The Hadrian Memorandum - Allan Folsom [138]
“Yes. He let me keep them, probably hoping the police would find me and think they were the reason I murdered Theo Haas.”
“He came all that way for the pictures, killed the policeman, and then let you keep them?” The president was incredulous.
“Not exactly.”
“What the devil does that mean?”
“Kovalenko took the memory card from the camera that was used to photograph them. There’s far more damning stuff on it than just the pictures that were printed. A lot more.”
“So, in essence, he does have them.”
“He thinks he does. But when he gets to where he’s going, plugs in the card, and brings the pictures up on a screen, he’s going to find he’s got a whole lot of pictures of half-naked young women Theo Haas secretly photographed while they were sunbathing on the beach near his house. I switched cards on him. I have the original. No one knows but you, not even Anne. Both are locked away in the room safe here.”
Marten could almost see the president grin. Then abruptly he spoke, his voice even more somber than before.
“What the police haven’t made public is that you and Ms. Tidrow are the prime suspects in Franck’s murder.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. They know we were in Praia da Rocha this morning. They don’t want to make it public and drive us underground, then have us get away, like in Berlin.”
“This is different than Berlin, Nick. You’re now not just a murderer but a cop killer. So is she. Raisa Amaro is a very smart, very gifted and trusted woman. She’ll keep anyone away from where you are. So both of you, stay right there. Don’t do anything until you hear from Joe Ryder.”
“Right.” Marten still said nothing about Anne leaving.
“Not just right, crucial. I finally saw the CIA briefing video from Equatorial Guinea. I was sickened as you were. I’m meeting with the secretary-general of the UN tomorrow to see what we can do to intervene or at least bring in humanitarian aid. But there’s something else, and why we have to get you both out of there as quickly as possible and before the police or anyone else finds you.
“We need the photographs and whatever else is on the camera’s memory card as hard evidence. But we also need the sworn testimony of Anne Tidrow to establish beyond question that Striker Oil, the Hadrian Company, and SimCo conspired to arm the revolutionaries for their own gain.”
“I’m not sure she knew what was going on at the time.”
“Maybe not, but she certainly knows enough about the inner workings of Striker and its relationship with Hadrian to give the attorney general’s office a solid base to work from. Whatever she can give us is more than we have.
“One more thing. You said Franck was a double agent and the Russians knew it.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know if they have seen the CIA video?”
“They have. Kovalenko told me they intercepted it and copied it.”
Marten heard the president sigh in despair. “That seriously exacerbates what we’ve worried about from the start. If the pictures are made public and at the same time the Russians leak the video, I can guarantee you very few in this world, our own citizens included, will see the U.S. as anything but a murderous exploiter who has used the mercenary forces of an American oil company to further its own political ends. We will then be in the extremely delicate position of having to prove our innocence beyond any doubt whatsoever to an outraged global public. A feat that will be all but impossible without Ms. Tidrow’s presence and testimony.
“There’s something else, too. The very real possibility that Kovalenko or agents working with him will come after you again once they discover you’ve switched memory cards. They will want the real one. So I repeat. Stay where you are and wait for Ryder’s call. He’ll be protected by his own RSO security detail, and the CIA will leave it at that. They’ll get you out and onto Ryder’s plane. We’ll take it from there.” The president hesitated, then finished. “I got you into this pickle, Nick, and I’m doing everything I can to get you out. But unfortunately I can’t guarantee success. Most of it