Chapter 56

CHAPTER 56

Breaking the news that the government had been infiltrated by Russian spies had not been easy. As director general of the DGSI, de Vasselot had requested an emergency meeting with President Mercier at the élysée Palace and had insisted, for national security reasons, that no one else be in the room.

It was a highly unusual request, but Mercier had agreed, with one caveat. His chief of staff would be present. Seeing as how de Vasselot was bringing a second, she could hardly disagree.

Once the terms were set, she assigned Brunelle the job of drilling down on the chief of staff. They had to be absolutely certain he hadn't been compromised by the Russians as well. Karine was working on getting confirmation right up until the moment they walked into the president's office.

Sixty seconds before they were waved in, she finally received a text from MoMo reading: He's clean. She and de Vasselot both breathed a sigh of relief. With that concern out of the way, they could focus on Mercier.

To his credit, the French president's reaction had not been to protect himself and his political career. Instead, it had been to protect the country and the French people. That didn't mean, however, that things had gone smoothly.

While Mercier had come out of the gate strong and was proving himself to be the right man at the right moment for France, his chief of staff was growing increasingly uncomfortable with unilateral action.

He understood that the breadth of the Russian spy ring was yet to be fully determined. The fact that one of the president's own cabinet ministers—the minister of foreign affairs, one of Mercier's closest friends and advisors—might be compromised spoke to the danger of the situation. Basically no one could be trusted. But if no one could be trusted, how could the government even operate? Did the presence of a cancer, even an aggressive and metastasized cancer, mean the body needed to shut down and stop functioning?

Of course, neither de Vasselot nor Brunelle thought the cancer analogy was an apt description for what they were up against. They weren't asking for the government to be shut down. They were asking the president to keep the loop closed until they could get a fuller picture of what they were dealing with. Or, to put it in a way the chief of staff could better relate to, this wasn't cancer—it was something highly pathogenic like tuberculosis or Ebola. It had spread rapidly and, for all they knew, it was still spreading. There was no way to tell who had it and who didn't. So, for the time being, it was better to assume that everyone was infected, at least until they could begin ruling people out.

The chief of staff was not only concerned with making sure they adhered to French law, but also how all of this would impact Mercier's political future. The president would either emerge the hero or the villain of this crisis. It was the chief of staff's job to make sure Mercier was protected. Part of that was achieved by spreading the risk around, by soliciting multiple opinions and having lots of stakeholders with ample skin in the game. That was democracy. That was how things were done in France.

"Five names," said Brunelle.

"Excuse me?" the chief of staff replied.

"Give us a list of five names. Five people, the minister of foreign affairs notwithstanding, whom you and the president believe you can trust and who will provide you the best possible counsel. We'll clear them first. How does that sound?"

"They'll each want their chief of staff cleared as well."

Brunelle looked at her boss and, once she nodded, replied, "Done."

"What then was the other item you wanted to discuss?" President Mercier asked. "You said something about needing a favor. From me?"

The director general nodded again and looked at Brunelle, allowing her to take point.

"Mr. President," Brunelle began. "Are you familiar with something called the prisoner's dilemma?"

"Where two prisoners are held separate from each other and offered a lighter sentence if they inform on their compatriot?"

"That's the one. Yes. We'd like to conduct a version of it with the officials suspected of spying for the Russians."

"And?" Mercier replied.

"We can't just go round everyone up. It would be all over the news and the Kremlin would know we're on to them. We're going to have to be a little more creative."

"Okay. So, what exactly would you need from me?"

Taking a deep breath, Brunelle cleared her throat and replied, "Mr. President, we'd like to use you as bait."