Paradime by Alan Glynn Read Free Book Online Page A

airport lounge. What they really don’t need – according to Artie Galansky anyway – is some emotional, guilt-ridden wreck of a guy walking the streets of Manhattan ticking like a goddamned time bomb .’
    ‘Jesus . . . am I under surveillance?’
    ‘Well, duh .’ Coover takes a sip from the first Martini. ‘They’re watching you like you’re a video game, Danny. What did you think?’ He takes another sip and puts the glass down. ‘They’re just waiting for you to finally crack and take up where you left off back in Afghanistan, making wild accusations, shooting your mouth off. At which point they’ll crush you.’
    I lean forward now, almost halfway across the table. ‘Yeah, I get that. Jesus. I’m not an idiot. And the reason I’ve been walking the streets is because I’m looking for a fucking job , Phil. Which is something I really need. So I don’t have any intention of shooting my mouth off. As you call it. But you know what? If Artie Galansky wants to push things—’
    ‘ Yes .’ Coover slaps the palm of his hand on the table. ‘There, that’s it, you see? That’s what I’m talking about. You’re a smart guy, Danny. You get it. But you have your limits too, and if Artie pushes you over some line, all hell’s going to break loose, am I right? Though’ – he pauses, and holds up a finger – ‘if that happens, make no mistake, you’ll still get crushed. My argument is that if it happens, Gideon will suffer too. But in ways they don’t foresee.’
    I lean back again, listening closely, my anger now cut with real confusion.
    Coover huddles forward. ‘Look, Danny, I’m going to be straight with you. Gideon is a fairly dysfunctional outfit . . . and, okay, you know, maybe I don’t like the way they run those bases over there, fine, but my job as a strategist is to protect the company, and in this particular situation the most effective way I can do that is actually very simple. It’s to make them leave you alone.’
    I know I’m being manipulated here, and in a way that I don’t fully comprehend, but if this is a possible outcome, does it really even matter?
    ‘I’m not going to argue with that,’ I say, as I reach across the table, retrieve the second Martini, and bring it to my lips. If the hit I take from it isn’t quite a gulp, it’s definitely more than a sip.
    I put the glass down and add, ‘But I’m not going to pretend I understand it either.’
    ‘Understand it, as in—’
    ‘As in why, and . . . I guess . . . how ?’
    ‘How is easy. How is I tell them and they do it.’
    ‘What, you just tell them to leave me alone?’
    ‘I tell them that in my professional assessment you’re a level-headed guy with good judgement, that you’re not going to crack, and that they should drop the GO-1C thing and pay up what they owe you. And they listen. End of story.’
    ‘But . . . why would you do that?’
    ‘Well, that’s the thing, isn’t it? I wouldn’t be doing it for you , Danny. I’d be doing it for them.’ He takes a sip from his Martini. ‘Because . . . okay, let’s say you start shooting your mouth off about Gideon, about these two alleged deaths on the base, and let’s say you get some lawyer involved, and Gideon responds by invoking their confidentiality clause, yeah? That’s where I see the trouble starting. For us . As I said before, you’d be buried in a pile of shit regardless, with legal expenses, the GO-1C thing, and a slew of counter suits, all of which you’d lose. But there’s a good chance, in the current climate, that Gideon would face a challenge over the legitimacy of the clause itself. Because there is an argument to be made that it violates the federal False Claims Act. Just possibly. Now that might not sound like much, but it could have some pretty far-reaching consequences, so why draw attention to it? Especially if you don’t have to? Yeah?’ He pauses. ‘It’s a can of worms that we don’t want to see opened up, is what