Free Unacceptable Risk by David Dun Page B

steal again, perhaps to rape and kill. And they would kill them.
     
    Baptiste made his way to a small holding area where informants, witnesses, and prisoners could be interviewed by the government. He did not want to speak to Benoit Moreau in her cell or in the regular visiting area. By bringing her out, he hoped she would begin to feel what was possible and to build in her soul a yearning so deep that she could not resist the generous offer of the French government.
     
    She waited in the holding area, a neat and clean room with a fresh coat of paint, sitting in a nice chair, such as the kind that might be used by an executive secretary. There was even a desk for her to sit behind; in a way she could imagine that she was interviewing him. These were props of pride and position, luxuries that would never again be hers...
     
    Unless.
     
    He had come up with the idea himself, like a car salesman who puts you behind the wheel of a brand-new Citroen. There was a glass window in the office and blinds that were partially open to let in light and to allow her to see snatches of what was going on outside the door of her little office. She sat in the chair in chains. That was different from the Citroen and the unctuous salesman, but necessary for the time being.
     
    He started by offering a friendly smile. He was not good at them, as his wife often pointed out.
     
    "I'll get right to the point," he said when Benoit showed no reaction. God, she was beautiful. He knew it, he had seen her, but still he wasn't quite ready for it. And for just a brief second he wondered whether he might ever have sex with her, and then he blew the notion out of his mind, knowing that it was incredibly weak and incredibly dangerous. Straight-backed and lithe, she projected a cold sexiness even in her prison suit.
     
    He sat, determined to let her see nothing in his eyes. "I called you here to begin a discussion regarding an offer from the French government."
     
    "Aren't you going to greet me? How are you, mademoiselle? How do you like the office, mademoiselle? Nice weather we're having? No small talk or chitchat? Amazing for a man with a big plan."
     
    "What big plan is that?"
     
    "Whatever big plan you have to lift yourself from obscurity in a job that is going nowhere and a future that is only slightly less dull than this office."
     
    "I like my job. I take it very seriously. You are the one with no future."
     
    "Really?"
     
    Something about her unbelievable confidence was unnerving.
     
    "You think you have a big future? You can go back to your cell in your chains and rot."
     
    She rose, completely unperturbed. "I'm ready. I'm sure that the admiral will be wanting to see me, so give him my best regards and tell him I am looking forward to our meeting."
     
    She was ambling toward the door in her chains. A wave of panic washed over him. Could she. ..? The admiral was reputedly a womanizer like many Frenchmen in positions of prominence.
     
    "Unfortunately, you won't be seeing the admiral."
     
    "Uh-huh."
     
    "Get back there and sit down," he said.
     
    She sat and smiled. "It's true that I've only seen him once. He was curious like all men. He lusts, but he is too smart to ask for sex. Just as you are. But, just like you, he was tempted."
     
    "I am not going to waste time on your games."
     
    "What, then? Will you physically abuse me? Are you going to rape me as well?" She studied him with bright appealing eyes. "You want my help with the genetic science of Grace Technologies, particularly Chaperone, but of course at the same time you're wondering if we might one day have sex. Don't deny it and we'll get along better. I hate men who lie to me."
     
    "I am interested in making an arrangement where you can do France some good, instead of sitting on your ass all day. In exchange you would be released from prison each day. Of course you return here at night. And there would be security to and from and at work. The key is that you earn our trust.