Page 16 of Code 6

He walked to the credenza, which held a gift basket worthy of Martha Stewart. He glanced at the engraved invitation attached to the big white ribbon.

... the marriage of Imogene Miller to L. David Walker IV.

It was a strange marriage, stranger than the marriage between the CIA and venture capital—and not just because the ceremony was on a Tuesday, which was the only open day on Walker’s calendar for the next six months. Walker was fifty-seven, thirty years older than hisbride. It may have worked for Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn inLove in the Afternoon, but Walker was no Gary Cooper, and, as Elizabeth had pointed out on one of their first dates while in line at Blockbuster Video, Cooper and Hepburn made kind of a creepy couple, even if the film was set in the 1950s.

There was a knock at the door. It was Walker. The two men went to the sitting room, Walker on the couch and Gamble in the desk chair.

“I’m very sorry about Elizabeth,” said Walker.

Gamble thanked him, though he knew there was a business purpose to the visit. There always was. Walker didn’t take long to get down to it.

“I can’t think of a delicate way to raise this, so I won’t even try,” he said.

“We have a history of being blunt,” said Gamble.

Walker rose and checked out the gift basket. He seemed drawn to the bottle of 2007 Louis Roederer Cristal.

“Fairfax County Police are resurrecting the domestic violence accusations against you.”

“That’s already been proven false. Elizabeth recanted two years ago.”

Walker checked the back label of the champagne bottle. “Not the first wife to come out and say, ‘Never mind, it was all a misunderstanding.’”

“That’s not what happened in my case, and you know it.”

He placed the bottle back in the gift basket.

“Here’s the problem, Christian. Plenty of people in Washington think it’s a very bad idea for the CIA to have a venture capital arm investing taxpayer dollars in private companies.”

“Critics have been saying that for years. It’s not a new ‘problem,’ and I don’t see how it has anything to do with Detective Anderson and these accusations against me.”

Walker stepped away from the gift basket. “It’s plain as day. If there’s even a shred of truth behind these accusations of domestic violence,that means the CEO of Buck Technologies is vulnerable to extortion. If the CEO is vulnerable to extortion, the CIA can’t do business with Buck. Our capital investment is worthless.”

“Except that the accusations aren’t true.”

“I believe you. But the director of the CIA may not feel you’re worth the risk.”

Gamble gave him an assessing look. “What are you trying to tell me?”

Walker returned to the couch. “BJB has a seat on Buck’s board.”

“Yeah, you.”

“Which effectively means that the CIA sits on your board. And from that seat, the CIA exercises enough influence over other board members to find a new CEO, if needed.”

“This is bullshit. Buck is my company.”

“And I never want to see that change.”

“Then why are you threatening me?” Gamble asked, his voice rising.

“I’m just the messenger,” said Walker.

“Yeah, a messenger named Brutus.”

“I’m being your friend here, Christian. No one at the CIA is going to feel sorry for you because your wife jumped off a building. You need to be proactive.”

“And do what?”

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