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“Jax,” Rickman said in a happy voice. He scratched the dog’s neck and said, “Did you miss me? I sure did miss you.”
Durrani could not stop himself from smiling. He hoped he could have the same special relationship with his dogs someday. “I’m sorry I didn’t bring him by sooner, but caution is still imperative. That and I wasn’t sure you could handle him.”
“Handle him? He’s as gentle as a baby around me.”
“Yes.” Durrani approached the bed. “He is much more cooperative with you than with my staff.” The big dog lay down, his head resting on Rickman’s lap. Durrani grabbed a chair, pulled it over to the bedside, and sat. “He makes you happy, doesn’t he?”
“Very much. Thank you for arranging his disappearance and transportation. When they were beating me I wondered if I’d ever see him again.”
“I am more than happy to reunite you.” Durrani watched the dog and master for another moment. This was the first time Ajax had looked content in over a month. The timing, he decided, was right. He clapped his hands together and said, “Now, you have many stories to tell me.”
Keeping his focus on Ajax, Rickman said, “Not yet.”
Durrani’s anger flashed, and then he got a grip on it. “You made a promise. I have arranged everything. You are safe in my country. I have even gone so far as to arrange a new identity for you. You must follow through on your side of the bargain. I want the names of the American spies.”
Rickman stroked the large head of his Rottweiler. “When Vazir gets back from Zurich, we will see how things are, and then I will decide when and how I will begin sharing that information.”
“That was not our deal!” Durrani shouted.
The Rottweiler’s eyes narrowed, and he bared his teeth. Rickman calmed him and said, “The deal has changed. You did that when you decided to interfere with my assassin. Now we will have to wait and see.”
Durrani was furious. “I could have you killed,” he hissed. “Or better yet, I will nurse you back to health and have you beaten to a pulp again. How would you like that, you stupid American? You think you are so smart . . . well, you are not so smart. I hold all of the cards here. I am the one who decides if you will live or die.”
The laughter hurt, but even so Rickman couldn’t stop. When he finally caught his breath he said, “You think you have me by the balls, General?”
Durrani did not like Rickman’s tone, but he was not about to back down. “I could have you killed right now.”
“Yes, you could, and then in a month or so you would die as well.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You are so naïve, General. Do you think I’m foolish enough to put my life in your hands and not have an insurance policy?”
“You are bluffing.”
“No, that’s not my style. I plan, I don’t bluff. I have taken certain precautions. I’ve hired multiple lawyers and given them very specific instructions that if they don’t hear from me at prearranged intervals they are to mail an encrypted file to Director Kennedy and a few other select people.”
Durrani wanted to think it was a lie, but Rickman was devious and untrustworthy. “What kind of information?”
“Very detailed information that implicates you in all of this.”
“What could you possibly be thinking? That is reckless . . . what if these lawyers take a look at the information?”
Rickman knew this would drive Durrani nuts. The specter of an unknown number of people possessing information that could expose him, ruin everything he’d worked for and probably get him killed, was too much to absorb for a control freak. It would likely keep him up at nights for years to come. If he lived that long. The important thing for now was to keep him as levelheaded as possible while making him understand that he did not hold all the cards. “It’s encrypted, and don’t worry, they are people I trust. They have no desire to look at the files. They know they contain information that could get them killed.” Rickman scratched his dog’s neck and said, “You have nothing to worry about as long as you honor our agreement.”
“You are the one who needs to honor our agreement. The senator says he needs the information so he can move against Rapp and Kennedy.”
That might have been true, but until Rickman was confident that Rapp wasn’t coming after him, Senator Ferris would have to wait. “Let’s see ho
w things go in Zurich.”
“You are a fool.”
“Really,” Rickman answered in an amused tone. “I think it is actually very pragmatic of me.”
“I’m talking about giving such valuable information to people I cannot trust. It’s foolish.”
“It’s actually very smart, although probably not all that smart considering your history.”