Page 28 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

10

Around the same time theCenturion crew walked into the party in Rome, Braun’s assistant stuck his head into Braun’s office in Berlin. “Mr. Lawrence is here.”

“Send him in.”

“Yes, sir. Also, you’ll need to leave in ten minutes to make your dinner appointment.”

Braun checked his watch. It was 6:45 p.m. “Tell Dieter to meet me in the garage.”

“Yes, Mr. Braun.”

The assistant disappeared and a moment later Kelvin Lawrence entered. He was the head of Braun’s research department, and the one who’d been tracking down members of Golden Hour for Braun and Dieter.

“I only have a few minutes,” Braun said. “Where are you with the list?”

“It’s taking more time than I hoped,” Lawrence said.“I’m working as fast as I can while still running the department at the same time.”

“This needs to be your focus. I don’t want this to drag on.”

“Then, may I suggest adding someone to assist me?”

“Increasing the number of people who know about what we’re doing in not an attractive option.”

“I realize that, Mr. Braun. But I do have someone in mind, and she already works here.”

“She?”

“Jillian Courtois.”

“Who?”

“The new girl. She’s been here two months now.”

Now Braun remembered. Some hotshot computer geek that Lawrence had snapped up.

“Frankly, her skills are vastly superior to anyone else in the department, including me,” Lawrence said.

“I don’t recall her working on any of our previous special projects.”

“Not officially. She did do a bit on that job for the Russians but wasn’t aware what it was for.”

“What bit?”

“She’s the one who located Alexis Komarov.”

Braun arched an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Braun’s special projects unit had delivered the now-deceased Komarov into the hands of an oligarch Komarov had been bad-mouthing to the Russian president—apparently, with Courtois’s help.

“And she had no interest in knowing the reason we needed the information?” Braun asked.

“She’s completely data focused. That’s all that’s importantto her. You give her a task, and she does it—and doesn’t ask why.” Lawrence paused, then added, “She’s not what you would call a people person.”

“I don’t know. I still don’t like the idea of bringing someone new on to this.”

“I think you would change your mind if you met her.”

Braun took a breath. “Fine. Talk to my assistant and find time in my schedule.”

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