Justice Run. Don Pendleton

      His thoughts went back to the situation in Monaco. Whether it was two people or four who attacked Dumond was an interesting question. The more important question was their identity. Vogelsgang had to assume it was the Americans coming to help one of their own, or another country working on behalf of the United States, an ally such as Britain.

      Either way it now meant they’d attracted unwanted attention. Or, more to the point, Dumond had attracted attention.

      Geiger had been right. The man was a clown. Vogelsgang had hoped to use the Frenchman’s greed and stupidity to an advantage. Even so, he’d also been careful to build firewalls between Dumond and himself. Dumond didn’t know his real name or his location. Vogelsgang spoke letter-perfect English with no trace of an accent, and his secure phone processed his voice through a distortion device. He was sure the man had no idea of his nationality. Vogelsgang also paid the man with funds from a bank in the British Virgin Islands. Though Geiger had helped pick several members of Dumond’s security team, the two men had never met directly. Even if someone hunted down Dumond, chances were slim he could betray Vogelsgang and his associates. Just to be on the safe side, though, Vogelsgang would feel better once Geiger killed the man and closed that hole.

      Vogelsgang didn’t need the distractions.

      Not now.

      He was on the edge of changing history. He’d spent a life working hard. A son of working-class parents, he’d never been satisfied when he’d looked at their way of life, stressing over mortgage payments and other bills. Vogelsgang had started work in the same machine shop that had once employed his parents. Unlike them, he’d had a head for numbers and a willingness to stick a knife in someone else’s back. Within a few years he was working on the administrative side of the business. In another ten years he’d bought the place from its original owner, using blackmail to force the owner to sell for next to nothing. From there Vogelsgang had begun the slow process of building an industrial empire, one with its roots in Germany, but with factories in India, Bangladesh and other developing countries.