Games of State - Tom Clancy [122]
Ballon's eyes burned through the image on the TV. He saw, in his mind, Dominique sitting smug and comfortable in his office.
"But while we French are an emotional people, most of us also believe in concord. In healing wounds. In harmony. You Americans see that as waving a white flag, but I see it as civilized. Dominique is not civilized. He violates the laws of France and God. Like his father, he has a conscience made of diamond. Nothing scratches it. It is my intention to make him answer for his crimes."
Hood said, "I believe in moral crusades and I'll back yours with the full resources of my organization. But you still haven't told me where this crusade is headed."
Ballon replied, "To Paris."
"I'm listening," said Hood.
"I intend to arrest Dominique, confiscate his papers and software, and then resign from the Gendarmarie. Dominique's attorneys will see to it that he never goes to trial. But while that process is under way, I'll go to the press with a catalogue of his crimes. Murders and rapes he has committed or ordered, taxes he hasn't paid, businesses and properties he misappropriated, and more that I couldn't reveal as a government employee."
"A dramatic gesture," Hood said. "But if French law is anything like American law, you'll be sued, drawn, and quartered."
"That is correct," replied Ballon. "But my trial will be Dominique's trial. And when it's over he'll be disgraced. Finished."
"So will you."
"Only this career," Ballon said. "I'll find other honorable work."
"Do your teammates feel the same way you do?"
"Not all," he admitted. "They're committed only to-- what's the word? The limitations? Boundaries?"
"Parameters," said Hood.
"Yes." Ballon snapped his fingers. "They're committed to the parameters of the mission. That's all I ask of you as well. If you help me prove what Demain is doing, if you give me a reason to go inside, we can bring Dominique down. Today."
Hood said, "Fair enough. One way or another, we'll get there." He added, "Et merci. "
Ballon replied with a gruff thank you of his own, then sat holding the handset. He dropped his finger on the plunger.
"Good news?" asked Sergeant Ste. Marie.
"Very good news," Ballon replied without enthusiasm. "We have help. Unfortunately, it's an American and a German. Richard Hausen."
Ste. Marie moaned. "We can all go home. The Hun will take Dominique singlehandedly."
"We'll see," said Ballon. "We'll see what his pluck is like when there are no reporters present to admire it." With a short aftershock of outrage-- "Americans and a German," he declared-- Ballon called the office of an old friend in the CDT, the Comite Departemental de Tourisme, to see if they could simply look the other way when the plane arrived, or if he'd have to tangle with the territorial carnivores in Paris
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Thursday, 6:59 P.M.,
Hamburg, Germany
Martin Lang was on his cellular phone as Hood helped Matt Stoll gather together his equipment. Lang was phoning the airport outside of Hamburg, ordering the corporate jet to be readied. Stoll was zipping up his backpack and looking anxious.
"Maybe I missed something when you were explaining it to Herr Lang," Stoll said, "but tell me again why I'm going to France."
Hood said, "You're going to T-Ray the Demain factory in Toulouse."
"That part I got," said Stoll. "But someone else is going to go inside, right? Professionals?"
Hood looked from Stoll to Hausen. The German was standing in the doorway between the two offices, phoning to arrange for clearances for Lang's Learjet 36A. The aircraft held two crew members and six passengers and had a range of 3,151 miles. At an average speed of four hundred miles an hour, they should arrive right on schedule.
"Done," said Lang, hanging up. He checked his watch. "The plane will be waiting at seven-thirty."
Hood was still watching Hausen as a thought occurred to him. One which chilled and then annoyed him. Hausen's aide had turned on him. What if the office was bugged?
Hood pulled Stoll aside. "Matt, I'm getting sloppy. That kid who worked for Hausen, Reiner.