds, I mean- until you get the money . . . ?"

"The Foundation is only defunct in his name; we have other means of using his donors and soon we should have the money in question back in our hands." His look said that there were no options. He lit up again and drew in so much smoke that Monique thought he would explode. They sat in silence, Nathan chain smoking and Monique pondering her future and her safety.

Murray returned an hour or so later and gave Nathan a subtle blink before returning to his seat like a well-trained bird, having savaged some prey resumes its perch and awaits a new command.

"Go back to your hotel and await further instructions." Nathan ground out his butt in the heaped ashtray on the balcony table. "Oh, by the way, Jacques Dupres will no longer be your information source here, and the stationery shop has gone out of business."

Her eyes flew to Murray who returned her gaze with a bland equanimity. Monique realized, with a sinking sensation, she was no longer architect of her future.


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