Page 41 of Nash Falls

They led Nash into a small living area. A tall, suited man with sandy hair and a beefy build stood and held out his hand.

“Mr. Nash, I’m Bernard Duvall, deputy attorney general of the United States.”

The men shook hands, and then Nash glanced in surprise at Morris. He had not been expecting anyone this high-level.

“I was told you wanted to meet?” began Duvall, indicating a chair. Both men sat.

“Yes. I’ve beentolda criminal enterprise is ongoing at my firm, but I’ve been given very few details and no proof. Without that, I’m not sure how or why I should sign on.”

Duvall cleared his throat. “You can appreciate that our level of disclosure at this juncture must be limited.”

“And I’m sure you can appreciate that I’m being asked to give up my entire life and that of my family. What would you do if confronted with that same situation?”

Duvall glanced at the two agents and then edged forward, his hands braced on his thighs. “We understand that this is a personal sacrifice. But we believe that you are uniquely placed to help us bring down an organization that has a chance to upend our entire country.”

Nash decided to fire the first salvo right across the government’s bow. “Just like Danielle Cho, Alexandra Singer, and now Peter Lombard were uniquely placed to do?”

He would not break the silence until one of them did. This was like the phase in a negotiation where one side had to blink. Well, Walter Nash was a world-class nonblinker.

I’ll wait it out until we all die of old age in this damn hotel room.

As it turned out, it only took Agent Morris ten seconds to blink. “And how did you come to know about that?”

Nash took his time turning his gaze to the man. “When someone approaches me with any offer of significance, I take it upon myself to perform some due diligence.”

“I’m not sure we can get into any of that with you,” said Braxton, while Duvall remained silent. “And your conclusions could well be incorrect.”

Nash said, “Well, if I am wrong, you won’t mind my asking Rhett Temple about the three of them then? I’m sure he’ll have a perfectly reasonable explanation.”

He watched as Morris and Duvall exchanged a nervous glance.

Duvall said, “Seldom do these sorts of endeavors work out the first time.”

“Or the second or third,” observed Nash, who was having none of this. “So you intend to make me the fourth? And when they punch my ticket, what will you tell the fifth sucker? Because they’re going to have questions, and the EVP of acquisitions going down along with three other affiliated company members in a fairly short period of time would be tops on my discussion list.”

Duvall chuckled feebly. “I believe we overlooked the fact that you are a highly experienced negotiator, Mr. Nash.”

Nash gave the deputy AG a slow burn of a look before leveling an even more withering gaze on Morris. “And the fact that I wasn’t told about the three other people beforehand but had to find out for myself? Well, I think we can all agree that trust just got tossed out the window.”

“We need your help, Mr. Nash. Desperately,” said Duvall, now sweating a little despite the coolness of the room.

“If you are that desperate and there is personal danger involved, that should be reflected in the offer you make, don’t you think? But I don’t really see what I get in return except spending the rest of my life stocking shelves at a dollar store in Idaho.”

“Excuse me, a dollar store in Idaho?” said a confused-looking Duvall.

“I think he’s talking about WITSEC,” explained Morris.

“Ah, right.”

“Yes, ‘ah, right,’” parroted Nash. “And threatening me with criminal prosecution if I don’t cooperate doesn’t move the needle for me, either. Quite the opposite.”

“We do not engage in those tactics, Mr. Nash,” said Duvall huffily.

Looking directly at Morris once more, Nash replied, “Then you need to circulate a memo, because I don’t think everyone on your team has gotten that message.”

Duvall shot Morris a stern glance, but the FBI agent wouldn’t look his way.

“So are you saying you have chosennotto work with us?” said Duvall.