Page 114 of Reset

“All this for me? I’m flattered,” he said in English.

When his gaze skimmed over Ryan, he seemed to falter for a second. A sign that he recognized the man he’d abducted and thought dead. Fournier shifted in his seat but remained calm. He was, after all, a negotiator. And it was clear he felt he could bargain his way out of his predicament.

“I don’t talk,” he said to Lake. “You must know this. My clients pay for my silence. But perhaps we could come to another arrangement that is satisfactory for all of us.”

Ryan and his team just stared at the man, as the menace in the air became thick enough to taste.

With another furtive glance at Ryan, Fournier changed tactics. “It’s about this one, isn’t it?” He pointed at Ryan but continued to talk to Lake. Who, so far, hadn’t moved a muscle in reply.

“I was paid to deliver him,” Fournier said. “What happens then is not my concern.” He shrugged. “We are men of the world, Monsieur Benson. You know how these games are played. It is nothing personal.”

It’d felt pretty damn personal to Ryan. Even more so because they hadn’t just picked him, they’d picked Sarah too.

Callum took a step toward Fournier, and the rest of the team followed. Still no one spoke. There were dots of perspiration on Fournier’s brow now. But he appeared calm and unconcerned.

“I made my peace with this life many years ago,” he said. “I knew one day someone would come and ask questions I could not answer. C’est la vie. But you must know, there are people who will not be happy if The Baker is gone.”

“Like Abramovich,” Lake spoke for the first time. “We dealt with him after he trafficked one of our team’s sister.”

Dimitri didn’t even bat an eyelash at the mention of Katrina’s ordeal.

“Or Carlos Esteban,” Callum said. “But then, he died after involving one of my staff in his crimes.”

“Maybe you mean the Martinez brothers,” Harvard said. “But I do believe we put that cartel out of business after they messed with a friend of mine.”

“Must be the James Gang.” Dimitri’s voice was ice. “But they didn’t survive a run-in with us either when they went after one of ours.”

“Looks like you’re losing friends faster than making them,” Ryan drawled. “Kinda makes you wonder who’d come looking for you if you disappeared.”

Fournier paled, his tongue darting out to lick his lips again. “Is this supposed to make me nervous? I have many more friends.”

Harvard’s phone buzzed, and he looked down at it. A slow smile, much like that of a shark, spread across his face.

“Is one of those friends Uri Petrov?”

Fournier was quick to cover the flicker of shock that crossed his face.

“Because that dude is going down.” Harvard held up his phone. “Seems all the records you had on him are now in the hands of Russian authorities.” He glanced at the phone. “Oh, and the CIA. That’s cool. One for the home team.”

“C'est impossible,” Fournier said tightly. “My records cannot be accessed.”

“Whatever you say.” Harvard shrugged as Dimitri’s phone pinged.

“Well now, this is interesting. Seems you’re close to a guy called Albescu who runs women out of Romania. Not the nicest guy. You really should be choosier when picking friends, Fournier. Anyway, looks like his info is winging its way to Interpol as we speak.” He looked at Callum. “Aren’t they coordinating an international investigation into human trafficking?”

“Aye,” Callum said. “I believe they are.”

“Non!” Fournier snapped. “This is but a ruse. It is not possible for you to have my files.”

Lake walked the few steps to stand directly in front of the Frenchman. He folded his arms and looked down at the man. There was no expression on his face. “Here’s the thing—Albescu? Petrov? They don’t know that. As far as they and the authorities are concerned, the information came from you.”

Fournier was sweating profusely now.

“Says so right here.” Harvard held up his phone again.

“They will know this is not true.” Fournier looked at each of them. “You cannot know what jobs I have fulfilled for them.”

“Aye, we can.” Callum stepped up beside Lake. “See, we have a hacker and a CIA agent who’ve been digging into your business. Those two have a lot of connections between them, and they might not know the details of your operations, but they know enough to point people in the right direction. You tell us you won’t talk, but there are people out there who are happy to tell David Knight anything he wants to know.”