part0029

R ichter’s head slowly shook in stunned silence at the reply he had received. He leaned back from his computer, his brilliant mind racing as he ran through all the possible scenarios that lay ahead should he proceed with his rapidly developing plan.

“Look.” He gestured at the screen and Gerhard rounded his desk, his eyes popping at the number.

“That’s why I asked twice. This could fund the cause for years.”

Gerhard returned to his customary position in front of the desk. “But it’s profiting off the death of hundreds of innocent animals.”

“Yes, but by doing this, at least some good might come of their deaths.” He scratched his chin, regarding Gerhard. “Honest assessment?”

Gerhard chose his words carefully, as he always did. “I think it’s a risky move, but not for you. If something goes wrong, then Hugo Peeters and his group are the ones that will take the blame. If it succeeds, then you and the cause will benefit, and no one will be the wiser.”

Richter chewed his cheek at the assessment. “True. But I’m not sure the world would believe that a moron like Hugo Peeters would be capable of pulling off something like this. There needs to be brains behind the operation.”

“But he did pull it off, sir. They have the museum. That wasn’t at all what we were expecting of him.”

Richter sighed. “You’re right, I wasn’t expecting that. I thought he was going to go in there and disrupt it by throwing fake blood on something—his usual heavy-handed thing. Instead, he somehow managed to not only procure weapons, but apparently explosives if what I’m seeing on the Internet is true.”

“Are we sure it’s true? You know how we do things. Maybe someone else is doing the same.”

Richter shook his head. “No, the girl who is broadcasting, I don’t think she’s in on it, I think she’s just an idiot teenager trying to get her fifteen minutes of fame. No, if we’re going to keep this thing from blowing up in our faces, we need brains behind this. I need brains behind this. It was one thing for him to go and scream and shout in the middle of a gala to then be hauled off by security who would later find out he used my invitation to get in there. But if he goes and kills people, hell, just with what he’s already done, there will be a thorough investigation, and there’s no way anyone is going to believe he intercepted an invitation meant for me. Because he’s taken it to the extreme, it could implicate me.”