The Gray Man Read Online Free PDF

his nose slowly.
    “A minuscule oversight that wouldn’t justify five seconds’ consternation in any courtroom in the civilized world.”
    “But you are dealing with the most corrupt nation on earth.”
    “Third most corrupt, actually, but your point is valid,” said Lloyd. He pressed a fresh smile into his lips just after a taste of coffee. “Abubaker is threatening to sign the operation over to our competitor, a firm that did not even bid on the job. Our competitor would take a decade to arrive at our present level of infrastructure assets and engineering know-how, and Nigeria would lose billions of dollars in profits in the intervening years.”
    “As would LaurentGroup.”
    “Admittedly, we are not a social services department within the Nigerian government. Our own self-interest propels us; I just make mention of the dual benefit to the poor wretches of Nigeria who will lose out if I don’t find and kill the Gray Man.”
    “If those poor wretches remain poor wretches after the billions annually in oil wealth that already pour into Nigeria, I don’t imagine a few gas lines would much improve their lot in life.”
    Lloyd shrugged. “Perhaps we are straying from the subject at hand.”
    “What about the payer of the contract? Why doesn’t the president go after him? The Gray Man is, if your intelligence is correct, only the triggerman.”
    Lloyd smiled without humor. “As you well know, the payer of the contract was killed in a plane crash months ago. The Gray Man could have and should have kept the money he’d already been wired and forgotten the job. But your assassin continued on his mission. Seemed to think he was doing something noble.”
    “What about me? If you think I am involved with coordinating Isaac Abubaker’s death, why not take me out, as well?”
    “We know that the payer of the contract acted through a cutout. That cutout, in turn, had a cutout, who had a cutout who negotiated with you. President Julius Abubaker doesn’t have the attention span for such intrigue. He wants the head of his brother’s killer brought to him. That’s all.”
    “When you say he wants a head . . . I presume you are speaking figuratively.”
    “Would that I were, Sir Donald. No, the president has dispatched a man from his personal staff to my office in order to verify that my mission has been accomplished. This man tells me he’s to put the Gray Man’s head in an ice chest and deliver it to his leader in the diplomatic pouch. Goddamned savages.” The last part Lloyd seemed to say to himself.
    “Is there not some other way you can bribe President Abubaker?” asked Fitzroy. He knew how third-world public sector contracts often worked.
    Lloyd looked to a spot on the wall. His eyes grew distant, older than his visage. “Oh, we already bribe him, Mr. Fitzroy. Cash, whores, drugs, homes, boats. He’s an insatiable son of a bitch. We’ve given the moon and the stars for the Lagos contract. Even so, he’s now negotiating with our competitor. Bringing him the head of his brother’s assassin is the one thing we can do for him that no one else can, and it is therefore the one thing that he is holding over us.”
    “If Abubaker’s such a despot, why is he leaving power willingly?”
    Lloyd waved a hand in the air as if the answer were obvious. “He’s already an obscenely rich man. He’s raped his country. Now it’s time to enjoy the afterglow of his act.”
    “And that’s why you are here.”
    “As simple as that, Mr. Fitzroy. Again, I am sorry for the discourtesy of my intrusion, but I am sure the work we will offer Cheltenham Security will more than make up for the loss of one assassin, even a very good one.”
    Fitzroy said, “Mr. Lloyd, I employ chaps who are . . . very base. They respond well to loyalty and trust and a sense of honor. Often it is misplaced, but it drives them on nonetheless. If I give up the life of a man, my best man, in order to win some lucrative contracts, it would hardly