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“I believe so.”
“If you learn anything else, call me immediately.”
Marti hung up, then immediately dialed the number of the chief of the Federal Police across town. “Yes, Herr Direktor,” he began. “We have a grave problem. A man high in your organization has been identified as acting on behalf of a foreign power. The man we’re looking for is Marcus von Daniken. Yes, I was surprised, too. One never knows who one can trust.”
He lifted his eyes from the incriminating list and stared out the window. He was gazing east toward the mountains.
“How quickly can you get your men to Davos?”
67
“Who are you?”
Parvez Ji
“A friend of Eva’s.”
“You work together?”
“For eight years.”
“Ah,” said Ji
“You might say that.” Jonathan could only offer so much without giving away his ignorance. Fifty meters farther on, a policeman stood in the center of the road, directing traffic.
“What happened to her? Why couldn’t she come?”
Jonathan shifted his gaze to Ji
The news hit the man like a sledgehammer. “Dead? When? How? I can’t believe it.”
“Monday. She was climbing with her husband. It was an accident.”
“Her husband? Of course. She was married. Frau Kruger.” He looked into his lap and Jonathan saw that he was pressing his lips tightly together.
“Are you alright?”
Ji
The Iranian looked straight ahead. His lips moved for a moment, but no words came out. His hand had assumed a death grip on the armrest, his knuckles white as chalk. He was experiencing mild shock. Jonathan stared at the man, hating him. He had a strong urge to hit Ji
Jonathan looked away, somehow gaining control over his emotions. It was crucial that he get Ji
Ji
Cascades. Centrifuges. A fully operational facility. Jonathan’s suspicions had proven true. ZIAG had been illegally exporting equipment used to complete the uranium enrichment cycle. But why would the company do that? And on whose behalf? If he knew that, he would be much closer to discovering the identity of Emma’s employer. He recalled the articles he’d read over the last year about Iran’s desire to become a nuclear power. “What’s your output?” he asked.
“Four kilos a month enriched to ninety-six percent.”
“Are you satisfied with that? Can’t you get to one hundred percent?”
Ji
“I am…I mean…we are.” Jonathan felt as if he were walking through an unfamiliar house in the dark, always a half step from banging into a piece of furniture or knocking a vase onto the floor. He had to be more careful. If Ji
“What other part?” Ji
Instinct told Jonathan that the purpose of the meeting wasn’t to review Iran’s current status. It had been arranged for another reason. He guessed that it was a payoff. The money and the car in exchange for “Gold.” And “Gold” had to be information. Ji
“If you’re wondering whether I’ve got what you requested, you can rest easy. What choice did you give me?”
Jonathan shot him a sidelong glance. “We all have a job to do.”
Ji
He rubbed his eyes, a gesture of fatigue that conveyed a weary ease with his situation. “Where did you find her, anyway?” he asked. “Is she the product of some sick school you’ve set up to take advantage of men like me? Is that it?” It was another rhetorical question. Ji
Jonathan had no response. He felt as if Ji
“To matters at hand,” he said. “The money, please, Mr. Kruger.”
Jonathan handed over the envelope. He’d replaced the money he’d spent with funds from his private account. “One hundred thousand Swiss francs.”
“Has the transfer been made to my account in Zurich?”
“Of course,” said Jonathan, though he had no idea what transfer Ji
“The full twenty million?”
“Yes.”
“It’s for my children, you know,” Ji
The Iranian took a flash drive from his breast pocket and set it on the center console. “It’s all there. Location of our rockets. Weaponization plants. Production facilities. A blueprint of our nuclear efforts from A to Z. I know what you’re going to do with it. You made the mistake in Iraq. You won’t repeat it. You have your smoking gun. This time no one can say that you didn’t have a good reason.”
“Our smoking gun?”
“Yes, whoever you are. Americans, French, the British, Israelis, it doesn’t matter. You all want the same thing. War.”
Jonathan had read enough about Ji