Unintended Consequences

Charvet to hurry along Rick’s order. Now we must wait only for his hair to grow.”
    Marcel laughed out loud.
    “I assure you, Rick is most accomplished in his work and, once made more presentable, will blend in beautifully. He is, among other things, a brilliant linguist, fluent in the better part of a dozen languages. It’s how he originally came to our attention, when he was very young.”
    “I must say, I was impressed to hear him speaking Swedish with Helga,” Marcel said. “It made me nearly overlook the dreadful suit he was wearing.”
    “Would you like to see the new Rick LaRose?” Lance asked. “He’s waiting downstairs in my car.”
    “By all means,” Marcel replied. “Invite him up.”
    Lance produced an iPhone and pressed a single button, then put it away. Marcel picked up a phone and spoke a few words, then hung up.
    No more than a minute had passed when Rick entered the room. Stone was impressed. He wore a dark gray flannel suit, a striped shirt, and a beautiful necktie and carried a handsome briefcase. His hair wasn’t much longer than when Stone had last seen him, but it was much better cut. Stone made the reintroduction and Marcel invited him to sit.
    Marcel spoke a couple of sentences of what sounded to Stone like Russian, and Rick replied smoothly in the same language. Marcel repeated in German and Italian, and Rick responded with ease and what sounded like perfect accents.
    “How old are you, Rick?” Marcel asked in English.
    “I’m thirty-two,” Rick replied.
    “I would very much like you to leave your current employment and come to work for me,” Marcel said.
    Rick laughed. “My current employer frowns on resignations,” he said, “but I thank you for your kind invitation.”
    “Perhaps I can loan you Rick from time to time,” Lance said. “As an interpreter or in whatever role you prefer.”
    “That might be interesting,” Marcel said.
    “But you must promise not to abscond with him,” Lance said. “I would miss Rick terribly.”
    “We shall see,” Marcel replied. “All right, Lance, I will be a friend to your Agency, at least for a while. We’ll see how it goes.”
    “I’m delighted to hear it.”
    “Please remember,” Marcel said, “that our channel must flow in both directions. I expect I’ll hear from you, at times, with information that might interest me.”
    “Of course,” Lance said. “I think you will find our friendship beneficial.” Lance looked at his watch, then held out a hand. Rick placed the handle of his briefcase in it. “In the hope that we might reach an accommodation, I have brought you two gifts,” Lance said, opening the case. He removed an iPhone and handed it to Marcel. “This operates as any other, but when you call one of our phones at the numbers listed on the favorites page, our conversation will be encoded in both directions. With anyone else, it will be an ordinary cell phone call. I am listed among your favorites as Jacques, and Rick is listed as Pierre.”
    “I see,” Marcel replied, checking the page.
    Lance removed a Mac Air laptop from the case. “Again, this computer operates as any other, except that when you e-mail either Jacques or Pierre, your message will be encrypted, as will our replies.”
    “It’s all very simple,” Marcel said.
    “We look forward to hearing from you,” Lance said, rising and offering his hand. “And now Rick and I must go. Stone, may we give you a lift?”
    Stone felt this was more than an invitation. “Thank you, Lance, yes.” He thanked Marcel for the lunch.
    “Stone,” Marcel said, “the Paris Auto Show begins tomorrow, and I will be introducing the Blaise to the world. I hope you will attend as my guest and stay for lunch, too. Lance, Rick, perhaps you can come, as well?”
    “I fear I must fly home this afternoon,” Lance said, “but I’m sure Rick would be delighted. He loves cars.”
    “I certainly do,” Rick said.
    “I will send a car to the Plaza Athénée for you tomorrow at ten,” Marcel said to Stone. “And Rick, perhaps you can hitch a ride with him.”
    “Perfect,” Rick said.
    The three of them made their goodbyes and rode down in the elevator together.
    “Stone,” Lance said when they were secure in his car, with the glass partition rolled up to seal off the driver, “you have done very well.”
    Stone shrugged. “The opportunity was there,” he said.
    “And you will be rewarded,” Lance said.
    They came to a broad intersection a couple