“I monetize information.”She pauses, studying us both.“Though I suspect you already know that.”
“We know Eddie’s been selling to you,” I say carefully.
“Eddie sells to many people.”Her tone is neutral, giving nothing away.“What exactly brings you to Paris?”
Adrien leans forward.“Senator Crawford is being blackmailed with footage from my club.”
“Senators receive threats regularly.Why should this concern me?”
“Because,” I interject, “the footage came from your operation.”
Moira’s expression doesn’t change.“You seem certain of that.”
“We found the server room,” Adrien says.
“Servers exist in many buildings.”She picks up a crystal paperweight from the side table, turning it in the light.“Tell me, what do you want from this meeting?”
“We want the buyer on Crawford,” I say.
“Rivers have tributaries,” she answers, setting the crystal down.The crystal flashes light across her face, a halo or a warning depending on how you read it.
Adrien’s jaw ticks.“So Eddie has other buyers.”
“Water finds its own level.”A dry smile.“Your employee is entrepreneurial.”
“Then you won’t object to my replacing him,” Adrien says.
“That depends on what you replace.”A glance at him, then at me.“Access is a currency.So is discretion.”
“My clientele values privacy,” he answers.
“Privacy is a luxury.”She stands and crosses to the window.Sunlight webs through the lace curtains, sketching gold across her hair like a saint painted by a cynic.“Information is a necessity.Do you know the difference?”
Adrien’s silence says he does, but he won’t grant her the satisfaction of admitting it.
Through the window, sunlight plays across leaves.In this salon, one could be mistaken for believing we’re in the countryside rather than the middle of Paris.
“If I understand you correctly, you wish to work with me directly, eliminating Eddie from your operation.”Her gaze cuts to me.“And you want more information about the Crawford business.”
Her hands clasp daintily below her waist.“I can accept your deal, Adrien, as Eddie violated his agreement with me when he began selling information to others.He has no loyalty to me; therefore, I have none to him.But Ms.Anderson, I’m afraid I can’t provide you with the information you need.”
“Moira,” Adrien says, “That’s a condition of our agreement.A condition of my loyalty.”
“I said can’t, not won’t.”
“Then who can?”Adrien demands.
Moira turns from the window, her expression calculating.“There are...complications with your senator’s situation.”
“What kind of complications?”I ask.
“The kind that involves former associates who’ve forgotten the value of discretion.”
“Give us a name,” Adrien says.
“Names have consequences.”She returns to her chair, settling back with the air of someone who holds all the cards.“Particularly when those names belong to people in sensitive positions.”
“How sensitive?”I probe.
