Bullseye by James Patterson

Author:James Patterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2016-09-26T04:00:00+00:00

Part Three

Catch Me if You Can

Chapter 52

Paul Ernenwein and I were called to a surprise lunch meeting with Secret Service special agent in charge Margaret Foley, at the famous Bull and Bear Prime Steakhouse at the Waldorf Astoria.

We found Agent Foley at a black leather banquette in the corner, sitting with a boyish dark-haired fortysomething gentleman in a tailored navy suit.

“Guys, I’d like you to meet Mark Evrard,” she said. “Mark’s with the DSS.”

DSS was the Diplomatic Security Service, I knew, the security and law enforcement service of the State Department. They were the guys who protected US ambassadors and embassies all around the world.

“After you brought up the Russian angle at our last meeting, I asked around, and a friend got me in touch with Mark,” Agent Foley said as we sat. “He’s been with the DSS for the last fifteen years at the American embassy in Moscow. He also teaches a Russian foreign relations seminar at Johns Hopkins and is considered one of the most knowledgeable people about Russia in all of Washington. If anyone could broaden our understanding about the Russians and the way they think, it’s Mark.”

“Well, I don’t know about all that,” Evrard said in a down-to-earth Chicago accent after a sip of his whiskey sour. “But maybe I can help. What kind of Russki info are you guys looking for?”

“Well, I guess the first question is, how credible do you think it is that Putin or anybody else in the Russian government would actually try to kill President Buckland?” I said.

“Exactly,” said Paul Ernenwein. “I mean, I know some of these Russian mobsters are nuts, but is it also true of officials in the Russian government? Of people that high up?”

Evrard took another sip of his drink.

“You’re actually talking about the same people,” he said, smoothing his tie. “Along with the oligarchs who seized control of the Russian industries after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Russian mafia and the Russian government are all part of the same power structure.”

I shook my head as that sunk in.

“It’s that bad? I mean, it’s obvious Russia has some corruption issues, but that’s nuts, isn’t it?”

“Yep, it is nuts, and tragically true,” Evrard said, looking at me calmly. “They all work together. The Russian mafia provides security and muscle for Russian industry bigwigs. Russian industry bigwigs pay off corrupt politicians and bureaucrats and cops.

“You actually have corrupt Moscow cops who have multimillion-dollar properties in places like Switzerland and Dubai. Politically connected oligarchs have vacation mansions built on protected public land. They say Putin himself had a billion-dollar summer palace built for himself on the Black Sea with Russian tax money.”

“How can that be? How can they get away with that?” I said.

“Easy. When asked about it, the spokespeople at the Kremlin all have the same standard Russian answer: ‘We are not authorized to speak on this issue.’ Reporters who push harder have a funny way of ending up dying under mysterious circumstances. Everybody scratches everybody else’s back.

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