Page 58 of The Facilitator: Part 3
Jerry hadn’t been the most supportive of Lauren over the past couple of years and I was sure he was aware of my displeasure at that, but I’d never get between them or do anything to affect their friendship.He didn’t seem to have the respect for my wife I would have liked by picking her up and dropping her whenever he wanted. For her not toknowhis partner, or even if he had one, was poor on his part, I thought. I wanted to speak to him but I also knew that should Lauren find out, she’d be upset by my interference.
Two days later we had confirmation that Alex and Gabriella were coming over for a three-week break. Lauren was over the moon, considering they had a house not that far from us. That would give Alex’s mom plenty of time to meet her grandson. Vivienne would be accompanying them and they’d be leaving Dominic in the charge of his grandmothers while they attended the event with us. Vivienne and Henrietta had met a few times and it was like foreign royalty meeting up. They were of the sameilkand immediately became friends. They wrote to each other, proper letters, no electronics for either of them. They called each other and we would laugh because one hour in to their conversation, they’d disconnect and whoever hadn’t called first would then do so in the thought they’dsplit the bill. On the odd occasion, we’d added Elaine into the mix, it was like a gaggle of witches. Their laughter was raucous and their conversation hilarious.
They were a magnificent group of women from three different cultures who got along amazingly and made our lives so much easier.
“We should take Mary,” I said, musing over the details for the charity event.
“Oh, that would be wonderful. I bet’s she’d love that,” Lauren replied.
“Let’s get your mom up as well. They’d get on so well,” I added.
That would be the ten, and what a ten it would be! Lauren and me, Alex and Gabriella, Jerry and whoever, Veronica, Henrietta, Elaine, and Mary. Although I did feel bad leaving Vivienne on babysitting duty.
“Oh, I’ve booked dinner tonight, a new place that I’d like to try,” I said, as I left for work earlier than Lauren. I had a meeting withmy manin the government.
I thought about the man I was about to meet and how I’d originally met him. He had history with Alex, and we still had no idea exactly which department within the government he worked for, but it hadsomethingto do with the military contracts that Trymast had.
We met in a gentleman’s club in London, The RAC Club in Pall Mall. I was shown to the terrace where Don Wilkins was sitting with a pot of tea, waiting for me. He rose and smiled when he saw me approach.
“Mackenzie, it’s great to see you again,” he said, holding out his hand.
I took his hand and shook it. “And you, Don,” I said. As much as Alex and I actually liked the guy, there was a lot of secrecy surrounding him. We were always on alert and wary.
“Coffee?” he asked, looking for a server.
“Coffee would be great,” I replied. I noticed a small brown folder on the table.
Once my coffee had been brought to the table, he tapped the folder. “Shall we get straight to business?”
“Of course, what do you want to speak to me about?” I asked.
He slid the folder over to me but kept his fingers on it. “The Saudis want to speak with you about a communications system for their vessels. It would be hugely advantageous to us if they had thesamesystems as we do,” he said, smiling.
“So you can access their system should you wish to?” I asked.
“You, old boy, are right up there in thinking with us,” he said, laughing. He wasn’t purposely being disrespectful, it was simply his way.
“How do you knowthe Saudisare going to contact me?” I asked, it was a silly question, one I knew the answer to, but wanted his confirmation.
“Because weadvisedthem to,” he replied laughing. It was the answer I thought I’d get.
He slid the folder to me. It would contain the detailsof who would contact me and what they wanted so I could have a quote prepared. It would also list theagencythat would earn a fat commission on passing the deal over to Trymast. There was nothing illegal in what had taken place. Underhanded? Possibly, but not illegal. The British government did a lot of arms dealing with the Saudis, something I steered well clear of. Communications systems were pretty standard; it was the cryptographyelement that differed. And it was that element the British security agencies would love to have access to.
I slid the document back. “Don, you don’t know me if you think I’m going to do that,” I said. I chuckled and shook my head. “If you know I can allow you access to their systems, then you’ll always be wondering if I’ve done that to another country with yours, won’t you?”
“Mackenzie, of course not,” he said, holding his hand over his heart.
“Each system we make is unique to the purchaser. That is my promise and that is why the British government gives me the contract. I don’t need foreign ones.”
He pursed his lips and nodded. He took the document back and smiled at me. He raised his teacup. “That, old boy, is exactly what we wanted to hear.”
He laughed, and I had no idea if I’d passed some sort of test or not. I raised my coffee cup in return. “I don’tneedthe British contract, either,” I said, stopping any threat that might follow.
“Ouch,” he said, laughing. “Would your refusal at the Saudis offer of a contract be the right message to take back with me?”
“Yes, that would be the correct message.”
Even if I hadn’t been given forewarning, I had no desire to be involved with the United Arab Emirates simply because that would be a conflict. Not because I had anything against the country or its people, working with the two countries meant being held over a barrel by them both.
