Targets of Deception Read Online Free PDF Page B

him.
    “Our friend is extremely upset.”
    David Fryar was president of Loubar Technical Assistance Corporation, a rapidly expanding manufacturer of specialized electronics, with offices recently opened in Paris and Hong Kong. That expansion, and most of its success, was due to the patronage of Fryar’s “friend,” Vincent Traiman.
    They met a few years before, when Fryar was a vice president at Loubar, which was then a struggling electronics firm. Traiman was an operative at Central Intelligence who possessed considerable knowledge of technology, an understanding of foreign markets, and numerous contacts in the Middle East. They had been introduced at a promotional party being hosted by Loubar in Paris, then traveled together to Jiddah when Traiman suggested he might have some valuable contacts there.
    Fryar quickly learned that Traiman was already familiar with Loubar products. The company was on the cutting edge and Traiman believed the company could have a bright future, especially in countries where he enjoyed some influence. He told Fryar that only three ingredients were needed to ensure success. First, increased sophistication in the area of surveillance and quasi-military appliances, such as those used in the deployment of chemical weapons, with which the company had been recently experimenting. Second, an aggressive sales force that could provide an appropriate presence throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Third, and most interesting to David Fryar, his new friend believed the company needed a change in leadership.
    Traiman was both a clear thinker and capable of bringing his plans to fruition. Within a year the former president of the company, a decidedly uncooperative man with limited global vision, met with an unfortunate automobile accident. After some corporate in-fighting, Fryar became head of the company. Under his stewardship the sales force amassed an impressive record of increasing revenues, and Fryar had remained at the helm since, with the Loubar Corporation continuing to grow rapidly in income and international stature.
    Along with that success, however, came certain risks. Traiman left government service and became involved with indeterminate principals who were developed into lucrative customers of Loubar. Since the products being sold were often on a proscribed list for shipment to certain unfriendly foreign countries, great pains had to be taken to route these goods through acceptable ports, to describe the contents with special care, and to otherwise cover tracks.
    A recent order had proved especially troublesome. So much so, in fact, that before it could be released for shipment to Marseilles, Fryar had interceded and held up the transit papers. He feared that this time Traiman had stepped too far over the line, even for Fryar, and he knew there would be hell to pay for his decision.
    “I know he must be disappointed,” Fryar said to the caller. “Please tell him that it was a difficult decision, but the matter deserves special attention.”
    “A difficult decision,” the man replied in a mocking tone. “I don’t think so.”
    “We need to review the matter.”
    “We need the shipment.”
    Fryar was silent.
    “Mr. Groat will be contacting you. You can review it with him.” And with that, the line went dead.
    Mark Byrnes was waiting in his office when Covington arrived to make his report. Byrnes was a handsome man of about sixty with well-defined features, his graying hair cut short and combed close, his blue eyes shrewd in a way his subordinates often found unsettling. He was a product of Harvard and Oxford, the diplomatic corps and State Department, not to mention the breeding of a wealthy family that was as close as America comes to aristocracy. Byrnes had recently been rewarded for his hard work by a promotion from deputy director of operations stationed overseas to deputy director of operations in Washington. He was a man who always knew what he was about.
    Covington