When they were all inside, Teddy left the men’s room and walked up to the panel door.
The security guard gave no sign of welcome. His face was neutral. “Yes?” he said.
Teddy didn’t miss a beat. “Skin game.”
The security guard stepped aside and opened the door.
Teddy walked in and surveyed the room.
The Syrians, Russians, Chinese, and Palestinians were seated in the audience. No other groups were represented.
Fahd saw Teddy. His mouth fell open. He sprang to his feet and came over to confront him. “What are you doing here?”
Teddy smiled. “I would imagine the same thing you are.”
“You were not invited.”
Teddy shrugged. “I got in, didn’t I?”
Teddy could practically see Fahd’s blood pressure rising as he fought to maintain his composure. “Do not oppose me. You don’t care about this. You just want to win.”
Teddy grinned his good-ol’-boy grin. “Well, now, everyone likes to win.”
“This is not a game,” Fahd said. “Do not treat it like a game. If you persist, you will be sorry.”
“Is that a threat?” Teddy said good-naturedly. “Hey, calm down there, star buddy. We’re all just havin’ fun.”
Fahd glared at him in helpless frustration, then stomped back to his seat. In contrast, Teddy flopped lazily onto a chair and stretched out comfortably.
Fernand took the lectern. “My friends. You are the chosen few. Up till now, you did not know who the others were. You are here because you got an e-mail. Now you know who else did. Forget that you know. As far as you are concerned, you are the only one here.
“We all know why we are here. It is the reason we came. Once again, I give you Rocky!”
Rocky was wheeled into the room in a crate. The handler opened the crate and let Rocky out. He was careful this time to make sure the dog didn’t get away. He led Rocky up and down without incident, and returned him to the crate. The two goons took up positions on either side of it.
“And now, I would like to introduce Dr. Stephan von Heinrich, renowned microbiologist and research scientist, who can explain to you why this dog is so invaluable. Dr. von Heinrich?”
Dr. von Heinrich’s hair was slicked back, and his tie looked uncomfortably tight. Teddy got the impression he would be much more at home in a lab coat, bending over his microscope.
“I have engineered a super virus. It is deadly, contagious, and unstoppable.”
Dr. von Heinrich pointed to the dog. “The dog is a mule.” Heinrich smiled unpleasantly at the poor joke. “Smugglers carry drugs inside them in balloons. Rocky carries the virus in a small vial, sewn into the lining of his stomach in a surgical operation. And it can only be removed by another surgical operation.” He shrugged. “Unless the survival of the dog is of no real importance.”
Fernand rushed to take the lectern back. Though apparently fine with mass murder, dog killing was not the type of upbeat image he was eager to promote.
“I think Dr. von Heinrich has established the value of the dog. In a moment I will open the bidding. Before I do, I have one more point to make.
“You all know this from the invitation, but I will repeat it one more time, just so there can be no confusion. If you win the bid, you will not take possession of the dog. The dog will remain with us under our strict security measures until the conference is over. At which time, the dog will be delivered to you at the airport and loaded into your private plane. That is why anyone bidding on the dog was required to have a private plane. The dog must be flown out of the country. Intact. Under no condition may the vial be removed from the dog within the borders of France. Is that clear?
“To anyone for whom that is not clear, or who does not wish to abide by those rules, please refrain from bidding.”
Fernand clapped his hands together. “So, let us begin! We will open the bidding at one million euros.”
Teddy’s mouth fell open. Of course, that was in keeping with Floyd Maitland’s image. He threw in a “Hey ya!” as a sound effect.
Everyone glared at him. After all, he was a bugaboo, the insane bidder they had to beat.
Fahd took advantage of the distraction to seize the first bid. “One million.”
“I have one million over here.”
“Two million.” From the Russians.
“Three.”
“Four.”
The Palestinians and the Chinese chimed in in rapid succession.
“I have four million, do I hear—”
“Ten,” said Fahd.
“Twenty.” From the Russians.
“Fifty.” From the Chinese.
There was a brief respite while people retrenched.
“I have fifty million. Do I hear—”
“Seventy-five.” From Fahd.
“Eighty.” From the Russians.
Teddy smiled. It was a show of weakness, a raise of only five million. The Russians weren’t going to last.
The Chinese bumped it up to a hundred million, and they were off to the races.
When the smoke finally cleared, the dog went for 275 million dollars. Teddy had a feeling it would have gone for more, but everyone was just waiting for him to jump in with a bid. And while they were waiting, the bidding was closed.
The Syrians won the dog.
Teddy was not at all surprised.
76.
LANCE WAS NOT pleased to see Millie, even if this time she came to him. He walked up to her on the lawn and said sardonically, “So, are we talking seven figures?”
“He doesn’t want any money.”
“Really? I wouldn’t have thought you could surprise me anymore, but you just did. What does he want?”
“A dog.”
Lance gave her the most marvelous deadpan. “What?”
“He needs you to find a dog and a handler and get them on a plane to Paris at once. Mike Freeman will supply the aircraft. You just have to get the dog.”
“He really needs a dog?”
“Yes.”
“Why can’t he get his own dog?”
“It has to look like this.”
Millie held up her cell phone so Lance could see the attached photo Teddy had texted her.
“First he wants a rhino, now he wants a dog?”
“That’s it in a nutshell.”