“Obviously not. How else to explain that I risked my life trying to save the likes of you?”
“In point of fact you were never in any danger.”
“The four blokes at that house in Austria gave me quite a thrashing.”
“They were only trying to appear convincing.”
“But the bruises they left were quite real. So was the ketamine they pumped into me. They’re lucky they didn’t kill me.”
“If it’s more money you want—”
“I don’t want your money,” said Gabriel, cutting her off. “I want to know why you did what you did.”
She sat back in her chair. “It will cost you, I’m afraid.”
“I’m shocked to hear that. What do you want?”
“Your forgiveness.”
“You’re not going to get it.”
“I would reserve judgment, if I were you. After all, you haven’t heard my side of the story.”
He couldn’t help but admire her icy calm. “Surely you want more than that.”
“Surely,” she agreed.
“Here are the terms of the deal, Alice. Are you ready?”
“I find showdowns a bore, Mr. Allon. But please continue.”
“You’re going to tell me everything you did and everything you know. And if I find your story remotely plausible, I will consider our options. If not, I’m going to call the police, and you and your accomplice Peter Hoffmann will spend the next several years in a Swiss jail. Which is undoubtedly where you both belong.”
“Peter wasn’t my accomplice,” she replied.
“How would you describe him?”
“He was my friend and financial adviser.”
“Is Peter the one who provided you with a Swiss identity?”
“No,” said Alice. “That was Sentry Global.”
It was, she explained, a corporate security firm headquartered in the Wiedikon district of Zurich. Its clients included some of the biggest financial services firms in Switzerland, including Bank Josef Bänzinger & Co. Most of the services offered by Sentry were legitimate,but it had a secret division that provided tailored solutions to intractable problems.
“The sort of solutions,” said Alice, “that Sentry never mentions on its website.”
“Such as staged kidnappings?”
“Evidently I wasn’t the first.”
“Whose idea was it?”
“It was entirely mine, I admit. But Peter handled all the arrangements on my behalf.”
“He came to see you while you were on Ibiza. You pretended to bump into one another on the beach at Cala d’Hort. I suppose that photograph of Es Vedrà that you posted on your social media was a signal that you wanted a word.”
“Very good, Mr. Allon.”
