“How fascinating,” she said now.
A minute later Jack realized he and Élise were sitting down. She asked him what he was doing here at Valley Floor.
“I’m a financial analyst. Not really an accountant. My company is buying into the mine. Or at least we are considering it. I am here looking things over, meeting with the CFO and others. If the numbers crunch the way we want them to, I’m sure we will purchase an interest.”
The woman seemed to be taking it all in. Jack actually enjoyed watching her think about what this all meant to her operation.
He asked, “How about you? What brings you here to California?”
She said, “I’ve been in the mining industry for some time. In Canada.”
It wasn’t an answer, but it was supposed to have been enough. Jack assumed she was going to try to deflect the conversation back on him, but he wasn’t going to let her get away with it. He just nodded and said, “Go on.”
“Oh, yes. Well, we’ve developed some exciting new techniques for solvent extraction processes, and NewCorp has adapted their machinery to the new changes we’ve come up with. I’m simply watching how the new ideas are executed in a real-world setting.”
Ryan nodded appreciatively. She was good. No, she was great. She almost had him buying it. He decided he needed to play his part, so he asked her a few questions about the research, he even took some notes about the study she referred to, ostensibly so he could research it as part of his due diligence into the investment opportunity here.
“This is terrific,” he said finally. “I wonder if I could see some of the work in practice.”
She nodded. “You should contact Hydrometallurgy Quality Control. I’m sure they could show you the chemical dissolution equipment.”
“I’ll do that. Will you be there?”
Élise hesitated. Jack felt sure she was still sizing up the situation, trying to determine if she was in any danger with him being here. It was so utterly random and odd that he knew there was no way she wouldn’t be very confused and even wary.
She said, “If you come tomorrow I’ll be there all day. After that, no. I head home the day after tomorrow.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
The two of them headed out of the cafeteria and down the hall to the elevator bank. He’d wanted to ask her out to dinner, but he fought the urge for two reasons. For one, he didn’t want to overload her brain’s synapses trying to determine if this was some sort of a play. If he worked it too hard it would tip her off there was nothing coincidental about his being here. Only by backing away from her now could he possibly convince her their meeting was happenstance.
And the second reason he would disengage now: he knew Chavez and Clark would be apoplectic. From an operational standpoint, Ryan getting even closer to the woman made no sense and only subjected the President’s son to compromise.
At the elevators Jack pushed the up arrow to return to his office, and Élise the down arrow to head downstairs and then back to her building. They shook hands and went their separate ways.
Just as the door to Jack’s elevator started to close, he heard someone running up the hall.
“Can you hold it, please?” a man shouted.
Jack held open the door, a little annoyed because it was a long drive back to the hotel and he knew he had to talk to Clark and Ding about Élise Legrande before they could break for dinner.
A young, fit Asian man in jeans and a polo shirt stepped quickly into the elevator. He held a backpack over his shoulder, and at first he faced away from Ryan.
“Appreciate it,” he said as he turned and looked forward.
Jack let the door go, pushed the button for his floor, then glanced up. “Not a prob—”
Jack cocked his head. The one other person on the elevator did the same.
“Yao?”
“Ryan?”
They shook hands, both men keeping the confused looks on their faces. Ryan said, “Fancy seeing you here.”
“Uh, yeah. Likewise.”
“Can I ask what brings you to Valley Floor?” Ryan asked.
Yao replied, “Only if I can.”
Neither man spoke for the rest of the ride up to Ryan’s floor. They just faced each other, each man trying to simultaneously figure out the relevance of seeing the other here.
Finally, shortly before the elevator doors closed on the two silent men, Jack said, “You want to grab a beer?”
Adam reached out and held the doors open. “I’ve got to go by Personnel, then I’m free. Meet in the lobby in twenty?”
Ryan nodded. “Looking forward to it.”
The closest bar to the NewCorp complex was just over the border in Nevada on Interstate 15. Several low-end but enterprising casinos had sprung up within sight of California, hoping to catch the first Angelenos heading east to gamble in Nevada. It was another thirty miles or so to Vegas, but this desert oasis of hotels, strip malls, gambling halls, and fast-food joints served as a way station for those without the time, gas, or inclination to drive all the way to the Strip.
Jack Ryan and Adam Yao sat at a table in the back of an utterly nondescript bar at Whiskey Pete’s Hotel & Casino. Both men had beers in front of them — a Sam Adams for Ryan and a Shiner Bock for Yao.
There was little talk those first few minutes beyond idle conversation about the casino and the drive. Each man was sizing the other up. They weren’t unfriendly; these guys had a history together and they liked and respected each other. But that was then, this was now, and they were each curious about what the other was up to.
“You look different,” Yao said.
“The beard?”
“Yeah. That, and you’ve put on some muscle.”
“Got tired of being recognized.”
“I guess so. Can’t be too helpful in your occupation.”
“What occupation?” Ryan asked.
“Never mind,” Adam said over the rim of his glass before taking a sip. “I ran into a friend of yours.”
“Really? Who’s that?”
“Mary Pat Foley.”
“Great lady. Where did you see her?”
A pause. “You know. Just a work function.”
“Right.”
“So… who was the girl?” Yao asked.
“Élise Legrande? She’s with an outside vendor. Here at NewCorp for a couple of weeks. Down from Canada, she says.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah.”
Another long pause.
This conversation was going nowhere.
“Look,” Yao said, “it’s good to see you, but I guess neither of us has much to talk about.”
Ryan replied, “The beer is okay.”
Yao chuckled, surprised by the comment. “It is, isn’t it? I guess we could play craps or something, but you know I can’t talk, and I doubt you will talk.”
Jack Ryan shook his head now. He’d been thinking it over, and even though he didn’t know what Yao was up to, he decided the guy could probably use a little intel. “Not true. I need to tell you something. Hope you’ll take the info as a favor and not ask a lot of questions.”
“I’ve done good so far, haven’t I?”
Jack said, “The blonde?”
“Yeah? What about her?”
“She’s a spook.”
Yao made no outward reaction, but he lifted his beer and took a long drink. When he put it back down he just said, “You don’t say.”
“She’s not here for you. I mean… I don’t think so. She is supposed to be Canadian, but I think she might be French. Ex-DGSE would be my guess. Now she’s working for a private company. NYC-based.”